Perth part 2

Day 95 to day 108 

I thought I'd do a similar thing to my pervious Perth post and combine all the activities we'd done into one long ramble! 

When I got back to Perth, that evening K and I went to see Paramore at Perth arena. Such a good gig and they played all the songs I loved when I was K's age. 

Paramore

E and I went twice to adventure world once I was back from Broome. It's a water and theme park and was great fun! The big kid inside of me loved going on the big drop, the racing water slides on mats and the ones on the double rubber rings. E made me go on a scary one that spun around until I felt motion sick! E loved it..... I was shown up by an 11 year old!

I spent a day pampering myself, getting my hair cut and my nails done with the voucher I'd been given by my family for Christmas. The salon had massage chairs which I loved playing with all the different settings although it's strange feeling like I'm being punched by a chair!

Having my nails done

We visited Kalamunda History Village which was really interesting to see town set in the 30s. We drove the old railway zig zag track down the Perth Hills which was stunning. We got some amazing views over Perth and you realise how narrow Perth is. It extends for miles of suburbs north and South but East to west it's only a few suburbs across. In the afternoon we went to a beautiful family run orchard where we tried a few of the ciders they produce there. Well it would have been rude not to have done! 

Lovely ciders

On day 99 (how can I have been here for nearly 100 days) I met up with a few of the girls from the Broome tour at Cottesloe beach for a lovely relaxing day of sunbathing, swimming when it became too hot on the sand and a massive fish and chips sunset supper. 

Cottesloe Beach

Fish and chips at sunset

I spent a day watching the hobbit part 1 and 2 and one afternoon we went to Rollaways, a roller skate disco, which took me back to being 7 and going to the ones at Whitton school and playing the games like dodge ball.

One evening we went to a music pub quiz where I actually managed to get a few answers that no one else knew! We came second by only half a point! So close and yet so far from the food voucher to eat at the restaurant! 

K and I did a really interesting free tour around Perth city centre. We first of all found the bench from Notting Hill in Queens Park. On the tour it was really cool having all these buildings pointed out, going into places I would never have known to and hearing the stories. Only problem was that our guide seemed to preferred Perth in the 'good old days' before all the glass high rise buildings! 

Notting Hill bench

In the evening we went back into the city to Kings park to watch a performance of Twelfth night. It was so good. :) one of the funniest things I've seen and I managed to follow what was happening! 

Shakespeare in the park

For Australia Day we went into the city centre in the evening to watch the fireworks. We arrived 2 hours early to get a spot and I spent most of that time in the queue for a coffee and for the toilet! I made it back to our spot with 5 minutes to spare before they started. They were the best fireworks I've ever seen, half an hour of amazing fireworks (normal and ones shaped like hearts 4 leaved clovers, stars) all set to music. The speaker we were next to kept cutting out but we had the radio with us so turned it up on there and sang along!! 

Fireworks 

I spent my last few days doing my favourite things... Swimming and playing Settlers of Catan/Articulate. I think I maybe slightly addicted to both the games!  

For my (early) birthday meal we went into Fremantle for a lovely Italian meal before we came back and made out own ice cream bar with lots of different sweets. 

My birthday present.... Going to go down very well in NZ! 

Perth to Broome tour

Western Australia is stunning... If anyone is travelling around Australia I'd strongly encourage you to come see WA rather than just sticking to the touristy East Coast only! 

Day 85: pinnacles and horracks (6th jan)

I was up at 6am to go into Perth city centre to meet up with the tour group going to Broome. 

Our first stop was the pinnacles, where I'd been before with everyone. This time we did the walking loop rather than the driving route which was good. 

A pinnacle 

Our next stop was sand boarding, but, unlike in Rainbow beach where we laid on the board and I ended up eating sand, we sat on the board. The hill was very steep so we went pretty scarily fast down the hill! 

Most of today, between those two activities was spent driving. We left perth at 7am and we got to the beach house in Horracks where we were staying at 5pm! A lot of time in the bus, but over the course of this trip it got to the point where we'd pull into a rest area after sitting for 3hours and it'd feel like no time at all. 

