So, Thursday I arrived in Alice Springs... and the second I stepped off the plane, and felt my skin burning under 45degree heat (at 5pm!!!) I regretted it!!! Man... it was hot, and sandy, and my bag had managed to get soooo much heavier during my stay in Perth!!!
Luckily the hostel had a pool - where I spent the next two hours cooling down and making some friends... we decided to head into town to find a bar (equally therapeutic in the heat!!) and something to eat!!! Randomly, we decided to ask a local policeman directions to one of the bars... and ended up getting a lift in the back of his car!!! Crazy stuff!!! (We all had our photos taken in his hat!!!)
The next morning it was a SERIOUSLY early start (tho they did get worse!!)... we were off on an all singing, all dancing... proper BUSH CAMPING ADVENTURE!!! (I swear... I must be crazy!!!) My ex-boyfriend, who once tollerated a night in a mountain hut in Borneo, with me screaming everytime I imagined a cockroach crawling over me, would have died if he could have seen me camping out, under the stars, six hours drive from the nearest hospital... with only a sleeping bag to protect me from all those nasty crawling spiders and insects!!! Heehee - I even suprised myself!!! It was actually a great laugh - under the stars, a cool breeze, (and i don't know if it was the alcohol or the pure enjoyment of the situation that made me completely forget the bugs!!!) Maybe I'm just getting brave in my old age!!!
We headed up towards Ayres Rock - via a nightmare hiking trail round the Olgas (I think our guide was ready to give up on us - we'd had a few delays early in the morning due to the air conditioning in our van breaking down and arrived for this hike, mid-afternoon - it was sooo hot - and fearing the 9km hike the following morning... we winged and winged, having returned hot, bothered, and each having drunk 2litres of water in the space of 45minutes!!!)
This was followed by a few glasses of champagne with crackers and dip as we watched the sunset over Ayres Rock... admittedly the sparkling wine was drunk from plastic glasses - but hey, it adds to the experience!!!
The second morning we got up at 4am!!! But it was neccesary in order to not only watch the sunrise, but also to complete a 9km hike around the base of Ayres Rock before 9am and it got too hot!!! After visiting the Aboriginal cultural centre and finding out more of their history and beliefs, we started towards Kings Canyon - and our second night out under the stars! This time, we were closer to a main campsite - so we all made full use of the pool (disgustingly dirty - but when its that hot - you don't even notice!!!) before driving up to our private camp, to sit under the stars, eat dinner, drink beer, and discuss the likelihood of being eaten by a dingo in our sleep!!! (Apparently not that likely - but we were warned to hide our shoes and other belongings to prevent the dingos stealing them through the night!!!)
Unfortunately, our night of drinking and dingo watching (yep - they do exist and yep - they were meters away as we sleeped!!!) was followed by another 4am start and another long hike - through Kings Canyon... it was great!! (And followed by a return to the pool whilst we cooked up lunch on the bbq!) Then our return to Alice...
We decided no trip would be complete without a big end of tour celebration... therefore we headed out to dinner, then for drinks, and then our lovely guide decided it would only be fair to show us 'skanky mankys'!!! (Or somethin like that!!) - the late night spot in Alice, which occupied us well into the early hours, before sad goodbyes and flights to various locations around the country!!!
For me it was on to Adelaide... and I promise I will try and fill you in on the exploits there ASAP (Its difficult due to lack of opportunity to use the internet on these expeditions - hence why i'm running so far behind!!!)
