Hey people I've finally done the rock tour and it was ace. I joined a tour for 3.5 days to see Kings Canyon and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) and, of course the big one. It was more camping but this time luxury as we had proper campsites to go to (no shovels and plenty of hot showers). I went with the Wayward Bus and we had 21 people + Nat our guide and driver (and I must say a great girl too) and most of the crowd seemed pretty friendly and pretty rowdy and up for drinking (and smoking...). First stop was Rainbow Valley for a quick view but we could not actually get that near to the rock structure itself, then we stopped at a roadhouse where we met Dinky the singing dingo (who is quite famous out this way) before getting to our first campsite at Kings Canyon. Great I thought, showers, but I had not accounted for the 150-odd teenage girls on a school trip all thinking the same as me - nightmare stuff and shower postponed. Woke up next morning to shocking cold weather - I mean freezing but we soon warmed up after our 3 hour hike round Kings Canyon before jumping on the bus again to go see the main attraction. And finally there was Uluru right before our eyes - and yeah it's great to see as it's such an iconic thing and it is so Australia. We visited the cultural center there first which gave people to opportunity to learn about the significance of Uluru to the Aboriginals and also understand their desire for you not to climb - the message was everywhere "please don't climb the rock" but hey, egos being egos people still do it. Me I did the base walk with Rik (hey mister don't forget to keep in touch) and it was great. However the walk at Kata Tjuta (or The Olgas) was even better as we trekked the Valley of the Winds (guess why it's called this) which as a men's initiation site is even more spiritually important to the Aboriginals than Uluru and to be honest probably much more interesting to see. Then back to Alice yesterday afternoon for sleep and warm bed. But first a great night out with the group - dancing, singing, more photos, more booze (you get the picture). So this am I'm off on The Ghan again for another 21 hours traveling to Adelaide and going to be staying with Jenny and Darcy and I can't wait to see them - reckon it's going to be cold there too though.