Alice, Uluru & Kata Tjuta

We flew from Sydney to Alice Springs. We had one afternoon to explore Alice and browsed in the shops on the main street. We were quiet glad of anything that had air conditioning it was that hot!!

The next day we began our 3 day trip which will take us to Kings Canyon, The Olgas (Kata Tjuta) and Ayers Rock (Uluru).

We arrived at Kings Canyon by mid-afternoon after Panky (our driver) had driven some 200 miles through emptiness, with only a couple of towns (with a house and maybe a shop) to break up the journey. We had stopped en route at Stuart's camel farm and Kate & I had a ride (or run!) on a camel!

We climbed up to the rim and had a brief geology lesson before walking around it. The views from here were spectacular! We stopped at the Garden of Eden pool for a well needed cool down!

That night we camped out in swag bags under the stars! For those of you who haven't used a swag before - its like a thick sleeping bag with a mattress in it. It is also waterproof(ish) and has a section to put over your head if it rains!

The next day we got up before dawn so that we could see the sunrise!! We'd pulled off the road and climbed up a small sand hill and this was the view that we got - it was so worth getting up!!!

We then carried on to see The Olgas or Kata Tjuta (in Aboriginal). We walked to the base of them and Panky gave us another geology lesson before we did a 2 hour walk through them. They were massive but what we see above ground is only a fraction of their height!

That afternoon, we headed over to Ayers Rock or Uluru. We parked up and began to cook dinner (which was spaghetti bolognese made with camel!) and ate dinner watching the rock while the sun went down.

That night, we slept out in the outback - Panky had been driving along and suddenly pulled off the road and drove us out into the bush! After collecting fire wood, we sat round the camp fire playing the odd drinking game! We went to sleep under the stars again in our swag bags

The final day of the tour saw us getting up at 4am again! We jumped into the van and pulled up near Uluru before sunrise. We grabbed breakfast (before the army of flies descended) and saw the sun rise to the left of the rock. Due to the clouds, the rock didn't change colour but it was a pretty impressive sight!

We then drove to the rock and did the 9 km walk around the base of it. It was a pretty impressive sight! We saw some of their sacred areas, lots of rock art and learnt about the Aboriginal stories about the rock.

We then began the long trip back to Alice (thank goodness I wasn't driving!) It was also a relief to be able to get into a shower and away from the flies! That evening, our group got together for dinner before finishing off the night in Bojangles.

Our last week in Sydney

As we began our last week in Sydney we couldn't believe where the time had flown - we'd been in Sydney for almost 2 and a half months!

We decided to have a fun packed week and it began with a fancy dress party at Scary Canary's! The theme was Cowboys and Cowgirls but we didn't have much so Joe, Kate & I (photo on left) were given cowboy hats! Most of our housemates were there along with the regulars from the hostel that I worked in - Home Backpackers - and some make a great effort like Ellie, Ian & Katie (photo on right).

That weekend, Kate, Rachel, Lincoln and I headed to Palm Beach (where they film Home & Away). Its about 2 hours north of the city (which we didn't realise) but we got to spend the afternoon playing on the beach.

That evening, we meet up with Kate's old boss from Cardiff RFC, Andrew, and had dinner at the Newport Arms - a massive pub whose beer garden backs onto the sea.

That night, we went out to celebrate our housemate Mak's birthday. We began at The Gaff then moved onto the Chinese Laundry (but by this time there were only 6 of us left - Mak, David, Lyndsey, Kat, Ian and I). When that closed, we headed back to The Gaff, pushing Kat in a trolley all the way from Darling Harbour to Oxford Street!! We stayed in The Gaff until it closed at 6am! After the walk home, crawled into bed at 7am!

That afternoon, Kate & I went to our second AFL game - Sydney Swans v Brisbane Lions - at the SCG. We managed to understand the rules this time and it was quite enjoyable. Sydney won 96-69 with their star player, Barry Hall, getting 4 goals.

That Wednesday, we went back to Scary Canary's for a Pyjama Party! As I didn't want to ruin my only pair of PJ's, I borrowed a pair from the fancy dress box at the hostel! Some of the boys from the hostel (Simon, Mak, David & Ian) did themselves proud with their efforts - with Simon french plaiting his hair!

On our last full day in Sydney, Kate and I went back to our rugby roots and caught a Super 14 game - the Waratahs v the Highlanders at the Aussie Stadium. We could help but get exciting (it'd been almost a year since we'd seen a live game of rugby) and picked up our free bam bams (inflatable sticks that you bang together to make a drum sound) and watched at fireworks went off at the teams took to the pitch. It was a close game with the Waratahs loosing out by a point (25-26) but they would have won it if they'd got a conversion in the dying the seconds!

It was a great way to finish our time in Sydney and tomorrow we go back on the road as we fly to Alice Springs.