We had a quick swim in the sea before we ate our dinner on the upstairs balcony over looking the sea as the sun set. Pretty magical. 

Going to sleep in the dorm was pretty funny. 6 people who are all trying to be nice so it took us forever to make a decision on fan on/off and window open/closed! 

Day 86: Kalbarri National Park and Denham

We were out of our accommodation and on the road by 5am to drive to the national park so we could do the two walks before the midday sun hit us. 

We walked down into one gorge where those brave enough did two absails. I was absolutely terrified going over the edge the first time but the instructor was so good and he spent the whole time chatting to me, asking me questions and making me laugh so that before I knew it I was over the worst of it. 

I was pretty slow going down as I didn't want to let go of the rope to much and I did the smallest little bounces but I made it down and went again! And the second time it was much easier! 

Absailing in Kalbarri National Park

The second walk we did was to a rock formation called Nature's window. 

Natures window 

As we continued driving up the coast we stopped at a lookout over shark bay where from the top of the cliff we were able to see manta rays, eagle rays, a dugong and a 2m shark from above. I don't think however without Kimbo (over guides) keen eye I would have ever spotted them by myself. I would have just thought they were clumps of seaweed. But once you look through a powerful camera lense you could see them clearly. 

We also stopped at Shellbeach which is the longest shell beach in the world. 

No sand, just shells, even when you dig down 

We stayed overnight in Denham which is the most westerly town in mainland Australia. So now I've been to the most easterly and the most westerly points on mainland Australia! 

Day 87: Monkey Mia

We had a lie in today (we didn't leave until 7am!) to drive the short distance to Monkey Mia. 

There were 7 dolphins in the water and we were allowed to stand in a straight line whilst they came past. People from the crowd were then chosen to hand feed a fish to one of the dolphins that they feed. I much preferred it in Bunbury where the dolphins seemed to come in because they wanted to rather than because they were guaranteed a free meal. It is always amazing though being that close to dolphins. 

Dolphins at Monkey Mia 

We then drove up to Hamelin Bay to see the Stomatolites. WA is one of the few places in the world where you can see these formations that are millions of years old and the bacteria that form them are the reason that there is oxygen in the atmosphere now. Whoever had done the signs there clearly had an amazing sense of humour. It was done from the point of view of one stomatolite talking about his friends! 

Stomatolites

In the evening we reached coral bay after passing over the line into the Tropic of  Capricorn. We had a nice evening together as a group. Everyone was much more chatty and a lot less tired so we played jenga, table tennis and pool at the hostel. 

Tropic of Capricorn 

Day 88: Ningaloo Reef, Coral Bay

Spent the day on a boat at Ningaloo Reef. It is a beautiful reef, far less spoilt that the Great Barrier Reef on the east coast and literally just off the coast. We're on the reef in the picture below and you can see the coastline behind us rather that at the GBR where you sail for 2 hours to reach the edge of it. 

Boat trip to Ningaloo Reef

We saw so much wildlife. From the boat we saw a leopard shark, lots of turtle and a pod of inquisitive dolphins came to check us out. Dolphins can't see straight up so they have to turn their heads if they want to have a proper look at the boat and that's what they were doing. They must have called their friends over as the pod kept growing in numbers. 

Our first snorkel was amazing. The visibility was amazing and we were able to see so many fishes of all different colour, patterns and sizes. 

The main aim of the trip was to try and swim with manta rays. We found a spot were told they were near the boat and so slide quickly into the water to try and see them but the visibility in that area was so bad and it was very choppy so we all got out again. The captain decided we were unlikely to see any so we should just head to the second snorkling spot but as we left we spotted two manta rays doing a mating ritual where they barrel roll and so we got to see flashes of their white belly! It was so incredible to watch but we didn't get into the water as we didn't want to disturb them. 

We left them to it and went for our second snorkel before headed back to Coral bay. 

We drove up to our accommodation in Exmouth and after dinner we sat around playing cards. 

Day 89: Turquoise Bay and the Shack

We borrowed snorkling gear and visited Turquoise Bay to snorkel. Luckily there was a breeze and we were only there for the morning otherwise we would have boiled as the temperature reached 49C! 

