Anyway, we arrived at Alice Springs and nearly fainted from the heat immediately.. I cannot get over how hot it is there- and I love the heat! The hostel, Annie's Place, that we were booked into laid on a transfer for us and we were very very grateful to be checked in and able to laze in our air conditioned room! Jem had a lie-down and Ben and I ventured into town in search of some food for dinner... we were sweating buckets before we'd even made it out of the hostel! We managed to get ourselves a litttle lost but made it to the supermarket eventually. Alice Springs is a strange town... i can't really put my finger on why though, maybe if I'd spent longer there I'd have a different opinion but all i really saw was lots of Aboriginals wandering the streets, excessive heat and not an awful lot going on! The highlight of our little trip to town though was stopping at an art gallery on our way back, just to buy a couple of postcards to send home.. instead, we stumbled across a Joey care centre just as they were feeding the Joeys.. as you can see from the picture, i got to hold an adorable little Joey, he'd been hit by a car and they were nursing him back to health, he was so cute! That evening we just cooked some food and chilled out in the room, all just a bit exhausted from the journey. We were meant to be going on our 3 day tour to Uluru the following morning but the hostel had put it back a day so we we had Sunday to chill and explore Alice Springs a bit more, which was basically what we did... woke up late, leisurely got up, headed out for lunch, came back and just chilled out some more... seriously, trying to do anything more energetic in that heat is pointless... I'd die!! ;0) That evening also saw us just chilling out, getting our stuff sorted and heading to bed early in preparation for our stupidly early 5am start for our Uluru tour....
Still technically asleep - you all know what i'm like in the mornings! - I somehow managed to make it out of bed and downstairs on time (yes, that's right I said on time!! It's true, I promise!) and we all stumbled onto the awaiting bus and claimed our seats for the next 3 days! There was about 21 of us on the trip.. and it was a bit of an eclectic mix... we had Koreans, Germans, English and err.. can't remember the rest... except for the rather cute Aussie Tour Guide that is (I know, I know... such a cliché!) anyway... after an hour or so of everyone sleeping on the bus, Luke (that's the cute guide btw) woke us up and made us do things.. namely draw on the windows - apparently so we'd get to know each other better but really i think it was just cos it amused him! I can't take credit for the picture shown.. that was Jemma's effort! Along the way.. we stopped at a camel farm and saw, well, some camels obviously.. and a dingo... then Uluru airport to pick up our last group member before heading off to Ayers Rock!Now, i wasn't really sure what to expect from Ayers Rock... I'd heard mixed things about it.. some said it was amazing and unmissable, others said ít's just a rock.. what's all the fuss about?'
So, I didn't really know what I'd think but i have to admit I'm with the former opinion... I thought it was awesome... ok, so really it is just a big rock but it's one of the world's natural wonders and it's pretty damn impressive if you ask me! It's believed that the part of it that can be seen above ground is only one eigth of it's actual size!! We reached the rock about lunchtime and after eating and checking out the visitor's centre, we made it to the rock itself and set out on the Base Walk... I think it's safe to say, that's the toughest thing I've ever attempted to do in my life! Some of you may call me a wimp but I will admit that i didn't quite finish the walk... ok, so it's a flat walk around the rock but in fairness it was 3pm, intense 40+ degree heat, no shade, no breeze and no respite from the sun whatsoever.. oh and there was about 6 of us that didn't finish it so i didn't feel quite so silly! Seriously though - I do wish I'd been able to but I felt so sick and had made sure I'd drunk plenty of water so knew it wasn't dehydration too. Picture shown is of us at the waterhole where we finally gave up on completing it! 
