We spent 8 days letting the others rush on our way through the outback from Adelaide to Alice Springs. We spent most nights camping out under the stars (when it wasn't raining - whoever said it never rains in the outback was lying!). Swags are definetly the way to go - kind of giant canvas sleeping bags with inbuilt mattresses, much better than tents and much closer to nature...
During the days we travelled hundreds of kilometres through barren and remote countryside visiting some beautiful and bizarre places. We discovered that to make an outback town all you need is a pub. Our favourite, William Creek, has a population of just 10 but we were there on Halloween so it was party night - at least there's no-one there to complain about the noise and the bar staff are probably the most drunk people there. Angorichina, ran it a close second as we found ourselves having a few drinks with the locals outside the shop but needing subtitles as the strine was so strong.
We went on some great hikes through the Flinders, Uluru, Kata Jtuta and Kings Canyon with some incredibly beautiful scenery - I did find myself amazed I was there and seeing it in a person a few times. We also saw a couple of cool sunsets and a lot more sunrises (4.30am starts are a bit tough when it's 3 in a row) - but it was so lovely that you didn't really mind. Plus, you needed to be up that early to do the walks before the heat kicked in.
All in all we had a fantastic trip with great people (Europe on tour - 11 people from 6 different countries) and memories to last a lifetime.
Sarah
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