There was a current in the bay so we walked down the beach, walked into the sea (and we were already on the reef) and then let the current float us back to where we started it was crazy how much marine life were so close to the shore. 

We drove back to the campsite for lunch and stepping off the aircon bus into the outdoors was like stepping into a sauna! After lunch I had a quick dip in the pool then the Australian girls and I retreated into pub across the road back into some air con. 

We made wraps for dinner at the campsite but drove to the coast to eat it at a beautiful spot called te shack. There was a lovely sea breeze and we were able to watch the turtles popping there little heads out of the water waiting for night to fall so that they can come in to the beach to lay their eggs. 

Day 90: Drive to Karijini

Not much to say about today... We started driving at 7.45am and reached Karijini at 4.30pm. I read A LOT and did lots of crosswords. We only stopped for a mid morning break, 15 minutes for lunch as it was too hot to be outside any longer and out food was attracting the flies and a quick supermarket sweep!! 

We sat around camp chatting waiting for dusk so that it was cool enough to start cooking dinner. It also meant that there were so many Mosquitos around. By the end of Karijini I looked like a walking dot to dot puzzle! 

Day 91: Karijini National Park

Day 92: Karijini National Park (day 2)

Day 93: Driving to Pardoo via Port Headland

We left really early as none of us could sleep with the flies! I hate flies. We drove and drive and drove. I sat in the front to keep Kimbo company and today was the first time I've really wanted to sleep on the bus! 

The highlight of the journey was seeing a 2km long train carrying iron ore from the mines to the port at Port Headland.  Otherwise it was road, road and more road. 

We got to our farm stay where we had a late lunch, I had a quick shower and then I attempted to read on a bench in the shade but instead woke up an hour later face down hugging the seat!

I moved to the room and slept for 2 more  hours on and off. I think all the interupted sleep and early starts in Karijini really knocked me for six! 

I had another proper shower and brushed my hair for the first time in 3 days and felt so amazingly clean. Ahhh the simple pleasures in life! 

After dinner we all headed to bed early as we had to leave by 7am to go to Broome and we were all still wrecked!

Day 94: To Broome

We were up and out early as we wanted to get to the crocodile farm in time for feeding. Everything seemed to be against us getting there....

We stopped because we wanted to have a look at 80mile beach and then we stopped twice because we had to because the air con on the bus broke and the onboard computer wouldn't let us drive any further until it had cooled down! I guess it wouldn't be a true outback trip without spending an hour sitting at the side of an empty road in the heat and humidity. The humidity hit us today hard. Before it had been hot but dry where as now it was hot and unbearably humid too. Imagine a sauna where breathing in burns the hair in your nostrils.... You know understand the weather we had. Maybe next time I shoul visit in a cool month, not one of the hottest months. At least we missed the cyclone. 

We made it into Broome with 10 minutes to wolf down a quick sandwich before driving to the crocodile farm with a few minutes to spare! Phew!! 

The crocodile farm was cool. We were able to hold the little ones that are bred for leather and watch the big ones being fed. They also had American alligators there and when you compare them to their aussie cousins they seem so cute and cuddly! 

In the evening we all went out for a final meal all together. 

Day 95 (am): Broome

I woke up after a massive lie in just before 8(!). Some of us from the tour walked down into Broome town centre. Even before we left we were sweating so you can imagine the state we were in when we got there. 

We had a quick drink in a cafe then went looking in the pearl shops - what Broome is famous for before one of the girls and I headed back to the hostel to grab our backpacks and go to the airport. 

The airport was only 700m from the hostel but we ended up getting a taxi as we couldn't face the walk. 

Broome airport is a cute little airport consisting of a courtuard and not much else! I said goodbye to my friend as I boarded the flight as I was in Business (thank you airmiles only having business seats avaliable for the flight) for the 3 hour flight. I think the air hostess could tell I wasn't a seasoned business class traveller as I was so excited by everything; the juice I was offered before take off, the real cutlery, cups of tea and free wine! If anyone wants to pay/donate any airmiles to upgrade all the rest of my flights (especially the 11 hour ones) I wouldn't complain! 