Anyway, after the aborted walk, we headed off to the 'Sunset' spot... to, quite clearly for those who aren't keeping up, see the sun set over the rock! I was really quite excited, although I'm not sure the sentiment was shared by others, as it had been slowly starting to thunder as we got closer to sundown.. I'd been really hoping we'd have a bit of an electrical storm while i was there as thought it would look amazing to see that over the rock - I wasn't disappointed! The pic's don't really do it justice but am quite chuffed to have managed to catch some lightening shots 
(although, truth be told, the smaller one can't be attributed to me, it's one of the guys from the group that got that one.. i just thought i'd pinch it to show you all on here - the other one is mine though i promise!) Given the nature of the weather that night i have to admit i didn't really take much notice of the sunset itself! We had dinner that night during sunset, then after the show, set off for our campsite.. all a little apprehensive about spending the night in a Swag under the stars with lots of scary Australian Spiders all around us.As it was, the storm grew stronger and the rain got heavier, we managed to get a camp fire going before the heavens opened and some of the swags got laid out but then loads of people decided that cos of the rain they were going to kip on the bus (highly uncomfortable option... if you'd seen the bus you'd understand!) I will admit, for a while there I too was tempted to seek the safe, dry haven of the bus, away from all those scary spiders but I caught myself just in time and realised I, along with you lot at home I can imagine, would be very disappointed in myself if I wimped out. So, I took a deep breath, checked my swag about 6 million times for spiders and climbed on in - very quickly so nothing to could sneak in there with me! I fell asleep with rain on my face while watching the lightening show... despite the threat of spiders it was amazing! - even if i was damp and cold in the morning (by which i mean 4am when we were woken so we were up in time for sunrise!)
Now, being in the desert, the toilet facilities aren't exactly what you'd call 'luxury' - our designated toilet was basically the ground behind the bus... it's safe to say Jem and I became very close friends on this tour, we were always too scared to pee on our own!! No glamour here in the desert boys and girls!!
Day 2 of the tour started with breakfast while watching the sunrise over the rock... this was wicked, although I have to admit couldn't beat the sunset and storm the night before. Once day had dawned we set off for the rock to see if we'd be able to climb it! I was in 2 minds as to whether to or not as there are so many notices from the aboriginals asking you not to.. we had a word with the tour guide and were told that contrary to people widely thinking this is due to religious and sacred reasons, it's mostly because the powers that be don't really want a death on their hands so try to deter people from climbing it! I decided that if the walk was open then i'd give it a go... it's a bit of a once in a lifetime thing and i didn't want to miss out!Turned out the walk was open, so at 8am off we set up what looked like an impossibly steep ascent! The first bit's kind of scary as there's no railing to hold on to but once you've made it past that bit, even though it gets steeper there's a safety rail to hang on to. It takes about an hour to walk to the top and it's actually only about 350m high but because it's so steep, and even at that time of the morning it's about 30 degrees, it's bl**dy hard!
I will admit to stopping for several rests.. when i made it half way up, I stopped and called Mum and Map... Luke (cute tour guide) had mentioned the signal was good up there so to take our phones as it was pretty cool to call home from up there) ... I was knackered and figured I'd made a decent effort and i could go down again pleased with myself. Mum agreed and said I should just go back if i wanted to.. Map on the other hand put me firmly in my place.. I believe his words were 'Get off your arse and get to the top girl, you'll never do this again and you'll be gutted if you give up now! Get going and text me when you make it!' He was of course right (although don't get used to hearing that Maplet!!) so after the stern pep talk from my little brother, I dragged myself up and set off for the top! I did make and would most definitely have been disappointed in myself if I'd given up! The picture shown is me at the top with the Olga's in the background! I figured I had to call someone from the top and as I'd already called Mum and Map (and sent the requested text on completion of my task!) I decided to make 2 calls, the first to Mat went unanswered thanks to him being a lightweight and being asleep in bed with his phone on silent - it was only 10.30pm UK time! Useless - I obviously left a voicemail telling him so! Then I called my Sister and Kev... this was slightly more successful, and comical... bearing in mind i was knackered, out of breath and it was pretty windy up at that height, my sister answered and I said 'hello, it's me!' - as you do... but got no response, then Kev came on the line and said hello so I repeated my greeting and got a 'who is it?' in return... i explained myself thinking 'what are these two up to!?' then he laughed and said he'd pass me back to Lotte... i then heard a sheepish sister saying 'oops, sorry, i thought you were a heavy breather!!!' Charming!!! ;0)
