Alice Springs to Adelaide

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So a 6.30am start on the road and 6 days to cover 3000km. A new tour group of 11, and a different route operator. The first stop was lunch which was an improvement on the previous tour. We finally arrived at King's canyon around 1.30 starting the hike at 2pm. The first part of the hike is called heart attack hill, and yes it lives up to its name with 2 rest stops till you reach the top. Once at the top three view was spectacular. The rest of the hike was much easier although my knees were still hurting from the other days hike and small fall. Along the walk we went down to a water hole where the aboriginal land owners traditionaly collect water. It was a peaceful, calm and cool place to rest in the middle of the hike. The vegetation was much more lush around the water than the rest of the canyon. The hike took a total of 4hrs and after getting more water we headed to the camping site. We stopped halfway there to gather some fire wood for the evening.
The cattle station was smaller than others but still allowed privacy for the group. While getting some fuel for the bus we had a quick wander and spotted a kangaroo, it was being fed and in an enclosure with some cows. As we approached a way out back tour bus pulled in. It was full of the guys from the previous tours! As I turned to wave a cow licked my arm... We ran over and said hello before we had to get back on the bus.
Once at the site I sorted out the fire while the others started dinner. We had curry and after dinner we learnt how to use a swag. This is a canvas bag slightly bigger than a sleeping bag. It has a small mattress in it and a flap that goes over your head if it's raining. You then put your sleeping bag inside and once your in zip everything up. So your head is left exposed, which is great for seeing stars, if your wearing glasses! Hallie and I went off to see if we could find the way out back tour site and once inside we joined in singing round the camp fire and saying hello to everyone! About 10pm we headed to bed and curled up in the swags they were warmer than I was expecting but when I woke up halfway through the night to go to the loo I got really cold and couldnt warm up properly so slept in my hoody and with my head buried deep in the sleeping bag and swag.

We got up early and left the site at 7am having rolled the swags tightly to prevent and getting in whilst we drove (they get tied to the top of the tailer) and drove to the uluru resort just outside the national park. We had collected fire wood along the way as well as looking for grubs. We quickly got the fire wood off the trailer and the swags out (not unrolled just put in a pyramid) and started lunch. We had egg and cheese muffins (add bacon for meat eaters). Before packing up and heading for Kata Tjuta, which means many heads. This is a huge rock formation created by the same geological event that created Uluru. We walked the full valley of the winds hike. This was easier than yesterday's hike but just as rewarding, when you reach the Karu lookout the winds are huge, they get funnelled by the rock formation and increase through the gap. It felt like we were in a wind tunnel and had to keep hold on lose clothing (such as hats, mine nearly blew away). The path of the walk had been designed by the aboriginal land owners to allow visitors to view the beauty of the area without trespassing onto the sacred lands with deep meaning to them. I was also pleased to hear that they recive 15% of the parks income which is used to help the community, previously paying for a school and pool for the children to learn the culture better. After finishing the walk (which took 3.5hrs) we headed out of the park. Stopping on a road, where we could watch the sun set over Kata Tjuta and started dinner, while some others played football. As we sat down for dinner we saw a passing car and invited them to join us, in return they did the washing up and we then headed back to camp. Upon arrival we found another group had joined on the other side of our camp. We quickly got the fire started before enjoying a hot shower, before heading to bed early, we wanted to get going early to watch the sun rise over uluru.