Perth

Okay...so appologies for not posting in my blog in ages. It turns out when you're with family and friends you have some much fun that you end up asleep as soon as you hit the pillow as you've done so much during the day you don't have the energy to write the blog. Or days that you do you end up talking to your sister until 1am!

Day 62 - Day 84

So as I’m not going to give you a day by day account of what we did (which will inevitably involve ‘and then I went for a swim in the pool’ or ‘and then we played Articulate/Settlers of Catan’, I thought I’d do an over view of my time so far in Perth.

The family arrived in the small hours of day 65 and before they got there I spent a lot of the time in the pool (I told you this will be mentioned a lot), lazying about, washing all my clothes (things smelt properly clean for the first time…and my backpack and boot got aired which is a massive bonus) and generally recovering from travelling around for the last two months.

I was able to go and see the 4th day of the ashes in Perth which was such an action packed day. Australia spent the morning session hitting 4 and 6s into the crowd and in the afternoon England were being bowled out left, right and centre. Not what I should want as an English person but it was pretty funny seeing a golden duck go up on the score board.

 

WACA for the 4th day of the Perth test of the Ashes

Once my family was here we had a few days in Perth which mainly involved shopping for Christmas presents before we went on holiday to the Margret river area. Whilst we were there we visited a really good maze (which gave you water guns – what a good idea), various farms that allowed you to taste the wine/jams/beer/cheese/fudge/nougat that they produce, a lighthouse where we saw a kangaroo and a joey hop out and across the road in front of us, the Lake caves and an underwater observatory at the end of Bussleton jetty.

Lake Caves
 

 

 Beach

 

Festive Cow at Cowaramup

Beer tasting

Kangaroo up close

Lighthouse

Yallingup Maze

Busselton Jetty

Santa driving the land train along the 2km jetty to the underwater observatory

One of the observatory windows

It was Dad’s birthday whilst we were away and since it was warm and sunny here he was able to do two things he’s always wanted to on his birthday. 1) Have breakfast on the balcony in shorts and a T-shirt and 2) paddle in the sea.

 

Birthday boy

 

 

On the way home J very kindly got up early on his birthday so we could try and see the dolphins and the Bunbury Dolphin discovery centre. Here the dolphins swim right up into the shallows so you can paddle whilst they swim close past you and as we arrived we found out that we’d missed them by 10 minutes. My heart sank. But luckily we had our lucky charm (Catherine) and after she went for a paddle in the sea we first saw a pod in the bay and then one (Eclipse) swam close to shore and so we were able to paddle as she swam past. It was amazing being that close to a wild dolphin who was completely calm and relaxed around everyone.

Dolphin!!!!

 

 Christmas was lovely. I woke up early and obviously it was me who woke up Catherine and then jumped on K and E's bed at 7am being the big kid that I am. I think everyone thought Catherine wasn't going to be getting many as the Hales had Christmas at home with grandad so overcompensated and she spent ages openning presents once we'd all finished; my 9 presents from the Chiang Mai markets didn't help. We had an Aussie BBQ on boxing day so Christmas definately felt different... It was lovely to jump in the pool and sunbath after openning presents and having a walk to the park and it be hot to walk off all the food.

 

Christmas tree - so many presents (including the beloved articulate)

Pool on Christmas day

After Christmas we made a trip up to the Pinnicles, an area of rock formations poking up from the sand. Scienists are not quiet sure how they are formed but because of the shifting sands around them they have been only uncovered for about 150 years and within the next 100 years are likely to be covered again.

The Pinnicles

We had a lovely Sunday wandering the markets in Freemantle. The girls got their hair braided like mine and the men enjoyed a pint (whilst the rest of the girls went home) at a local brewery, Little Creatures - I was the designated driver. I nearly didn't get in though as my British driving liscence apparently didn't count as a form of ID and then it turned out we had to queue and get a ticket to sit at a table so we got kicked off!

