Swags, Grubs, Caravans and Keithy with no Teethy!
What a week! We arrived safely in Darwin and checked into a lovely hostel with a roof top pool! We only had a one day stop over so we took a little stroll around town and down to Cullen Bay Marina. 
We caught the Ghan train the next day and spent 24 hours travelling from Darwin to Alice Springs. The train journey was comfortable and the scenery was amazing. It has been a very wet summer so the Outback looked a lot greener than usual.
Alice Springs is a bizarre place! With a population of about 28,000 the town has a distinct 'redneck' feel to it! The town is full of hostels (and a few hostiles!) and is largely a base for people travelling to see Uluru and the other local landmarks.
Below is the Todd River that runs through Alice Springs. The water usually runs underneath the river bed and it is a rare sight to see water in the Todd. We also saw some Aboriginal kids playing in it!
We took a walk into the town centre to buy some lunch and shady hats and on the way we passed loads and loads of Aboriginal people sitting around on benches and street corners. Being honest, we initially found the large groups of men quite intimidating but after spending a few days learning about their culture and getting a chance to chat with 'Keithy with no Teethy' we have quickly grown to empathise with their situation. There are only 250,000 Aboriginals left in Australia and while the government seems to be working hard to make amends for past atrocities, the damage to their authentic way of life is beyond repair.
After our rock tour (pics and info to follow!) we had dinner with the tour guide who introduced us to one of his Aboriginal friends. The gumsy Keithy proudly called himself a 'first Australian' and he told some amazing tales of his own life and the difficulties he has faced. After dinner our group and Keithy went to a local bar however Keithy was refused entry because his jeans were ripped- Tom the German had no such problems with his ripped jeans. It would appear that in Alice, if not Australia, Keithy's genes continue to be a barrier to full integration.
We stayed at the Alice Lodge hostel on our first night and imagine our surprise when we were shown to one of the six 'cosy' caravans in the back garden! We also saw quite a few scary looking bugs but later discovered these were nothing compared to what we would be encountering on our 3 day rock tour!
We got picked up from our hostel at 6am and grabbed a few other people on the way. The group turned out to be really great with a couple of Irish nutters, some Germans, a couple from Korea, a Danish girl and a fellow Scot - all mixed in with an English tour guide. First stop was a camel farm at Stuarts Well where we got to ride a camel and see some kangaroos and a dingo. Then it was a stop for some tasty sandwiches before picking up another German at Ayres Rock airport. With the whole team on board we made our way to Uluru for a walk around the base in the soaring heat.
The climb was closed due to temperatures being too hot! 37 degrees was far too warm for us so we didn't take too much time to stop and enjoy the view! Climbing on the sacred rock is frowned upon so this made the decision much easier although we probably would've died climbing as it's rather steep!
After walking round Uluru the guide spent some time telling us all about the Aborignal traditions and beliefs. 
Then we picked our spot to have dinner and watch the sunset!
After sunset we travelled to our camp site- had much needed showers then climbed into our swags(padded sleeping bags) to sleep under the stars! It may have been the heat or the fear of snakes, spiders and dingos but we didn't sleep that well and were up at 4.30am to catch the sunrise! We had breakfast and watched the sun appear behind Uluru.The next stop was Kata Tjuta another sacred site for the Aboriginal people. Yet again the scenery was outstanding and because it was earlier in the day the walking was a lot more enjoyable. On the way to out next camping spot we stopped to collect fire wood and had a look for some bush tucker! The guide was very good and he knew his stuff but had actually never successfully found any grubs on tours that he had led. The trick was to find a group of bushes, clear away the ground from around the roots, break of the biggest looking root and snap it and look inside! Excitement and terror struck when the very first root produced a huge wriggling beasty! Irish Tom and Scottish Ryan! had said they would give it a go but both looked rather reluctant- a toss of a coin meant Tom was the 'lucky' one! The trick was to hold the head and bite the tail so that you didn't get the grubs teeth to crunch on! Yummy!
That night we camped out under the stars and ate a tasty dinner cooked on the camp fire! The trully international group were amazed by Pamela's knot trick! Thanks Josh!
Another 4am start the next day took us to King's Canyon with the best scenery so far. The walk was really nice and by this time everyone in the group was getting on really well. We stopped at an Aboriginal art gallery for lunch and then slept during the long drive back to Alice Springs. After two nights sleeping on the ground amongst lots of beasties we couldn't wait to get back to our little caravan! We had dinner with the group on Sunday night and exchanged lots of email addresses and travel tips for the rest of our time in Australia. If anyone is looking to do a tour of Uluru, 'The Rock Tour' comes highly recommended.
We caught our flight to Adelaide on Monday and arrived in the stunning Glenelg Beach that afternoon. Glenelg is a very cool little beach side town with a town square full of little cafes and shops. The highlight of this town has to be watching the sunset at the end of the pier with a Starbucks, after having eaten at Nando's!
We spent a little time in Adelaide city but actually prefer Glenelg Beach area. We have made contact with Rhona Swan's cousins and it looks like we'll be staying with them tonight!
Thanks to everyone who has been posting comments, it's great to hear from you all and we hope anyone sitting prelims recently has done well!
We have loads more photos of this leg that we will update soon!
