So I have arrived back safe and sound from this exciting adventure that I started to retell when I arrived into Adelaide last week, but that I didn't get the chance to finish; so let me pick up from where I left off...

We awoke on the Tuesday morning and went to a sand dune viewing area to watch the sunrise over Uluru and Kata Tjuta. We got there nice and early to make sure we had the best spots. This was so worth it as when the sun finally emerged, we were in prime position to snap away to our hearts content. The wildlife had begun to wake and start their day and so we continued with ours. In convoy with another four tour trips, we trundled across to Kata Tjuta to begin our walk.

Kata Tjuta, also known as The Olgas, is a series of rock formations that I can only describe as lots of Ulurus. Only in the way that it consists of many large dome-like red rocks protruding from the ground, covering a distance probably four times that of Uluru. The cultural significance however is completely different, as Kata Tjuta is still sacred but in other ways. If we were told, we would probably not understand or fully appreciate what was being said. The stories surroundng this magnificent formation are for the ears of much older and wiser aborigines. However, we are almost called to be ignorant to this and are instead allowed to follow a pathway that winds its way through and over many of the rocks; getting much more up close and personal than we could at Uluru.

The walk is called The Valley of the Winds, I can only guess that it is so named from the winds that whistle through the valley formed by the many domes of rock. I think this was the most beautiful walk we did in the centre. The walk appealed very much to my inner child as we scrambled over smooth rock and weaved our way among the mountainous domes towering above us, reminding me somewhat of an Indiana Jones adventure. We passed pools of water that glistened with the gorgeous morning sun. Arriving at the Karingana lookout we were presented with a view of much more lush, green landscape than I thought possible for such a dry area; the rest of Kata Tjuta continued into the distance and drew me in like a lost city waiting to be discovered and explored.

The rest of the walk took us almost another hour and I arrived back to the bus hot, sweaty and desparate for the toilet! With our last walk in the Red centre over, we had the afternoon off to do whatever we wanted. A few of us took a stroll up to a lookout just down the road from our campsite while some other people had a camel ride (much to expensive for the time you got I thought). Then while a few of us girls were droppped into the resort shopping centre, the boys decided they would climb Uluru. This actually is allowed and a handrail has been placed on the steepest parts of the rock for support, but the climb is three hours return with no shade or toilet on very smooth rock under the harsh outback sun. The walk is even closed most of the year due to weather conditions anyway. As well as this, the disrepect that this shows to the aboriginal culture is huge and as I felt so honoured that we were allowed to even walk around the rock, I couldn't imagine putting my feet all over it just to say I had and to have a few meaningless snapshots at the top. They feel it is not something to be conquered but rather enjoyed and admired from the ground. But everyone has their own opinion and the boys enjoyed the climb all the same.

When back altogether in the evening, many of us headed back up to the viewpoint to watch the sunset. This time with the sun lighting up the front of Uluru rather than setting behind it giving the beautiful silhouette. After dinner we gathered around the campfire again and enjoyed each others company with an interesting game of charades.

It was an even earlier start the next day (awake at 3:45am) to get off on the road to drive the 800 odd kilometres down to Coober Pedy. We set off this early so as to stop to watch the sunrise at Mount Conner, another Uluru-like formation but one that is not included in the National Park. From on top of a sand dune we had the mountain on one side and salt plains on the other, making for some really gorgeous colours and compositions to enjoy. Sleeping on and off, we arrived at the South Australia/Northern territory border and got some classic tourist group pictures. With Ross lifting us all on top of the stone sign we sat astride the sign while I clung for dear life, especially when we had to get down!

We arrived into Coober Pedy at about 3:30pm. Coober Pedy is a town in the middle of the South Australian outback renound for it's opal mining. The story goes that in the early 1900s a young boy in a travelling party on the search for gold, wandered off in search of water and came back with water and a bag of opals. Since then, Coober Pedy has grown into a large town where 70% of it's population live underground. When I say underground though, I mean in caverns carved into the face of the rock; and that is what Coober Pedy (named by the aboringines) means: 'white mans burrows'.

We went on a mine tour which included a short video on the history of both the township and the opal itself. I had little knowledge of this beautiful gem and didn't even know there was such a thing as black opal. The tour took us down into an old and a new dugout where the miners would have worked and lived. The caves were so well built as many of the miners had been soldiers in the first world war and had built and lived in bunkers for great periods of time. After a quick gander around the gift shop we headed out for 'the best pizza in Coober Pedy'. Here we had a little surprise snuck in to our agenda and after we had finished, we were taken to a wildlife sanctuary run by a couple in the town. They mostly take in kangroos and have set up large areas in their backyard for the orphans to jump around in. here we could feed them and then a joey called Chrissie was brought out. She was only 3 months old and was just starting to learn how to hop so would forget herself and suddenly realise she had more power in her legs than she realised!

We went back to our bunkhouse, also set into the rockface, for a few drinks before bed. The underground living space is amazing as it stays about 25 degrees all year round due to the built in insulation of rock and so there is no need for heaters. The whole space is set on such interesting rules and regulations about renovations that could just be seen as a way to have a cheeky mine for opals or how it is just plain sensible and much cheaper to have the plumbing near the entrance!

Night soon came and we finally got some sleep knowing we wouldn't have to be awake quite so earl in the morning and could get a bit of a lie-in, well I would say 6:45 is a lie-in after the week we had had!