OUTBACK 5 1/2 day tour!

Thankfully, my plane departed on time from Melbourne to Alice Springs on Tuesday, 19th of April. When I left Melbourne at 6am it was a very cold 30+ degrees F and when I landed in Alice around 10am it was already high 70s and humid! What a shock to the system. Off came the jeans and on came the shorts. The tour company, Groovy Grape, picked me up at the airport and it was straight onto the road.

Day 1: riding a camel! Yes, it is true that Australia Outback is home to wild camels! I was in shock. Thought I would have to travel to Egypt to experience my first ride on a camel's back. They are quite massive animals but run very similar to horses, just a lot taller!

The drive into the sunset was beautiful and gave us a glimpse into what the Outback really looks like. There wasn't any sand like I had expected but the infamous red dirt was all around. Since Australia has been getting more than normal amounts of rain, the vegetation was in full bloom and looking rather green. We had to stop along the side of the road to collect firewood for our campsite that night. Despite being very hot hot hot in the afternoons, it still got pretty cold at night! This was also going to be my first time truly "camping" and camping in an Australian swag. A swag is a waterproof sleeping bag with a built in padded mattress on the bottom. Surprising quite comfortable but nothing I would ever want to do for more than I had too! This first night was also when I met three really nice girls all from England. We all started talking around the table while helping get dinner ready and I guess the rest is history. We all had a lot in common and a lot to talk about! Lucy and Jessica have been living and working in Melbourne for almost a year before starting their traveling and Katy had traveled over for a 3+ week holiday and to visit some friends. We all stayed up pretty late laughing and talking that night as well as looking at the clearest sky EVER! Stars and constellations were everywhere! Up early (5:30am) so I guess sleeping in was out of the question for this holiday!

Day 2:
The day started bright and early with Nutella on toast and then about an hour bus drive out to Kings Canyon. It is a 6km (3.7 miles) which the sign says should take 3.5 hours. Well, that time was definitely not taking into account stopping so take a million photos, rest breaks to talk about the scenery, and really really slow walkers in our group. We were there early enough to enjoy the sunrise over the canyon was breath-taking. You could see for miles around as well as take in the really unique surroundings of the canyon itself. It reminded me of something you should see on Mars. It was a really good thing we began our hike early in the morning because by around 9am it was already over 70F and climbing. The canyon had once been completely covered by water and you could see this really clearly through fossils in the rock and permanent water ripples left in the rock. Also found half way through the walk was the Garden of Eden, a natural and lush oasis for rare plants and animals out in the middle of the outback. This whole hike I pretty much had to go to the bathroom. Silly me for not going when I had the chance in the parking lot. I was getting pretty desperate after 3+ hours and for the last stretch I basically was in tears and doing a weird skip/hop/jog down the hill and to the loo. My system was pretty mad at me from that point on, that by the end of the day, my bathroom break count was nearly reaching 12. Urghhhh But, I made it and that is all that counts! :)

It was then back into the bus for a long towards Uluru! :)