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Dear all,
Well as I said in my last email I nearly didn't make it on this tour, but luckily I did.....
Day1: The journey to Ayer's Rock was a long one, which I spent most of my time sleeping. I even passed up on a camel ride, as I wasn't feeling too hot! On the way there we drove passed a road kill (which is when an animal gets run over by a car). Dee our guide stopped the van to pull the kangaroo off the road, to ensure other animals, such the wedge tail eagle don't go the same way! When she was pulling the kanga to the side of the road, she noticed her pouch was moving and so she rescued a little Joey that was approximately just over 3months. It had no hair, its eyes were closed and its ears were still pinned to its head. I had to help - well I volunteered to - look after the Joey when we got to camp whilst the guides set up the camp/made lunch. I carried her wrapped in tea towels for about an hour. After lunch we went to the Uluru (Ayer's Rock) Cultural Centre where we gave the joey to a kangaroo carer to look after. At the Cultural Centre I learnt about how the aboriginals believed the rock to have formed and the legends - or dreamtimes as they call it - that suround the Rock. Then we went off to Kata Tjuta or The Olgas for a walk. After this we headed back to Uluru for champagne and cheese and crackers whilst we watched the sunset. In the evening we headed back to camp where our chef (My tour got upgraded...woho!); grilled fish, salad, potato salad and garlic bread yummy. Our bed for the night was pretty posh for a camping trip...the tents were permanent structures with twin beds, bedside table, touch lamps and fans!
Day 2: Up early - 4.40am, ouch! After a lovely breakfast we drove to Uluru again to watch the sunrise, which was amazing, much more spectacular than the sunrise. In twenty minutes you see the rock change so many different hues of red and orange it's really cool. After this I walked the base of the rock, which is 9.4km. Some of the group wanted to climb the rock (nutters considering 38 people have died doing it since 1985), even though the aboriginals ask you not to, as they believe the rock to be a sacred site, but the summit was too windy, so no one was allowed up it. After the walk we made our way back to the camp for lunch before beginning the 500km drive to King's Canyon. Once there we had a lovely dip in the pool, which was actually a little chilly! In the evening after another yummy dinner we slept out under the stars in swags, which are basically waterproof sleeping bags. This was wonderful; the stars are just sooo amazing because there is no light in the area at all brightening up the sky. I'm getting pretty good at spotting the Southern Cross now, though I won't be able to show anyone this in England, as you only get it in the Southern Hemisphere. The Southern Cross also appears on the Australian Flag and several patriotic Aussie's arms! Everyone was really tired after the day, so i think we must all have been asleep by 10:30pm.
Day3: A lie in today: 4:50am rise. We went for a walk over King's Canyon today, which was spectacular, although I found the walk pretty hard in places (the hardest being at the beginning at the so called 'heart attack hill'!) I did prefer it to Uluru. The views were simply amazing from the top. A few blisters later we returned to the camp for a very nice lunch - fajitas, best yet! - before starting our long drive back to Alice Springs. Once at Alice, we visited a Kangaroo sanctuary where I held a young joey who was just a little older than the Joey we had rescued. Brulgar, the manager, hadn't yet heard about the development of the rescued Joey - Dee had phoned him to find out who to take the Joey to in - but he hoped that everything would be ok.
In the evening several members of the group meet up at Melankas for dinner, which was nice, though we were all pretty tired. Makiko, a young Japanese girl had never danced on a dance floor/at a d.i.s.c.o before so that was soon remedied. Imagine being Japanese, traveling to Australia and being made to dance by an English and an Irish lass...poor girl! That night I was fast asleep by midnight.
The next day was pretty chilled out. Several of us met up for breakfast, which was nice and then I and Melissa went for a little shop before I had to leave for the airport for my 2.20pm flight to Cairnes, which was rubbish....no entertainment at all, can you imagine!
Take care all
Love you loads
Lynds x x
PS Thinking of doing a skydive for my birthday, though told my Dad this and he had a bit of a fit......thoughts from everyone would be welcome Y = yes, do it; N = hell no!
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