Hello everyone, this is going to be our final blog from Australia...Boo!

But it has been incredible and we've been up to quite a lot since we last wrote to you all after sailing the Whitsunday Islands.

We drove north, surprisingly, and arrived in Cairns. We went snorkelling and scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef and saw sharks, Nemo, incredible coral and loads of amazing reef fish. And then from the Reef we went to the rainforests of the northern tip of Australia, at Cape Tribulation. Here we went Mand-eating croc spotting, Tim made sure Amanda was sat in the window seat. And there were no windows.

And then the time came to give back our tiny van back. It was emotional. For about five seconds. Then we boarded a plane for Darwin and left lush Queensland for the Northern Territory. Where even more stuff can kill you!

In Darwin we joined a 12 day tour to explore this vast area which ranges from tropical rainforests in the northern national parks, before getting rugged and dusty as you head south through the desert to the Red Centre. So for 12 days we have been downgraded from a van to swag (basically a zip up matress in a bag) under the stars, getting boozy around camp fires, playing the didge and watching out for snakes, dingos and spiders.

Up north we hiked to the top of amazing waterfalls and swam in the clear freshwater pools, trekked through the rainforests and saw hundreds of huge Golden Orb Spiders! Amanda loved that bit the most... And we went to Ubirr, home to lots of aboriginal art painted on the rocks that dates back some 15,000 years.

We then travelled from Darwin to Alice Springs, some 1,500km, in three days. There is not much on the way. Other than crazy stuff, so Tim was happy. There was a pub called Daly Waters which had a flip-flop tree, fluffy chickens and Australia's most remote traffic light. There was also the UFO capital of Australia. We also stopped at the Devils Marbles, massive red boulders balanced precariously on eachother. It was a real attraction we promise!

For those big things fans out there, Tim has now collected: A Big Barramundi (fish), a Big Captain Cook, a Big Lizard, and a Big Aboriginal Man. Naked. There was also Charlie the Buffalo from Crocodile Dundee, stuffed and hung behind a bar!

But the real highlights have come in the last four days. From Alice Springs, we went to Uluru (Ayers Rock) and like the tour guides have said, it is a bloody big rock. We watched the sunset with a glass of champagne, and then got up to watch the sunrise as we walked around the base (about 10km!)

There are a lot of big bloody rocks in the red centre. And we hiked around all of them, including the Olgas, Kings Canyon, and the West Macdonnell ranges. These were all awe inspiring as they date back millions of years and are so vast. As you walk around you feel like you are on the set of Jurassic Park. Or on the moon.

And so we are about to fly to Sydney, a little hungover from our last night in Alice Springs, and a little sad that Australia is almost over. But it has been incredible, and we've seen and done a huge amount in our three months here.

Hope everyone is well back home, and as always, please keep in touch.

Amanda and Tim
xxx