The Olga's

We followed our day by a big walk around Kata Tjuta, (the olgas) so we could burn those pancakes off. These huge rocks are just next to Uluru and in the same national park.

Aires rock at sunrise

We woke at 5am to get to see Uluru at sunrise. It was busy with a lot of tourists but the pancakes were tasting good as the camera's were snapping in the cold morning air.

Nights camp at Uluru national park

On the way to Uluru national park we stopped off at a petrol station outback Australia styleeee. It was hot, rugged and very red. There was also a few other outback tours like our own stopping off there.

Kings Canyon

We stayed at Kings Canyon station 650metres above sea level. The fire was hot and the swags sort of comfy. In the morning we went to Kings Canyon and the Garden or Eden.

Kings Canyon and the Garden or Eden as Lonely Planet (LP) explains; after a steep climb of 100m cliff face, the walk skirts the canyon's rim and then enters the Garden or Eden: a lush pocket of cycads around a natural pool. The next section of the walk winds through a maze of giant beehive domes.

After this we went to Uluru national part to sleep the night and get a view of the Aires rock sunset from our campsite

The Ghan: Saturday 15th August

The alarm woke us at 6:30am and we slowly collected our backpacks and walked to the shuttle to take us to the train. The Ghan was celebrating its 80th birthday running from Adelaide to Alice Springs and completion of the line from Alice Springs to Darwin was only in 2004. There were other random facts that the P.A system spat out throughout the journey. We got on and noticed the feeling of travelling all them years ago.

The crew were wearing old school clothes and we had plenty of leg room to spread ourselves out. At midday we arrived at Katherine train station before setting off again for Alice Springs 4 hours later. The sunset was really nice over the bush with the iron rich red sand, plus what suprised me was the number of trees. I read Digital Fortress by Dan Brown all the way there which managed to take up a considerable amount of time.

Sunday 16th August:

I kept waking up randomly in the night and the train was stationary. Wierd! At 6am the dawn broke and it was amazing to watch as the sky went from black to orange to blue. At 7am the train started moving again and we were on the final leg to Alice Springs.

We arrived at 11am and caught the shuttle bus to Toddy's backpackers where we had our own room, kitchen units and bathroom. After having a look around town it seemed a lot like Darwin except hilly.

Jim Jim Falls

Jim Jim falls ha no water flowing from it bit there were huge plunge pools to go swimming in. These weren't as warm as the Maguk pools but great fun all the same. On the way we saw a green ant nest inside a plant. Our guide explained to us that if you grab them by the head and eat them they taste like limes. after a few try's of catching them they were a tasty bushtucker snack.

Twin Falls

These two falls are called twin falls but because its the dry season only one of them is flowing. We had a boat trip up the billabong through steep cliffs and a walk through rain forest to find these amazing waterfalls. It reminded me of Jurassic park as we travelled through and was half expecting to see a dinosaur.

Maguk

The pools at Maguk could possibly be the best part of Australia so far, or high up there. The short walk in was rewarded with pools 15 metres deep with crystal clear bath warm water. The hot 30 C heat made jumping in even more of a treat.

Aboriginal art (but look at the possible rock climbing here, its amazing)

We arrived at an ancient aboriginal mountain where there was plenty of art to look at, it was really interesting and our guide gave us lots of information on the paintings. I couldn't help but wonder though as I looked at the rock and started to see some lines and holds that these huge rocks would be amazing for climbing on. I asked our guide if its possible but he explained that outdoor pursuits aren't permitted in the park. A shame because there would be some fantastic mountain biking there.

Welcome to Switzerland

This is because the Kakadu national park that we just spent 3 days and 2 nights in was as big as Switzerland. The first stop we took was a billabong where there was approximately a croc every 50 metres. We saw plenty in the boat as we traveled along as well as loads of birds. There was also house boats on the billabong to.

Mindili Market

On Thursdays and Sundays there is a market on in the evening at mindili beach, its good to get there for the sunset and not to eat beforehand as there was loads of amazing food stalls around. There were people selling all sorts on stalls and live music as well with a guy playing 4 didgeridoos and his mate banging on the drums. People come down and have BBQ's and is the main attraction on these days. A few of us went down from the hostel to see what was happening.

Crocasaurous (don't know how its spelt)

In the middle of the day, after getting up, sunbathing by the pool and having a swim it can get quite hot so we thought we would go say hello to the crocs. We saw the croc from the crocodile dundee film, got to hold a croc, read lots of signs about crocs and see a lot of croc stuff.

Plus we saw the main attraction of swimming in a glass cage suspended into the croc pool. The idea was for people to be under water with the crocsas they swam past but all that we saw was the croc having a snooze on the bank every time people went in.

12 months ago this wasn't here

The convention centre and lagoon in Darwin are very new and building is still been completed (they were concreting the BBQ's in place when we were there last). We have spent many a day down here but the nights are good for getting some good shots.