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hi all,
well im well and truley in the outback and away from the touristy east coast i feel like im in "real" australia! goodness i dont know where to begin with what i have done, i left cairns on friday and flew to alice springs, which is a very unique (thankfully) little town its main aim is to be the only town close enough to ayers rock that tourists can stay at, im in the best hostel in town and it is a dump really horrible! the town is full of aboriginal people but unlike the aboriginals in other places (from what other people have told me) they all sit around the town all over the floors drinking and shouting abuse, a lot of people say they feel intimidated here but to be fair i just think its interesting to see the different cultures and its not like they do anything apart from shout stuff. the heat here is very intense, you can tell the tourists we all have stuffed noses and look like we are melting! i didnt do much on the friday when i arrived as i was in agony with my ear after flying, as i went and got myself an infection in cairns, so i pretty much lay in bed all afternoon dosed up with far too many painkillers and antibiotics. but on saturday morning i left on a tour which started at 4.30am on an overnight trip to kings canyon, ayers rock (uluru) and the olgas. we got to the area around 1pm where we had the opportunity to climb kings canyon, the temp was 37degees (or just over 100 if you want farenheit) and the long walk was an intense 3hr walk that takes you higher and into hotter temperatures - the walk is not reccommended if the temperature is above 38. i started it but half an hour in i thought i was gonna colapse so i went back down the mountain and did the short walk which was easier as it didnt go onto such high ground and only took an hour, i was dissapointed as i hadnt seen the really good views but there was no way i could manage in that heat and there were millions of bloody (excuse the language) flies everywhere, people were wearing fly nets it was so bad, they were horrible and they were all over you and buzzing round your nose, mouth and ear - they also seemed to get a taste for my ear drops and kept trying to zoom in my ear, it was the most irritating thing ever and its not even like they bite they were just normal sized black flies that carry disease and are dirty creatures - anyway thats my whinge for the week lol! so after kings canyon we went and watched sunset, which was over the olgas and also got our first view of ayers rock - it was amazing! and we all went and cooked dinner in the traditional ozzie style on the bbq and sat round the campfire, we saw a huge spider and one of the girls was really scared (not me can i just add) lol. we had the chance to sleep in 'permanent' tents that night or outside under the stars in swags - which are another ozzie thing, they are basically canvas sleeping bags with a little thin mattress in and you sleep in them with your normal sleeping bag around. we all chose swags and slept around the campfire, the guide - dave - had been learning the digeridoo and had brought his along so we all got a chance to play that as well, suprisingly i could make the right noise - i cant do a tune yet but i can play it right. we went bed just after 11pm and got up at 4am the next day to drive to sunrise at ayers rock (uluru) which was the most amazing thing, and as it was still early and 'chilly' (about 24degrees) there were no flies, we all had jumpers on it was that cold compared to the day before - im dreading coming home!!! we then did the 2hr base walk around uluru, it was amazing one of them once in a lifetime things i will always remember - so id done 8km before breakfast and we headed off to the olgas to do another hour long walk, the olgas are another spiritual site for the aboriginals, the same as ayers rock is except the olgas are a mens sacred site and what ceremony oy acts happen there are extremely secret - they were really beautiful - i was suprised at how green it was around the area as i was expecting just red soil and not much else but apparently it sometimes floods so the soil holds the water. after that we headed on back to alice springs where we arrived at 6pm, its been an exhausting but fun 2days and very worth it! i get the coach to adelaide tommorrow, i leave at 10am and get there at 7.30 am on wednesday so thats about 20 or so hours my longest journey yet, which im not overly looking forward to although it will be nice to head furthur down south and get away from this intense heat. anyway if i havent bored you all enough by now i certainly will when i come home and start talking about it! hope everyone is ok, thatks emma k for your email it was so sweet what you said! hope you girls all had good night out! did anyone go to any bonfire and firework displays? reece i take it you didnt make it to southport this year? keep in touch everone!
love to all! gem xxxx
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