Hi again, guys...

Hopefully, you'll have perused the 'special edition' blog from today, that details our adventures and misadventures during the last couple of days, and now I can get back to the normal 'daily happenings' that we're familiar with... So, although I'll likely refer to some of the dramas, I won't go back into any of the detail. If that sounds too boring for you, feel free to catch up again tomorrow...

Last night, after blogging, we decided to drive back out to Uluru and watch the sun go down on her from close...? Sorry, wasn't meant to sound like that... try again... Last night we decided to go and see the sunset on Uluru at a much closer distance, before we made our way to dinner. Honestly, this is another 'to do' that must go on your bucket list if you haven't seen it already. Spectacular doesn't begin to describe it. We sat there for just over twenty minutes, watching the colours change, and scenery change as the light faded. Awe inspiring, and again, deeply enthralling. There must have been 100 cars of people watching, and the silence was deafening... I'll upload the photos, but they won't mean anything... The rock glows, and I mean, it really glows as the sun fades. It's full of iron, which rusts, and gives it that deep red colour, but as the sun goes down, the iron holds and reflects the light, and there's a definite sheen, or a glow, to the rock, just like metallic paint on a car... We'll be back to see it again, it's beautiful and magical and amazing, and if you don't come yourself, you'll missed out on something thats just about impossible to describe, and you won't know it, but you'll be sorry! Once the sun has gone down however, it's just a big brown rock again, and the spell is broken. It's still amazing, but not magical in the same way...

Our dinner for the night, was at The Outback Pioneer Hotel, in the Bough House Restaurant. This meal was highly recommended by some very good friends, and we'd heard more positive comments about it during our trip. As a matter of fact, those same friends that recommended it even made our reservation for us, so we wouldn't miss out, and to ensure we went. During the dramas with our car, we received numerous texts reminding us about dinner, and to make sure we went, as it's such a good feed, it'd lift our spirits with all the problems we were having at the time. And we're very glad we did!! The best food is the outback aussie type grub that you don't normally see on the menu of a traditional restaurant. There was crocodile with kiwi fruit and apple sauce, strips of rare wallaby meat, kangaroo in a tangy bush marinade, chicken and mango in a bush chutney, and barramundi in some type of sauce (I don't know cause I didn't have any). Along with vegies, rice, vegetable pie, roast lamb and gravy, sushi, prawn and chicken wontons, cheeses, fruit, antipasto, and lots of stuff I couldn't try cause I didn't have enough space for it... The desserts also were spectacular, with sticky date pudding, brandy custard, pecan pie, pavlova, chocolate tart, lemon curd tart, jelly, whipped cream and an entire selection of sauces and toppings to pour over it all... Didn't know where to start really, so like a book, I started from the left and finished at the right... 'Little piggy' doesn't quite describe how we all felt at the end... The best part of the dinner though, which you'll see in the photos, is when the waiter brought out a surprise birthday cake for Jeremy, which had been arranged by the same friends that booked us in. The same friends that organised birthday donuts for Dylan on the spur of the moment, and the same friends that contact us regularly to make sure everything is ok, and have helped us stay (mostly) positive during the last couple of days... Sure, she hassles me when the blog is late, and takes the piss when Pixie (actually, that's her fault too by the way. That nickname came from her) misbehaves, cause we should have had more sense and got a Prado, but when it all boils down to it, they're just really good friends... the best... the type that only come along once in a lifetime... The same ones that not only booked us in for dinner, but paid for it also, as we found out when we tried to fix up at the end of the meal... (Don't worry though, payback will be sweet!) Anyway, dinner was awesome, and VERY much appreciated!!

This morning, we woke up early (6am), and got the caravan packed away for it's trip to Alice on the back of the tow truck. Once it was gone, we headed to the resort shops for brekky and to collect our hire car. As it turned out, there were a few more problems, a couple of itty bitty mood swings, and we had to wait until 11.30 until our hire car would be ready. So we visited some mechanics for fun, and generally wasted more time, until we could leave...

Our second hire car turned out to be a brand new Ford Territory with only 15000k's on it. Very nice. Rapid acceleration. Comfy too... But, it's not our Pajero, and we don't love it... We just want our car back, with the confidence we used to have, that it will get us everywhere we want to go, and back home again. We've built it, learned to drive in it, and in a really short time, done some truly amazing stuff in it... I've never heard the boys laugh like they do when we try something stupid in our Pajero, and then yell and scream and cheer, when it actually does what we want it to do... They better fix it, or someone's gonna die!!! Sorry, got a bit side tracked and carried away there... Back to the story...

So, we hit the road in our new, but unloved, Ford Territory, and head for Alice Springs. The road is the same as we've grown accustomed to, in that it's long, and it's boring... This time though, when we saw the eagles feasting on road kill, we were able to stop and turn around and take some photos (as you'll see), as we didn't have the caravan. Also, without the caravan, we were able to cruise at 130kph, and overtake anything slower than us, which was everything, and as a consequence, we made it to Alice Springs quicker than expected and were able to get set up quite easily. Our outlook has improved, now that we're here, and the dealer can look at the car, and I'm hoping Brendan (park owner) will know the dealer (there's only one), and be able to pull some strings for us to get the car looked at earlier than Thursday. If not, we're here anyway, and will make the most of our time doing whatever we can to enjoy it... Kay serah serah, whatever will be, will be...

This is, without doubt, the best park we could hope to be stuck in, in the middle of Australia. They're refusing to charge us, although we'll discuss that with him when we see him, and there's plenty to see and do, and to keep the kids occupied. They won't get bored here, that's for sure. I won't get bored here either, I've got all you guys to write to. And Jo? No, she won't get bored either... the caravan is filthy, and there's a troublesome little rock somewhere, that needs to find it's way home...