Ramsey Street, Aussie Rules and 12 Apostles!

For the Easter weekend, we headed down to Melbourne for a long weekend with our friend Darren (who we'd met in Brazil in November). The flight only lasted an hour and a half but we still got breakfast and a hot cross bun!

We dropped off our bags at Darren's house and headed into the city. We parked at the casino and walked along the river. As it was a public holiday, there were lots of street performers out and about. We walked through China Town and into Fitzroy Gardens where Captain Cook's cottage is. We decided to have a look around the cottage (which took all of 5 minutes as it is so small) and then strolled round Fitzroy gardens and came across a Fairy Tree (someone had painted fairies on it).

We then headed into St Kilda's (which has lots of bars and restaurants) and walked down the pier for afternoon tea as the sun was setting. We got the tram back to the Casino and then had trouble finding Darren's car (I mean, how hard can it be to find a yellow 4x4!!!!)

The next day we'd booked to do the Neighbours tour (much to the embarrassment of Darren)!! We had to get the train into the city and boarded it at Batman station!

We were picked up by a mini bus with the Neighbours logo emblazoned on the side!! As we drove up to Erinsborough High, they played an old episode on the bus - we got Madge & Harold's wedding!! We posed outside the front gate before wandering around the outside of the school.

The next stop was Pin Oak Court (aka Ramsay Street). It was smaller than expected and we were given a quick chat about all the houses and who has lived in them over the years. We were then given the Ramsey Street sign to have our photo's taken with it. We drove into St Kilda's on the way back and met Janelle Timmons (Nell Feeney) and got the chance to ask her questions and have our photo's taken with her.

That afternoon, we headed over to the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) to watch an Aussie Rules game - Richmond Tigers v Sydney Swans.

It was an exciting game but we kept having problems understanding the rules - especially with the scoring (you get 6 points if you get the ball through the middle posts and 1 point if you get it through the outside posts which is termed a 'behind' but you also get a point if the defending team pushes it through the posts to prevent a 6 point goal!) We sort of understood that by the time we finished! Richmond lost 72-88.

We headed into St Kilda's again for dinner and ended up in a Thai restaurant and had deep fried ice cream for desert - it was surprisingly good!

The next day we got up early and jumped in the car - we were going down the Great Ocean Road to see the Twelve Apostles! We stopped at Geelong for breakfast and Kate and I had chocolate French toast - a great way end Lent (we'd given up chocolate!)

We were back on the road and very soon the ocean appeared to our left and gorgeous beaches came and went. We stopped at Wye River mid afternoon in the hunt for Koala's but they must have been hiding as we didn't find any!

At dusk we arrived at the Twelve Apostles - they were a pretty amazing sight!

We then carried on to Loch Ard Gorge and the blowhole and then we went to London Bridge before we began the long return journey!

The next day we went to the Melbourne Gaol where Ned Kelly was imprisoned and executed. It was very informative and showed the history of their notorious prisoners and about the first executions.

We went to Brunswick Street for lunch before taking Darren's dogs Hamish & Max out for a long walk where they chased rabbits and ran in and out of the river! Then it was time for Kate & I to catch our flight back to Sydney.

Darren - thanks very much for the great weekend!

A Weekend in Wollongong

We decided to take a weekend out of the city and headed to Wollongong. We were going to be staying with Nick and Kristy. We'd never met either one of them but Kate's friend Jessica knew Nick and he was quite happy for us to come and stay!

We arrived at Fairy Meadow train station where Nick met us. After meeting Kristy and their pets (including a gorgeous black Labrador puppy called Gus) we headed out to Thirroul where they were having a craft fair. We browsed around the various stalls and the antique shops before driving along the Ocean Cliff Road - a road that goes out over the sea.

For lunch, we stopped off at the Scarbrough Hotel and sat in the beer garden overlooking the sea.
We then drove up to another view point and were able to see the Ocean Cliff Road from above and we watched the hang gliders take off from the top of the cliff.

We carried on our tour of the area and headed to Shell Cove and the blowhole at Kiama. The sea was against us and we didn't get to see the full affect of the blowhole!

By mid afternoon, we headed over to Gerringong where Nick had a swim in the sea while Kate & I sat on the beach watching the waves. We drove up to Gerroa and saw the 7 Mile Beach before heading back into Wollongong for a coffee before dinner. The sun was setting and the sky turned a beautiful shade of pink and purple!

We had barbeque'd meat for dinner (most things over here are cooked on the bbq!) with salad.

The next morning, we headed out to the coffee shop at Wollongong beach and watched the surfers attempt to ride the big waves that they have down here. We could have spent all day watching them but we had to tear ourselves away and catch the train back to Sydney!

Nick & Kristy - thanks for your hospitality - we had a great time!