Trip number 2 for Australia... We had planned on driving from Airlie beach to Alice Springs but when we checked it all out, with accommodation and food, it was going to be as expensive as getting the bus and doing a tour. So thats what we did! We chose to break up the mammoth 24 hour journey by spending one night in Townsville which meant we would leave at a more reasonable hour the following day instead of 2:00 in the morning from Airlie Beach. There wasn't really much going on in Townsville and so we spenty most of our time in the lagoon munching on an enormous potion of chips. The next day we boarded the bus to Alice Springs. The buses aren't too bad in Australia and because there weren't many people on we got a whole row of seats each and were able to spread right out and sleep most of the way. At one point we changed buses and were the only people on it so we had the chance to pick a movie. Obviously choosing Waterboy out of his mainly PG options. When we eventually arrived into Alice Springs and got checked into our hostel we headed out to explore this remote central town. Alice Springs, like many of the other Australian towns we'd been to, seemed completely empty. People seem to live out of town and only come in in their 4x4s if they need supplies. The town has a slightly threatening edge too, as large groups and families of Aborigines hang around the parks and shopping centres. To begin with we weren't sure if it was dangerous to be in the towns but later we realised that many of the Aborigines get quite drunk at night and hurl abuse, and sometimes bottles, at white people. Its kind of understandable as white people were the ones who ploughed their way through their tribal lands and murdered thousands of Aborigines to obtain the land for colonisation but also not somewhere you want to be at night on your own...

The tour started early in the morning and we had a 5 hour drive to get to the first destination Kings Canyon. Fortunately the minibus was nice enough to get a few hours kip on the journey there. We had a walk round Kings Canyon which has extraordinary rock formations. The edges of the canyon are a beautiful red colour and tower about 300 meters above the valley below. Walking along the top you get spectacular views in and around the surrounding area, you can also see many rounded dome hills where wind and rain have worn away these masive pieces of stone. Further into the canyon is a place they call the Garden of Eden which, due to the abundance of water and the shelter from the sweltering sun, has a host of plants and flowers some of which can't be found anywhere else in the world. The whole site has spiritual meaning to the Aborigines and they come to the area at special times during the year for ceremonies and things. Later that evening we drove to our bush camp where we would be sleeping out under the stars in Swag bags. Next morning was the day we'd all been looking forward to. The Uluru tour... We first visited the Aboriginal museum which gave a great insight into the stories that the Aborigines tell about Uluru and how the tribes operate and live in these harsh conditions. Following this we got the chance to hike around the base of the great mountain Uluru. There is a track that goes up to the top of the mountain but the Aborigines are trying to prevent people from climbing up it as the red colour is wearing away and it is a very spiritual place for them aswell. Whilst walking round you get a feel for how special this place is too the Aborigines, there are areas where ancient cave paintings are still visible and there are also remnants of where ancient tribes would have cooked food and trained the younger members of the tribe to hunt etc. The sheer scale of the hill is breathtaking too, we hadn't really expected it to be so impressive as we'd seen so many pictures on postcards etc but the actual feeling you get being under the enormous rock is something else. We were very lucky to see waterfalls cascading from the side of Uluru too because about half way round our walk the heavens opened up and several waterfalls started to run down the side. We got completely soaked too but it was worth it. After the walk we drove over to sunset point for a view of the rock glowing a beautiful red colour as the sun set into the desert. That night we slept in our swags again and were woken before the sun had come to get a final view of Uluru and the Kata Tjuta rocks at sun rise. Having seen the sun rise over Kata Tjuta we droive over there to explore the formations up close. Luck was definitely on our side as we got to see some small Kangaroos called Euros hopping around the rocks. We trekked through the massive rocks over slightly looser terrain than what we'd experienced at Uluru and got to the final viewpoint where we got a final view of the vast desert in the middle of Australia. We'd had so much fun on the trip and been doing so many activities that I think the whole minibus slept all the way back to Alice Springs. Just to round off our tour as is customary in Australia we had a final beer together in the pub before all parting ways. We had a day in Alice Springs before we were due to leave and so to fill the time we joined in on a Didgeridoo lesson where for free we were shown the basics of creating the sounds and circular breathing. Think we'll need a bit more practice but we both had loads of fun with a couple of others from the tour learning the Australian instrument.