Essex Girls, moths and scorpions.

So the Kings Canyon Hike was actually pretty good. That evening we stayed at a campsite. ;-). Lets discuss the facilities. We satyed at the same place- Yulara base camp and 'resort' for 3 nights I think. So when we stopped earlier in the day at a toilet break and on the north south border off we all went excited at the prospect of a toilet. Hole in the ground is what we found. Ok so needed the loo it'd be good enough. Checked under the seat to be sure I was safe alls good. Then there cam a shout from the lads loo next door. Greg had found a red back purched behind the lid- didn't check there did I.
Once at the camp we had proper loo's tres good. That evening alls well, there isn't a multitude of flies just silly moths but you can cope with them. Then they found a scorpion in the girls loos! Yuck. Next morning the moths had decided that moth suicide was the game and were dead in their thousands all over. Over the few days there were more spiders, moths and huge lizzards- but the lizzards are pretty cool.

We were woken really early 5am to go up to the look out over kata tjuta and ularu so off we went and once the sun had risen we were greated by fresh blueberry pancakes - hard life living in the outback.
That day we walked the vally of the winds which is through a small area of Kata Tjuta- it's probably the best of all the walks as it is a bit hilly but also there were some amazing views and just a general nice hike.
Now for the Essex Girls rant: So they booked a tour which stated camping, hiking etc and they brought suitcases- not so bad ok. Then they moned like hell about the accomodation, wore plimsoles for hiking hills with lots of shale and slippy bits without doing up their laces. So we were all walking happily along- not fast- and we had to keep stopping and waiting for them to catch up and moan abit more. They always wanted people to do things for them and didn't help with anything. Proper little princesses! AAGGHH.
After the vally of the winds we went on operation budgie smuggler. For any of you who don't know budgie smugglers are the tiny mens swimming trunks that Ozzies seem to be obsessed with.
So operation budgie smuggler was a plan to sneak in to the 5 star hotel at yulara resort rather than use the crap communal pool. We thought that Rob the guide was joking and had some deal with the hotel but I'm now not too sure. So we did a reconosonce (spelling???) around the outside of the hotel and were shown the side and main entrances and then over a period of time we were dropped off in two's and three's to sneak into the pool side. It was quite nice and there were free fluffy towels and everything which is excellent after 5 months of crappy travel towels.
Operation budgie smuggler over then we went back to the base camp for a proper barbie and to watch the sunset over ularu.
Our final night we sneaked up to the lookout with our swags and slept at the lookout - at the top of a hill so that we could watch the sunrise over ularu for a final time without having to get up.
Just a quick note- the Essex girls didn't come to the lookout and stayed down in the camp and tried to sleep early which was silly cus everyone stayed there drinking and it was quiet on the hill. HA HA HA.

So on the final morning we walked around the base of Ularu which was good- it's a flat walk but a suprising 9km around the base. It was quite good and Rob told us some of the creation stories before we set off. We walked at our own pace this time- no waiting for moaners... Yippie.

just to let you all know we didn't eat bush tucker actually we were fed like kings. Our proper outback evening we had paella (can't spell) and we also got things like steak, pasta, fajhitas etc. Well done Rob our guide who was awake V early ever day, cooked drove and even drank with us at night- god knows when that man slept.

Post photo's soon.
Toodle pip. Hol

Something Positive??????

Hello y'all out ther.
Sorry for the lack of communication from us both but we haven't written anything for a while due to a lack of positive comments to share.
So eventually we moved on from Sydney on the 4th of Jan to melbourne and had a wander around there for a few days- t'was ok. Then moseyed on down to Adelaide and in to a horrid, HORRID hostel in 43 degree heat and no aircon- Ok we thought lets open the window for some breeze. The window opened on to a consevatory like corridor so that really helped.
So after scorching weather in adelaide we commenced our trip to the red centre.
Off we set on a 6 day tour throught the outback towards Alice Springs.
First stop Coober Peddy a mining town where the majority of people live in caves cus it's so hot. Very strange place but we got to sleep in a cave and see a cave house and go into the opal mines, which was pretty cool.
Then onwards (just to point out we drove bout 10 hours the first day and bout 6 the next- Oz is huge) to the middle of nowhere to camp out in our swags. If you don't already know a swag looks like a body bag with a camping roll in the bottom. So we camped out under the stars which were excellent, in the middle of the dessert for a night and pee'd in bushes! Yuck! Alright for the blokes.

The next morning was shit as we all woke to be covered in millions of horrid flies so we made a hasty retreat.

We then travelled for hours and hours on the bus to some mountain ranges had a look at the huge vastness of the place and drove on for hours and hours again. The next day we hikes up heart attack hill in kings canyon and down into the waterhole, which for once was actually full as it had rained loads in the last few weeks.

Just to let you know the desert doesn't look deserty- it's quite green at the moment and covered in trees and some evil spiky grass called spinifex.

More later......