Today was a long travel day. It was up early on the road by 6:30 am. It was about 700k to the wharf to get the boat to long island. This is a day where they will leave people behind if you are not ready in time as we have to make the last ferry of the day. No one on my tour was left behind but I know someone was on another tour last year. We stopped at Townsville for lunch for an hour or two where we could shop and stock up on supplies. We were unable to buy alco to take to the island though however I think a few people managed to sneak some on the boat across in their luggage. We arrived in Airlee Beach and were given around 45 minutes ... read more

The next morning we got up early and packed up our swags and then did our optionals. I did the Camel ride. Others did the AVT's. Everyone seemed to enjoy it enough. After that we headed back to Alice Springs. We stopped for our group photo at Simpsons Gap. It was our down and dirty photo so we all laid on the ground and stacked on top of each other. It was a slightly painful photo but lots of fun. We then stopped at Anzac Hill the look out over the entire Alice Springs and also the telegraph station. Tonight's optional dinner was the blow out dinner. It was really worth it out of the meals you pay for. If you do not do the optional you can still go to the restaurant and order your ... read more

Today was our long long day but very worth it. I cant remember what time we got up and left but i think it was 4 or 5 am. We traveled to Uluru and had breakfast and watched the sunrise over the rock. It was the rock we actually watched and not the sun rise. The rock actually changes colour as the sun comes up it goes from grey to purple to pinky to the orange and red during the day. We took lots of pictured and then were given a few hours to walk around the base of the rock (takes about 2 2.5 hrs). We walked around the rock. Along the way some of us ran into an old lady who fell over and we had to help her and call an ambulance. It ... read more

Today we stopped at Wycliff Wells the most famous place in Australia for UFO sightings. The highlight of today would be stopping at Devil's Marbles. Majority of people found that as impressive or more impressive then Ularu. The devils marbles are large boulder all stacked on top of each other. They look really cool. It is a sacred site. The Aboriginals believed the Devils Marbles were the Rainbow Serpents eggs. Other people believed they were from a UFO. The rocks scared people in the early days. The place is all flat and dry nothing around and then suddenly the weird shaped rocks appear. The rocks are fun to look around and explore. If you have a good mind you can also make some entertaining photos. People have photos holding up the rocks on their backs, splitting ... read more

We traveled south from Kakadu to Katherine. We stopped at a swim at a waterfall. Then we headed into Nitmiluk National Park and Katherine George. I did the optional George cruise. It was no where near as good as the Kakadu cruise but it was nice to be in the gorge and see the area. There were fresh water crocs but only a few people saw them. We went past a few breeding grounds. The river was low so the boat could not go through the entire gorge system but we got to get out and hike it and go for a swim. There was an Aboriginal display too of weapons and Didgeridoos. Contiki people got to have a try at the Didge. That night for Dinner we celebrated a birthday for one of the travelers ... read more