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As soon as we stepped off the plane in Alice Springs we were first of all hit by the intense heat of the place, and then soon had a swarm of flies around our face which wasn't pleasant at all! What we didn't know at the time was that this was a taste of what was to come!! We had a lift arranged to take us from the airport to our hostel and you will never believe it- it turned up!!!! YIPPEE!!! The first one, we were over the moon! So we arrived at our hostel, checked in and were told that the tour we had booked would be leaving a day early, as in 6am the very next morning! We went straight to bed that night! So, our 3 day trip to Uluru (Ayers Rock)... Day 1: 6am and we leave the hostel for our first destination, Kings Canyon. It took us about 4 1/2 hours to get there on a not very comfortable bus! On our way to Kings Canyon we saw some wild camels, apparently Australia has the largest number of wild camels in the world, we didn't know that! It was funny seeing them run across the road! Once we arrived we were given a bit of an insight into the hike we would be doing, but it didn't prepare us for what we were about to endure. To start, the temperature was around 43 degrees and we were starting the hike at 1pm around the hottest part of the day. The hike through Kings Canyon took around 3 hours to complete and was in parts very hard. The very start of the walk took us up a very steep hill and I thought I was going to pass out at the top! We had to keep stopping all the time to get our breath back. It really makes you feel very unfit but the heat is almost unbearable, not the best conditions for hiking. We all looked pretty cool hiking around as we all had to wear fly nets over our heads! It would have been impossible to cope otherwise as the flies were just unreal, there were so many of them. Check out our pictures of the highly fashionable nets!! Half way around our Kings Canyon walk we stopped to have a swim in a waterhole which was just fabulous! The water was pretty gross but we were all so hot we just stripped off and jumped in, it was a welcome break! Kings Canyon was pretty impressive, the views from the top were beautiful, you could see for miles around. We were very relieved to get back to the bus at the end of the hike, sweaty, hot and very tired! That night we arrived at what would be our camp for the night - the bush! We were quite literally in the middle of the bush, it was pretty cool. We made a camp fire and set out our swags around it. Swags are what we were sleeping in, it is basically a mattress inside a big canvas bag, which is far too hot to get into. I was paranoid about something crawling into my mouth in the night and so slept wearing the good old fly net over my head! It was pretty scary just sleeping outside but kind of fun at the same time. The stars were just amazing, so clear, we could see the Milky Way. We could also hear Dingos in the distance which was funny. Day 2: Someone told our guide that 5am is an acceptable time to get up!!! Oh my goodness we were rough! Today we would get our first sighting of Uluru but first another hike, this time at Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). The conditions were pretty much the same- very hot! The Olgas were pretty impressive and the hike wasn't as hard which was good.The reason why it wasn't as hard is possibly because I didn't do the whole thing! I decided to turn round at the half way point and go back the way I came because I was told the second half was pretty tough and it was so hot. Phil did the whole thing though- hero! After the hike we were taken to the cultural centre to learn about the Aboriginal culture around Uluru, this was pretty good but we watched a dvd that nearly sent me to sleep because I was so tired! After that, we did actually get our first look at Uluru! It was pretty cool, just like the pictures really! We were driven all the way around the base of the rock, it is actually very indulating as you go around which we didn't know, it looks smooth on the pictures. We stopped off at one point to look at a water hole and some Aboriginal paintings which are still visible on the wall in a cave, they are really cool, especially when you think how long they must have been there. We had a very scary experience this day as well - we saw a snake - OH MY GOD!!! I freaked out big style!! A girl in our group nearly stood on it but Phil saw it and shouted for her to stop, I just ran for my life, I was petrified, it was horrible. I am hoping that it was our first and last snake sighting ever! Tonight we watched the sunset over Uluru whilst eating dinner, not a bad setting to be eating dinner. We were a little disappointed with sunset, not as colourful as we would have liked because the sun was setting behind us, you could still see the actual rock changing colour though. We were sleeping in our swags again but this time we were on a campsite type thing so it was slightly less scary (only slightly)! Day 3: Just to continue with the theme we were woken at ??????, this time to head back to the rock to eat breakfast and watch the sunset. After sunset we did a base walk all the way around the rock. We started the walk at 7am and were finished by 9.30am, it was the most enjoyable walk because it was all on the flat and there is a lot more to the rock that you first think so it was great to see all the different parts. After that, it was back on the bus to start the long drive back to Alice Springs... We had another 3 days in Alice Springs waiting to leave on our next bus tour that would take us to Adelaide. There isn't a great deal to do in Alice Springs so we took the time to just chill out, update our journal and be eaten by bedbugs - yes, bedbugs!! Our first experience of the horrible little critters and please god the last! I saw a bug in my bed before I went to sleep but thought it was just a random bug and flicked it out, when I woke in the morning I was covered in little itchy bites. I went to reception to tell them and they came straight to the room to check it out. Turns out there was nothing in my bed, just that random one that decided to eat me alive, but one guy was sleeping in among about 5 families of the things and hadn't thought to tell anyone, GROSS!! When the room was stripped down Phil's mattress had eggs on it too, ERGH!! We can laugh about it now but I won't be laughing if I see them again!! Oh, we also bought a didgeredoo so will be holding a special performance on our return home...something for you all to look forward to...hahaha!!!!!!
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