Hola Chappies and Chapesses,

I have so much to update on I thought I would do one section of the trip at a time! I'll start with Alice Springs to Adelaide so you don't get all confused and wonder where the hell I've been! I've now finished working as a removalist and was actually pretty sad to go, I've made some really good friends there and it was a good job (managed to get loads of free unwanted stuff from peoples houses like bread makers, heaters, tables etc...) but more fun was to be had so I ｂｉｄ　ｍｙ　ｆａｒｅｗｅｌｌｓ　ｔｏ　ｅｖｅｒｙｏｎｅ　ａｎｄ　ｗｅｎｔ　ｏｎ　ｍｙ　ｍｅｒｒｙ　ｗａｙ，　ｈａｖｉｎｇ　ａ　ｈｕｇｅ　ｓｅｎｄ　ｏｆｆ　ｐａｒｔｙ　ｉｎ　ｏｕｒ　ｆｌａｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｄａｙ　ｂｅｆｏｒｅ　ｗｅ　ｌｅｆｔ．．．．．ｂａｄ　ｉｄｅａ　ｏｎ　ｍｙ　ｐａｒｔ　ａｓ　ｗｅ　ｗｅｒｅ　ｔｈｅ　ｏｎｅｓ　ｌｅｆｔ　ｃｌｅａｎｉｎｇ　ｕｐ　ｔｈｅ　ｍｅｓｓ　ｂｅｆｏｒｅ　ｗｅ　ｌｅｆｔ！ We flew from Sydney to Alice Springs on 24th Sept. I boiled on the spot as I was sporting jeans aｎｄ 　ａ　hoody in the 38 dｅgree heat when we landed!! Wｅ spenｔ one night in Alice Springs which is more modern than I thought. Ｉtasted the local delicacies and had a 'Chilli con Camel' which we thought was just a novel name since we were in the desert but then found out it was actually made of camel - ha ha!

We spent the next 5 days on a tour through the outback. The 'Groovy Grape' bus picked us up and drove us into the desert. As we furthered away from Alice Springs it was apparent just how in the middle of nowhere we were. All we saw for hours was the same view out of every window... red desert with a few bushes! Our first night was spend in 'Kings Creek Station'. We built a campfire in the middle and lay our 'swags' in a circle around it on the red velvet sand. Swags are like sleeping bags with a mattress attached underneath (see pics of Alice Springs trip). We had to put our sleeping bags inside of them and then you zip yourself in. There is a hood if you want your face covered too - this was my bed for the next three nights sleeping under the stars on the desert floor. It was AMAZING and I really enjoyed it although Loz had a slight issue with the lack of heat! I think maybe the drinks around the bonfire with the other 20 traveler's helped her though it though!!

We were up early and headed to Kings Canyon. It was absolutely breath taking. The 4 hour hike we did started early to avoid the mid day sun. It also started with what was known as ' heart attack hill' which was basically climbing up unbelievably steep rocks (like a steep staircase) to the top in order to walk right around the top of the canyon. Well, we made it... eventually!! Loz had to stop about 10 times on the way up... and thought she was going to die! An American girl on our trip gave her her inhaler so she calmed and caught her breath... how humiliating!!! Ha ha. The hike from there on was fantastic I have never seen anything like it. Lawrence (our coach driver) gave a few speeches aboutthe aboriginal tribes that originated on the area on our way round. It really was the walk of a life time!

After that we hit the road again driving passed wild camels, kangaroos and emus. Our next 2 nights were spend at the Uluru Resort. Uluru for those of you that don't know Uluru is Ayres Rock. We watched the sunset over Uluru and 'The Olgas' in the other direction from a platform by our camp, it was gorgeous. That night we got on the beers and round the campfire again until some other tour guide told on us and we had to put it out.. LOSER! Our bus driver then got 2 Asian girls and wrapped them in a swag each so only their heads were popping out one end and their feet out of the other. They then had to run at each other until one fell over - "Sumo Swags" was born....and pretty damn funny!

The following morning we went to the 'Olgas' which are HUGE rock boulders a little way from Uluru. We did a 7Km hike around them called the Valley of the winds. It was unreal, it looked like the set from Jurassic Park. The rock formations were so big it just didn't feel real. It was brilliant and bloody baking hot too, I reckon I lost a good few pounds on that hike alone! After lunch we went to The Aboriginal Cultural Center which was fascinating. It was really interesting learning about the history and culture of the 'Rock' and surrounding areas. After that we preceded to Uluru (The Rock). I cannot even begin to describe the size of this thing. It was absolutely stunning and had loads of different inlets, shapes and waterfalls etc. It even looks like there is a massive Aboriginal man's face carved into one side that is apparently 'a sign'... pretty spooky. This part and many other parts are sacred areas which you cannot photograph so I have no pics sorry! We walked around the base which was 9Km. Loz sported her fly net looking like a widow as there were loads of flies around bugging us (excuse the pun!). It was amazing and it felt really spiritual, however I'm not about to start spouting backpacker crap about how it's changed my life.....it was just pretty immense. We then went to a viewing place to see the sunset on the rock. Our driver had 'reserved' us the best table in the viewing area by putting beers and nibbles out ready and waiting - what a legend! It was a stunning and beautiful view. What a day!

We were up and back at another viewing point to see sunrise on the rock. The colours change as the sun sets and rises on the rock. It goes orange then deep red and is awesome to see. We then moved on further south and crossed the state boarder from Northern Territory to South Australia. We stopped at 'The Breakaways' for sunset. Awesome view and where Mad Max was filmed for all you film buffs reading this! We then stopped for the night in a town called ' Coober Pedy' - IT WAS AWESOME. It is a mining town and the Opal Capital. There are mines surrounding the town and nothing for 100's of miles in any direction. It was a tiny little town and most buildings like houses, bars and even our accommodation was a 'dugout' i.e. underground, dug into the side of a rock. They cover the interior with a kind of varnish straight onto the limestone, so you had a cave feel to the lace too. Me and Loz tried to get into the swing of things and decided to change our names to "Fred" and "Wilma" just to get the ambiance right! We went out for dinner then hit a bar and then onto what seemed to be some kind of social club when the bar shut. It seemed that the whole town come here after hours. It was like a village hall but awesome. The locals loved us!

With a bit of a sore head we got up the next morning and went to a Museum about the mines and the underground village which was really interesting. Then we went 'Noodling' which is basically looking through piles and piles of smashed up limestone to see if we could find some Opal. I found a bit, but unfortunately not enough to make us rich! We continued South and the desert eventually turned to green countryside. We spent the night in a place called Quorn and had a quiet one watching a film to recharge our batteries. The final day we went on another hike in the heat, which again nearly made Loz cough up a lung! It was called 'Devils Peak' but after climbing and scrambling up the rocks I saw the fabulous views over the South Australian landscape. After that we continued South until we hit Adelaide.

We spent our first night in Adelaide out on the tiles with our friends from the bus. We had a great night and I was introduced to the world of Jager-Bombs! (a shot of Jagermeister dropped into a glass of Redbull and down in one!) Wooo, oh Jesus! We said a drunken goodbye to some of our buddies but most of them were continuing the same journey as us to Melbourne.

The past 5 days throughout the outback have been immense and I have had the time of my life. I have experienced things, done things and seen things I never thought I would. In my opinion the place comes highly recommended!

Take care now people.

Young Buck

xxxxx