Enjoying a pint in Little Creatures

 

We visited Caversham wildlife park for a morning (it was far too hot to stay after lunch). Catherine got to see and stroke the koala that she wanted and we were able to walk through the kangaroo enclosure. There was a kangaroo that was posing with this guy but I think he was being bribed because when I crouched next to him he sniffed my hand, hufffed and then turned his head away!

Mum and a Koala

Catherine and a Kangaroo

For new years eve we celebrated all the different new years across Australia. Sydney fireworks at 9, openned some bubbly at 9.30 for the Adalaide new year, missed queensland at 10, Catherine and I had a cup of tea at 10.30 for the Northern Territories and then we had bubbly at midnight for the West Australia. We decorated the garden with streamers and had sparklers.

New Years Eve

Sparklers

 

Watching the Sydney Fireworks

We went to the Hyandi Hopman Cup to watch France (Tsonga and Cornet) vs USA (Isner and Stephans). It was really excited as we got to see both a mens game, a womens game and mixed doubles although by the end at 11.30 I was shattered and had a very numb bum.

Hyandi Hopman Cup - France vs USA

Tsonga selfie!!!!

We also enjoyed a visit to Kings Park and the view over Perth.

Perth City from the war memorial

 

 

And then my family had to fly home :( It was very sad saying goodbye to them. All of us girls were in tears.

Alice Springs and Uluru

Day 57: Alice Springs 

I got the shuttle bus to the airport with Alex so it was cheaper and it turns out it takes only 15 minutes to get to the airport rather than the 45 we'd been told so once I'd checked in (no queue) and gone through security there was still 3 and a half until my flight! Had to say bye to Alex and to that marked the end of my East Coast Trip. 

The flight was pretty cool as you were able to see the change in the scenery from ocean (took off towards the barrier reef) to tropical forest to farm land and then to desert as you get towards the red centre. 

Got a lift to the hostel and then went for a walk into town to explore with someone from the hostel. Alice Springs seemed pretty empty, everyone seems to be passing through. Came back to the hostel to write the Christmas cards and then went back to town to post them. This time I got to see more of the sad side of westernisation of Australia. Local aborigines sitting in the river bed drinking and shouting. It was a bit intimidating so I ended up walking the longer way back.

Back at the hostel we had a free BBQ (I keep timing it well!) with sausages and a fresh fruit platter and then it started to rain. I can make it rain in a desert in summer! Clearly got a real talent for this!

Chilled out in the hostel playing pictionary with a couple of people from the hostel and a few of the people who work here. Even though we were playing in English we lost to the German team! Clearly our drawing skills weren't up to it! 

Day 58: West MacDonnells Ranges 

I woke up 10 minutes before my alarm feeling surprisingly refreshed. It began to rain as I waited for the Emu Run bus to turn up. It was still spitting slightly as we reached Standey Chasm. We walked down from the car park into the chasm and then back. I got to play mummy bear as I made teas for everyone as we ate cookies. Yum yum!

Standley Chasm

 

Next we went to Ellery Creak for a swim. Half way our it got really shallow and so as you walked across it looked like you were walking on water! There were some great rocks to climb up and jump off of which was really fun. :)

We then visited one of the Ochre pits where aborigines used to get the Ochre for ceremonies. We went to Glen Helen resort for lunch and then to Ormiston Gorge. We went for a little walk up and along the gorge and then for a swim to cool down.

On the bus back I did something I never usually do.... I slept whilst in the front of the bus! I should have been chatting but instead I slept with my mouth wide open!!! He had a good giggle when I woke up!

The final thing we did on the tour was visiting Simpsons Gorge where there were little black footed rock wallabies hoping around in the rocks which was nice.

 

After dinner I just relaxed in the evening before going to bed. I had the dorm room to myself which was good as I had to be up early the next day.  

Day 59: Uluru 

Had a nice and early pick up (5.45) from the hostel to start the long drive to Uluru. No one was sitting in the best seat with the wide screen view of the road so I took the front seat on the bus. I'm getting very good at chatting with tour guides! 

