Hi everyone,

We are driving through the Outback and it is very hot, although I have to say that judging by this picture I look rather cool, even if i do say so myself! Just kidding of course sweating like a race horse really! It is still humid although slightly less so than Darwin and we have encountered a small amount of rain, believe it or not. Before I get onto the Devils Marbles (picture) i have to catch you up with a thing or two. We visited a place called Esley National Park, not quite what you may imagine but an Oasis in the middle of nowhere, everything is here! A natural spring of fresh water surrounded by dense vegitation. During the 2nd W.W. the Army occupied the area, bet that pleased the Aboriginals! they turned the natural spring into a natural bath. The Sappers reinforced the side walls, made a nice little terrace and steps down into the water etc and then were told that this was only for Officers, brilliant strategy to increase the moral of the troops who were probably sweating there bits off!

Anyway, moving swiftly on, the natural spring filters up through lime stone rock and is as pure as can be and crystal clear and flows eventually into a creek. The area around th spring is dense with vegetation, a bit like a jungle but much smaller, and heavily populated by Bats. at certain times of the year the bats come here to roost and mate in the trees, dropping copious amounts of guana on the ground below. hence the reason that this is very definitely hat wearing country, make no mistake! it's okay on the way to the Spa as there is a covered walkway but walk round to the source of the spring as I did and be on your own head, so to speak, if you look up! It's okay because you can have a wash in the spring, yuk. it is a lovley spot and watching the male bats tussling for the next available female was like being in Colchester High Street on a Saturday night only a bit more friendly. they are still highly motivated and occasionally fly from tree to tree, their wings spread out like a transparent membrane. You need to bit a bit nifty with the camera to catch them though, hence I missed every opportunity, you will just have to believe me on this one.

having left the park the landscape quickly returned to scrub land with very lean looking gum trees which slow their growth to cope with the lack of water and intense heat. There are remnants of dead cattle and other road kill along the way which scavenging eagles feed off. We actually saw one eagle try to pick up a carcass as we were approaching and would not let go until the very last moment until it realised that it too was about to become road kill. Actually that is unfair to 'J' because other than Cane toads, he wouldn't hurt a fly, well actually perhaps flies as well1

So onwards to the Devils Marbles, an area of natural phenomena. The landscape changes again, it has become more red, if that is possible, this is caused by the large amount of iron oxide in the rock giving it the distinctive colour. Seemingly out of nowhere you happen upon giant orange spheres of rock sitting on top of the Earth. Formed millions of years ago they are the remains of errosive powers which have worn away softer rock to reveal giant granite orbs coated with in iron ore which then literally rusts and peels away from the rock, in some cases producing near perfect round balls. The effect is exactly like looking at a rusting old ship where over time the steel plates have rusted and started to lift away. We rock hopped or lumbered in some cases! and then joined up with 'J' who then took us to his favourite bits where the more nimble were able to climb on high for pictorial purposes. The terrible Twins turned on their modelling skills and provided some good images for everyone. 'P' included! Many photos later we headed off to Alice Springs.

it is a mighty journey and difficult to comprehend when you come from the UK. I think the drive was somewhere in the region of 800K's, I might be wrong, and that was after we had been driving all morning.

We arrived at Alice and the first thing I saw was McDonalds! I had held onto this minds eye image of Alice Springs since I was at school and had to read Neville Shute's A Town Like Alice, yes, I know that was a long time ago! it is a nice place and having spent two days there I declare that I like it.It was small, still had character, had a good museum and places to see, has enough of interest around the outside to keep you busy and interested and has a thriving community.

I really did like the place and felt just a touch jealous when one of our number, Sue from Germany, took a job and left us to stay for a while. Stephane and I went to a music show and rally enjoyed the evening of audio visual delight which took the audience on a journey of ancient culture and natural wonderment to the current time including climate change and its impact upon the area and its resources. Andrew Langford was the performer and he has given shows in America and the Uk, look him up if you are interested.

We had several nights at the local bar called Bojangles. They had several gimics including an upright coffin with a sawn off shotgun for a handle on the front. Pull the handle and inside is Ned Kelly, tin hat as well and a dispenser of monkey nuts, strange but true. patrons are encouraged to take the nuts, peel them and then just throw the shells on the floor or if you were like us, at one another!. The first night we all went there to say ;goodbye' to our now friend, Justin. He was leaving us and going back up north. I had the grill, which included Camel, Emu, Boar, Kangaroo and something else. the Camel tasted as horrible as the animals are reputed to be, so I will not be having that again. The food was really good and I went back there the following night and had something else from the menu.

We waved goodbye to J and were collected on the third day by a rather late and moody looking driver who went by the name of Wombat. I don't think we got off to a terribly good start but by the time this leg of the trip finished in Adelaide I had definitely warmed to our Wombat and he had opened up to us quite a bit. I will say here and now that it had nothing to do with getting horrendously drunk in the Outback with a couple of locals and a barmaid! More on that later - perhaps.

Wombat was our guide fro The Olgas, Uluru, Flinders Ranges, Coober Pedy and several other places. His knowledge on all things was impressive. I will give you more on all this later.

Take care for now.

Chris