We got up quickly and rolled the swags, Pilling then up for later, and headed over to the Talinguru Nyakunytjaku viewing area. We quickly set up for breakfast before hiding in our sleeping bags (it may be 28c during the day but at night its 3c and mornings are very cold before the sun is up) we munched away on our toast and sipped or tea whilst enjoying the sun rise and the beautiful colours of uluru. After washing up and packing breakfast away we went round to the cultural centre, where we learnt the aboriginal side of the story upon meeting 'white man' as well as soon of the creation stories. I took the opportunity to get myself a bag made by aboriginal people trelling part of the rainbow serpents dreams. We then headed to the Base walk around uluru. There are very sensitive areas that you can't photo as the aboriginal people belive that if your take the photo with you, you are taking some of the spirt and meaning with you. We went into some of the caves along the way including the teaching caves and kitchen cave.
Uluru was not how I had imagined from all the pictures I have seen, is much more rugged, with huge cuts and grazes in the walls, it's not even as flat on the top as I had thought. All these little imperfections made it an even more magical place, there was a water hole 3/4s of the way round, it was so peaceful and a contrast to the typical view of uluru, with big lush green plants.
Once we reached the end of the walk we sat and had lunch in the car park watching others climb uluru (which you can still do at your own risk, however you are then treading on religious grounds for the Anangu people (the aboriginal people that own this land) and they do ask that you don't climb and respect their religion).
After lunch we had some time to chill at camp whilst the guide (Sam) got more supplys. Around 4pm we headed back out to a sun set viewing area and watched the sun set gloriously over uluru, which changed color slightly and affected the colour of the sky surrounding it. We ate dinner with a marvellous background before heading to camp and to bed (after setting a nice big fire).

We left camp at 6am aiming for Coober Pedy (white man digging) only to find the first petrol station to be empty, this is quite common in the outback, with stations running out once a month on average, so we continued hoping to make it to the next petrol station. We were in luck and managed to continue doing for lunch at another petrol station that was running low, we even saw the lorry train pull up to fill the petrol stations tanks just after the bus filled up. If we had arrived after the lorry train we would not have been able to fill up for over 1hr. After finishing lunch we headed off again. Stopping just outside Coober Pedy, there were huge mounds where people are still mining opals, created by the digging machines as they digg down to the opal layers. Once inside the town we had a quick tour in the bus of where everything was. Before heading to our accommodation for the night, a huge cavern dug into the hillside providing cool in the heat of the day and heat in the cold of night. Once we had claimed a bed and dumped our belongings we went over to the opal mine museum learning the history of opals and Australian opals. Once the tour had finished we were given the opportunity to buy opals from the local mines, I bought myself a ring.
We had some free time before dinner so we showered and changed, it was nice to have a bed and some room to change in. We then went over the opal mine museum (it's an actual walk way as the museum like our hostel is underground and after a few steps your on the roof....it's a bit strange but I really liked it) and headed to the pizza place for dinner.
After dinner we walked to a local kangaroo sanctuary that saves baby kangaroos who have been orphaned by hunters or cars. We were able to feed and pet the older kangaroos and even stroke some baby kangaroos. After making a donation I headed over the museum and to bed.

We were on the road by 7 and felt slightly refreshed from a night in a warm and cozy bed. Stopping mainly for fuel. We stopped by a salt Lake for pictures, where Sam was complaining that he could smell a blown out tyre but couldn't see it. When we stopped next four fuel he spotted that one of the tyres on the trailer was going flat, so the tyre was changed. Then the starter motor wouldn't start so the bus had to be pushed in an attempt to jump start it. Thankfully the bus started after only one attempt and we continued to Beautiful valley (that is the actual name of where we camped!). We stopped at a small town on the outskirts of the bomb testing area used by the uk and near the satiate area that is rumoured to have been involved in the Vietnam war by the USA.
Once we had arrived I set about starting the fire with Hallie and we set up camp, that evening was really cold and we went to bed early just to get warm (I even borrowed a blanket from Sam to stay warmer).

We were up early again and headed to the findings range on the way up we discovered that we were all so cold because the temperature had dropped to -3c during the night! So naturally a hike is just the thing to warm you up! We headed down into a gorge, which had more water in it than normal, meaning the path was sometimes under the water... So we carefully picked our way through the river on stepping stones and the short 45min hike turned into 1.5hr hike but the views and landscape were amazing.
Once back in the bus we headed to a small town where at last I could post nanas post card and a small parcel home! We stopped in a park for lunch before heading off for some wine tasting. This was very much enjoyed by all with some of us buying a bottle for our onwards journeys. By 4.30pm we reached Adelaide and checked into our accommodation. We said our goodbyes and ate mainly separately, with me going to bed early as I had to get up at 4am to get to the airport for a 6am flight to Cairns.

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