Our first service station was on a racing camel farm so I paid $7 to have a ride on a racing camel. Got to do a little bit of walking and have him trot (if tou can say that for a camel). Having a camel stand up whilst you're sitting on it isn't too scary but when it sits back down and you go flying forwards it's a little bit terrifying and causes the guy to laugh at you as you laugh in fear! 

We all got what we thought were our first glimpses of Uluru about 3 hours before we actually saw it. Mount Conner's nickname is Fool-uru as so many people mistake it for Uluru but once you've seen Uluru in person you have no idea how you ever got confused! 

We managed to go through rain storms (note plural!) on our way into the desert in the middle of summer! My super 'bring all the rain powers' worked again! But, because of the rain, I saw two red kangaroos that the rest of the bus missed because they were all asleep! One was drinking the rain water off the road and the other jumped right across the road in front of us and then off into the bush. It's so rare to see kangaroos even though there are so many of them. They just don't hang aroun the road where it's noisy and they could get killed. Also found out that in one of the aboriginal languages kangaroo means 'I don't understand what you are saying'. When Captain Cook saw one and asked 'what is that animal' the aborigine replied 'I don't understand' but he wrote it down as the name. Apparently lots of things are missed named due to confusion when translating the word. 

We then got our first tantalising sights of Uluru as it appeared and then disappeared in between the sand dunes. 

We stopped off at camp to leave the sleeping bags to dry out from the rain under the shelter and to have some sandwiches, cake and fruit for lunch before we got our tickets and entere Uluru-Kata Tjuta national park. Our first stop was the aborigine cultural centre to learn about the history and the significance of this site to the local people as the they both sit on Anangu land. 

Next it was off the do the 10km walk around the base of Uluru. We saw where you can climb it and its scarily steep but also very disrespectful to do so so no chance of me wanting to climb it. 

It was amazing being so up close to 'The Rock' that you could touch it in parts. I walked around the walk chatting to two guys from San Francisco, both are accountants, one was an ultimate frisbee player and the other looked like what the love child of Hayden and Mark's would look like. 

We stated at Warayuki and walked the whole way to the Mala car park and because we walked it so fast we still had time to do the Mala walk to Kantju Gorge so we ended up walking about 12km in total. 

Map of the walks around Uluru 

There are sights around Uluru that are very important sites to the local people and so no photographs are taken of there and the tour guide isn't allowed to know the full story behind these area as an uninitiated person. 

We were able to see the only permanent waterhole at the base of the rock, cave paintings and a kitchen cave but it started raining as we were finishing off the walk and so just as we were all getting disheartened about there not being a good sunset the clouds broke over the horizon and we were able to see, from the viewing area with our cheese, nibbles and champagne, the rock change colours as the sunset. It went from an earthy red to a beautiful firey red which no picture will ever do justice. You have to experience the change to understand just how amazing (and big) the rock it. 

Publicity for the Bears at the rock

Stunning colours on the rock 

We got back to camp and had a lovely chicken stir fry for dinner (I was on veg chopping duties) and then we laid out our swags (a thin mattes inside a protective covering and you put a sleeping bag inside it) to spend the night under the stars. 

What a busy day! 

Day 60: Kata Tjuta

We were up at 5am to walk to a viewing spot in the camp to watch sunrise over Uluru and Kata Tjuta but most of us where up much before that due to the orchestra of snores coming from our camp.

Kata Tjuta is a very sacred site and so every though its a very big and there are lots of different formations you are only allowed to walk on two paths. Fair enough really as the site is used all the time and I don't think I'd want a bunch of tourists walking past shoving cameras in my face whilst I undertook a sacred ceremony. 

We walked the valley of the winds track (although walpa, the other track, just means windy local language!). The track was a nice 7.4km walk that we started at 7.30am and the whole group took less than 3 hours to walk it. Simo has had groups take 4.5 hours to walk it so was pretty shocked at the 2.5 hour mark when the boys and I opened up the bus door to cool down in the air con. 

The walk wasnt as flat as Uluru and there were some steep slopes to climb up and down to get to the two lookout points. 

