So 5am came and it was time to get up to catch the bus at 5:30am. I climbed down from the top bunk bed, Nikki was awake as well. However Kat and Nat's beds were empty, they had not come home yet!! We started to get dressed wondering where they were and if they were gonna make the bus. At 5:25 when we were just leaving the room a taxi pulled up outside and out got Nat. So she had made it back but there was no sign of Kat. Nat quickly threw everything into her bag and came to the bus with us. There we met our guide called Luke and one other girl called Katie who was joining us on the trip. We tried to drag out the process as long as possible to give Kat time to arrive but after half an hour of stalling we had to leave without her.

We were headed for Katherine Gorge. We stopped off at a road house where we all had bacon and egg sandwiches for breakfast. Most of the morning was just driving but we didnt mind. It was nice in the air conditioned bus and as there were only 6 of us we all had a row to ourselves so we could lay down and catch up on a bit of sleep. We went to our campsite for lunch and a lady there told us that Kat was on her way to join us. So that was good news. Lunch was burgers and Luke was very insistant that he didnt want any help in making them. He prefers to do everything himself. So we all sat back while he prepared our lunch.

After lunch we drove to the gorge itself. To see the gorge we had to climb to the top of a rocky hill and then we could walk along the top back down to the visitor centre. We set off. Once again it was really hot, we all had drinks with us. It wasnt really that far to the top but it was a bit of a climb, lots of steps and rocky bits to climb over. Katie started to really struggle, she was too hot. We made it to the first lookout about 3/4 of the way up and had a rest there. We then carried on to the next lookout at the very top. Me, Nat, Nikki and Gertie made it. From there you could see the Katherine river below and the other side of the gorge. Katie did not make it and so instead of walking along the top ridge to get back we turned around and went back down the way we came picking up Katie on the way. It still took ages for her to get back down and we were all waiting for her at the bottom. That was supposed to be quite an easy walk compared to some that were coming up so we didnt know how she was going to cope!

After that it was back to camp to see if Kat had arrived yet. She hadnt. We then went to a little waterfall where we could have a swim to cool off. On the way back we stopped off at the side of the road to pick some mangoes. When we got back to camp it was only about 5 minutes before Kat arrived. She had made it at last! Luke started preparing our dinner which turned out to be delicious. I had seconds. It was lamb stew with mash potato, Yummy! After dinner we sat and played cards for a bit and Luke started showing us some tricks. As there were only 7 of us now it meant we got a tent each, so off we went to bed.

The next day was a lot of driving as we had to make it to the centre of Australia. Looking out of the window the ground was a dusty red colour and there were a few spikey trees. Lots of rocky hills and mountains in the distance. We did stop at a thermal hot spring to go swimming to break the day up. We had lunch at Daly Waters which is the oldest pub in the Northern Territory. It was full of things that travellers had left behind. There were driving licences and student cards stapled all over the walls and hats and bras hanging from the ceiling! Lunch was chicken and salad. After that we continued south to Tennant Creek however on the way we got a flat tyre and luke had to change it while we all sat and watched!! When he had done it we carried on our way, stopping to watch the sunset at the side of the road.

The next morning we went to see the famous Devils Marbles. These are rocks that have been eroded into round shapes. They look like the balls or marbles are balancing on top of each other but infact they are still attached at the bottom. We had fun taking photos of them by pretending we were lifting them up. We also climbed to the top of a pile of marbles from which we had an amazing view of the nothingness of the outback. All you could see was orange ground for miles and miles with a few spikey trees here and there.

From there we drove to Wycliffe Wells to have lunch. It is also the UFO capital of Australia where most of the sightings have occured. After lunch we drove passed the Stuart Tree. It is believed that Stuart carved his initials in the tree as he was travelling north and creating the Stuart Highway. We then went to an airport hanger that was used during the 2nd world war to have a look around. The runway is still used today for small planes. We then drove further along the highway to Barrow Creek. Here we got out to look at the historic telegraph station. After that we carried on to Alice Springs crossing over the Tropic of Capricorn.

We arrived at our accommodation and we were all in the same room. We showered and got ready to go out. We had arranged to meet Luke for something to eat at Annies where they did $5 meals! We had a few drinks with our meal and decided to go for a few more in town. Gertie, Helga and Katie went back to the hostel but me, Nikki, Kat, Nat, Luke and his friend Nathan went to town. Luke was telling us not to walk around on our own and we should definitely get a taxi home as there are lots of groups of aboriginals around that might rob you. On the way to town we did see a few groups that did stare at us as we walked passed, but we were safe as we were in a group. We went to a couple of bars but they all shut at 12am. Not wanting to go home yet we went to the casino to dance. Luke and Nathan were very funny prancing around the dance floor like ballerinas. We left at 3am and went to Lukes house that he shared with other guides. We sat talking for a while before Luke decided to set fireworks off in the house!! We knew it was time to leave then so we went back to our hostel.

The next day we got up at 11am after enjoying our first lay in for a few days. We walked into town and had a look around. We bought some food for a group meal and Christmas cards. It still didnt feel like Christmas as it was so hot but it was the 1st December. We went back to the hostel and cooked our beef stew and watched a movie in the TV room before having an early night as the next part of our trip started at 5:30am the next morning.