I'm in the middle of Australia!

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What a nice sleep in!
Lazy day in Alice Springs.
Cook, eat, sight seeing.

It was so nice to be able to sleep in and not have to be ready by 6AM this morning! Especially knowing the next three days I'll have to be ready by 5AM. UGH! But it'll be worth it since Kings Canyon and Uluru will be in the cards. That’ll be two nights of camping out under the stars. We’ll be sleeping in something called a swag. I haven't seen one myself yet but have been told that it is sort of like a self contained sleeping "unit" with inflatable mattress and you insert a sleeping bag and the cover can close up over you. So it'll be nice to be able to sleep under the stars at night. Our guide yesterday said it has been over a year (May 22) since it last rained in Alice Springs. They had a little bit of precipitation in December but not enough to be recorded. Apparently when it does rain there are serious threats of flash floods. For example the cattle station we stayed at the other night was cut off for about 6 weeks the last time it flooded. Mind you they have a 7 kilometre drive way! He took photos of his kids rowing around the property in a rowboat. It was quite a sight.

Looking in the Lonely Planet this morning there isn't too much to see around the small town of Alice Springs. Well, there are a few museums and a Botanical Garden but I think I'm feeling a little touristed out today especially after being on the bus the last three days and then the next six days I'll be travelling as well. Mind you the distances will be a little less than the last few days.

Even though a large part of the last three days has been travelling on a bus, I would have to say the three day tour was quite enjoyable. I was able to see some interesting things like the real Australian Outback - birds, kangaroos, guanas, dingoes, snakes - giant termite hills, dry, dry and red, red dirt. Also meeting some of the other 25 travellers on board the bus was nice. Lorraine from Ireland . Doreen from Ireland. Jo from England. Leanne from Scotland. Gin from England. Miyoshi from Japan. Cecelia from Switzerland. Thomas from Holland. Eun-Jun from Korea. Marcel from Switzerland. Penny from France. You get the picture. I guess when you're spending 24/7 with people on a bus and shared accommodations you start to get to know people a little bit. Lorraine will be in France in August so we'll see if our paths cross again.

Okay, I've been online way too long once again...BUT at least I'm up-to-date with my blog more or less (think I still have to make an entry for my day up in Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Forest...) until tomorrow when more adventures begin!

Time to shower up and get ready to go out for dinner since that temporary kitchen at the hostel sucks big time!

I likely will not be online again until Adelaide at the very soonest. So there will be lots to fill you in the next time I'm blogging. Til then, take care and hope to see some messages from you in my inbox!
Hugs and stuff.
Bonz

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