Map of Kata Tjuta 

We drove back to camp for some delicious burritos for lunch (my eyes were much bigger than my belly) before the 4 hour drive to the Kings Canyon campsite where I managed not to fall asleep in the front. As we neared the camp we pulled over to collect fire wood for cooking and the campfire later. We pulled down some massive branches from the dead trees and loaded them up on top of the trailer to take with us. 

When we got back to camp we had a swim in the pool to cool down before a traditional Aussie dinner: a BBQ that included sausages, chicken skewers and kangaroo steaks! We also had mash potatoes and tradition bush bread that had been cooked on the campfire. The bush bread was delicious. 

We threw around the frisbee for a bit that I'd brought (I knew it was worth putting it in) before walking up to watch the sunset and Kings Canyon change colour. 

Once it was dark we added more logs to the campfire and me and the American guys made some delicious s'mores before another night under the stars in our swags. 

Day 61: King's Canyon

Woke up at 4.30 with the Milky Way above my head having slept the whole night through. Some people had chosen to sleep in the tents last night so all the snorers must have gone there.

After breakfast we started our walk up and around the rim of King's Canyon at about 6am. It's too hot to do and you can't carry enough water to stop yourself getting dehydrated if you start any later. 

The beginning of the walk is up what is lovingly referred to as 'heart attack hill' as its you climb up 100m on a very steep slope. They start you off on the hardest bit so we were all red, out of breath and sweaty when we got to the top! 

Simo explained to the group the group the difference between a canyon and a gorge. I wasn't allowed to answer any of the questions as I'd been chatting to Simo about it in the bus and I didn't fancy being pushed over the edge if I answered it and ruined te surprise.... The Grand Canyon is actually a gorge and not a canyon. 

The walk was really fun and there were some parts where you had to jump over the smaller cracks in the ground where you can see very far down. At one point where we could crawl to the edge and look down into the canyon which was pretty spectacular. 

We walked down into the canyon and rested in the 'garden of Eden' - a little cool (temperature wise) peaceful pond surrounded by trees compared to the heat on the rim of the canyon. 

We walked back up to the top (up proper stairs which was easier than the slope) and then along the top where there was very little shade. We were all glad when we saw the slope back to the car park and we could go to the toilet (3 litres of water had been drunk each to keep hydrated) and get into the air con. It was only 9am but already 33C! 

All the walks we did over the three days were very different. Uluru was a very flat walk, Kata Tjuta was half flat and half rocky whilst Kings Canyon was very steep getting up and down to the rim and the flat at the top had both softer rock and was a more challenging walk. Pretty sure a few years ago I would have been so scared at parts of it so I'm glad I'm a much more competent walker (thanks Will!). 

Back at the camp the boys and I played frisbee and Johnson and I taught Tom to through a flick. I did try to help prepare lunch but I'd done something at pretty much every meal and so Simo, our tour guide, sent me outside to throw instead. 

We ate our lunch at 10.30! It seems early but breakfast was at 4.30 and we were on the road for the rest of the day. We had camel and beef burgers and salad for lunch before we packed up camp and hit the road. 

The drive back to Alice Springs took 5 hours but we stopped once at a very nice service stop who refilled the boys slushys for free and then stopped again because there was a flock of large wedged tailed eagles feeding on a dead kangaroo right on the side of the road. They were huge and they weren't even fully grown. Their wingspan can reach 3m at fully maturity! 

We stopped at the Alice spring sign on the way into town to get a photo of our group with it. 

When I checked it I started packing for the flight which basically consisted of an explosion of clothes in the room and then going to relax by the pool before I could face the smell (I'd been doing a lot of walking!) 

We had a final farewell group meal and drinks at a backpackers hostel and bar called Annie's. Stayed there until gone midnight and my hostel was the furthest away (obviously) so the boys walked me home. Spent the journey explaining to them how it should be 'hold the fort' not hold down the fort'! Silly Americans!! As thanks for walking me home (I didn't fancy walking across the river bed in the dark) I made them tea and biscuits as a proper English way to end the night. 

I was told I had the room to myself so I was terrified at 1am when a French girl walked into the room. She had a key and her stuff was locked away in a locker and through her broken English I decided she probably hasn't broken in and was meant to be sleeping there so I could fall back asleep.