Hi everyone,

Well I'm writing from Alice Springs following my great adventure to the Outback - and I survived!!

So Tuesday morning bright and early I left Manly and made my way to Sydney Airport for my flight to Alice Springs. It was pouring with rain and cold - well for me it was!! I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare and checked in nervously, not sure what to expect of the next 4 days.

We arrived in Alice Springs, and I managed to embarrass myself as soon as I collected my luggage. I had to find the 'Toddys' stand which was the backpackers I was staying in. There were 3 different desks all next to each other and they all looked at me expectantly as I walked over. So I shook my head at the 2 girls and headed for the guy on the Toddys stand. He was right next to the girls and I proudly announced that "I'm staying at yours"!! He replied kindly that I was welcome but was I booked in at Toddys!! I just wanted to die!! Anyway, I made my way onto the coach and we proceeded to Alice Springs. THe hostel was/is very nice and I was pleasantly surprised to find there were only 2 of us in the dorm and we had our own shower!! So I unpacked and got ready for my early start and then went for a walk into Alice Springs town.

What a shock. Nothing like anywhere else I've been except maybe West Croydon!! There is an Aboriginal Centre just down the road and they all sit out the front, with legs or arms bandaged and look mean. I am sure they are perfectly lovely people, but I was scared!! So I continued on, only to find an Aboriginal Mens Clinic - you can imagine my walkng pace is getting quicker and quicker!!

So I made it into town and then walked back to the hostel. Notmuch to report - it was soo soo hot it was unbearable so I read my book had dinner and went to bed early in preparation for my 4.45am start!

So Wednesday morning I am collected by Jason, the tour guide. I was the first one on the 4x4 so sat up the front. We collected 8 others, 4 Czechs, 2 Japanese, an Italian and a guy called 'Fred' from Sunderland 'Weye Eye Pet!'. We all chatted and got to know each other as we made our way into the desert for our adventure. We stopped off for breakfast at a Camel farm. THe camels all roam wild in the desert but here they are owned and offer camel rides - I declined - memories of the smell of the Koala came back to me and the thought of a confined space with strangers - it just wasn't going to happen!!

We eventualy made it to our camping ground for the night. Well, I had to brace myself. No tents - oh no just swags on the ground and then your sleeping bag on top. So we familiarised ourselves with the camp and then drove out to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) where we stopped to take a photo and then went on to the cultural centre of Uluru (Ayers Rock). This centre is designed to tell you the Aboriginal stories that go with Uluru and try to discourage you from climbing it. It was fascinating and the aboriginals really are an interesting race. However, it didn't discourage me from the thought of climbing - it really just depended on how my back felt the next morning after sleeping on the ground!! We then drove back to Kata Tjuta where we did a short beautiful walk. It was here that we encountered Mr Speedo or Fabio (the most beautiful man in the world - NOT!). He was doing the walk n speedos in order to maximise the tan or try to pull - one of the options was a no-go believe me!! Then back to camp where we tok our champagne up to a look out to watch the sunset over Uluru and Kata Tjuta - very pretty although not the breath-taking experience I had envisaged - still worth it though. Then back down to camp where Jason cooked dinner and we all chatted. However by 10pm everyone was pretty shattered so we got our swags out and went to bed. Except that it was so hot you couldn't sleep inside them which in turn made me so paranoid that things were crawling over me or watching me that I barely slept!!

So an early start to catch the sunrise and disappointingly Fabio had short shorts on today- how we cried!! But he insisted on walking up and down the road 5 times to maximise pulling potential or for me comedy value!! The sun rose and it was again very nice but nothing mind blowing. We then headed round to the bottom of the climb and all 9 of us set off. The first part of the climb is so steep that you have a chain to pull yourself up on - and believe I used it. I was actually scared - I think more so thinking about going down again. But bless, my fellow Brit 'Fred' stayed by my side and carried my water for me all the way encouraging me and stopping whenever I wanted a break - he assures me that 4 times I swore that I was going to give up smoking!! Anyway, we climbed up and up and eventually got to the top - and oh my god what an amazing place. The sense of achievement was like nothing I have ever felt before, and the views were just stunning. I guess if there is anything you can climb in Oz, I'll climb it!!

After a while resting and taking photos we made our way back down which was actually a lot less scary than expected. The scariest part was coming face to face with Fabio at one point where he shouted something in Italian (probably 'I love myself!') and then carried on up - very strange!! I actually found my self taking quite a pace - sometimes scaring myself but well aware that the bottom was getting closer and closer. When we got back down Jason had fresh fruit ready for us, which we munched hungrily and then went off to explore the caves round the base. All in all an absolutely fantastic morning. Back to camp for lunch and then we made our way on to Kings Canyon.

We camped at Kings Creek, which was amazing. No rules, totally in the outback and we all sat round the camp fire, cooked 'damper' and generally relaxed. It had been a long hard hot day. And to bed - and this time I slept like a log - it was fantastic!!

Today we got up early, although not as early as we were supposed to due to Jason oversleeping - funnily enough none of us complained!! We headed off to Kings Canyon to climb to the top of the rim and complete a 6km walk. THe views again were fantastic and well worth spending an extra night 'bush' to experience. Once back we then headed back to camp and then drove 'cross-bush' on a very unmade road, the 300kms back to Alice Springs. A fantastic 3 days which is being rounded off this evening as we are all meeting in 'Bojangles' for dinner and a few drinks, no doubt combined with a bit of email address swapping!

So in short, I survived my camping bush-style experience, climbed the worlds biggest monolith, and came across Fabio!! Having been more than a little bit concerned about what I had let myself in for, I cannot recommend it highly enough. It has been a wicked time, and I am taking away with me some fantastic memories.

Tomorrow I fly to Melbourne for a whistle stop tour and then onto Newcastle on Monday to spend the week with my fab Ozzie friends Felicity and Erin!!

Hope you are all well and 2006 is still cool!! Love you all lots and see you soon - some sooner than others!! Oh and by the way the Coup is al off so Fiji is still on. Bring on the tan!!!!

Hels Bels
xxxx