After we'd all managed the climb and made it back to the bus, we headed off for the Ogla's, another rock formation not too far away. This was just a short stop really, we had a little walk in there (easy stuff compared to the climb I'd just survived!) then stopped at a waterhole where Luke regaled us with tales of the rock, the olga's and the aboriginal people. Then it was back on board the bus for the journey to Kings Canyon... this took a fair few hours but we did manage a little stop for showers and to stock up on some drinks for the evening..bliss! When we reached the area, Luke had decided he wanted to go in search of a new place to camp for the night so we headed off in the bus, trailor on the back, to scour the desert... i think it was really just an excuse for Luke to amuse himself by throwing us around the back of the bus while he did the boy thing and drove offroad!! Child!! ;0) 
We did find a site without too much trouble though and myself and one of the other girls took it upon ourselves to seek out a suitable spot to designate as the 'loo' ... Luke's choice was rubbish as the ground was covered in spiky things... alright for you boys but girls you can imagine our pain!!!! With our 'toilet' duties completed, we all set up our swags, made a fire and got started on dinner - it was a clear night this time and the next couple of hours was spent chilling out under the amazing sky, the stars were just unbelievable and having the very important debate about which super power we'd have if we were a super hero (name and outfit design were obviously discussed too.. as i'm sure you'll all agree, I'm making good use of my time away discussing such important issues!!;0) For those of you as childish as me who are dying to know... i chose Invisibility.. my outfit kicks a*se but i don't have a name yet.. entries on the back of a postcard please!! Oh, and just to amuse us all.. we can now refer to Tour Guide Luke as the mighty... wait for it.... Glimmerman!!! Sorry Luke, couldn't resist including that little gem!! The following morning we had another early start when Jem, Ben and I found ourselves in stitches at the choice of song used by Glimmerman as our alarm call.. East 17 no less!! And yes, we did have a little comedy dance and sing-a-long.. you can imagine what it would've looked like should anyone have been watching a group of random tourists bopping away to East 17 at 5am in the middle of the desert!!!
Anyway, by 8am we had got oursevles, or Luke had got us to, Kings Canyon and ready to do the rim walk -there was an easy option or the proper rim walk.. given it was already about 25 degrees i was so tempted to take the easy option.. but again caught myself in time and set off on the proper rim walk... 2 minutes later I was regretting my decision! Not really.. the first bit was tough as it was a steep climb but it was well worth it, the views were unbelievable and we stopped at a waterhole for a swim too which was lush. The walk took a few hours and after that we headed off lunch all very grateful for a bit of a long drive so we could catch a few hours kip! 
After lunch we headed back in the direction of Alice Spring, with a little stop at a Camel Farm on the way...comedy! We all had a ride on the camels..as you can see from the pic's I looked highly amusing..was fun, though I'm not sure I could've stayed on for long.. they're not the comfiest of animals but then they probably don't appreciate us sitting on them either so fair play! 
Once we'd all had our turn it was back on the bus for the last leg of the journey back to Alice Springs... we arrived back about 5ish and were all looking forward to the air-conditioning of the dorms at Annie's Place not to mention the showers!! 
We all arranged to meet in the bar at 8ish for the traditional post tour piss up and despite the fact that we had a flight to Cairns to catch the following morning I managed to enter into the spirit of the occasion and the evening ended up involving practical jokes, people being thrown in the pool, piggy backs and early morning trips to the bakery!! Fun and Games! It's safe to say I was feeling a little delicate the next day! Was all good though, the tour was hard work but wicked and I'm so glad i did it.. would recommend to all! Sorry it's been so long since i posted anything on here, I don't know where the time goes.. can't believe I've been away nearly 5 months now! I hope everyone's well and not too bored of my ramblings - although in fairness, if you are... stop reading you fools!! xxx
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