Kaka Uluru...

My introduction to the Northern Territory set the scene for the next few weeks - a 36hour bus ride with vast amounts of nothing to look at and fellow passengers who were more interested in where their next beer was coming from and when the Pokies room opened than anything else. Whether its the hot humid temperature or the lack of people that does it I don't know, but there is definitely something a little odd about the people up north! One thing that hadn't changed was the weather and so I am probably one of the few people in the world that has seen Kakadu National park in the rainy season...and boy did it rain! The park lived up to all expectations, the scenery is stunning with creeks, bilabongs and rivers loosing their boundaries and flowing as one massive expanse of water. There were crocodile warning signs everywhere but the closest I got was seeing charlie the stuffed buffalo as featured in the film crocodile dundee behind the bar of a local roadhouse! All the locals I'd spoken to said that the little known and off the tourist track, Litchfield national park was well worth a visit, and I would now totally recommend it. the mighty Wangi falls, the prehistoric wilderness of Tolmer falls and the intriguing magnetic termite mounds with their incredible design; its amazing to think that the knowledge of which direction to build them for optimum light and heat is passed down from generation to generation - clever little species!

A further 22 hours later and I arrived in Alice springs where travel buddy Shelley reappeared as if my magic (at least using one of those big metal birds...) and our outback adventure began. Uluru is one of those icons which you grow up seeing pictures of and have a clear idea in your mind of what it will be like - well, it was better, much much better than I'd expected. It is a massive rock in the middle of the dessert, but it is so beautiful and contains so much history and memory. For the local aboriginal people it is a sacred site and as a result each cave, every watering hole, each crack and bend of the rock tells a story. Walking around it you appreciate the details, its not smooth as I'd imagined, there are jagged edges, caves with cave paintings, visible layers in the rocks geology and a whole lot of vegetation close by. Watching the sunset behind the rock and the colours changing before your eyes was an awesome site, seeing that massive rock illuminated red is an experience which will be hard to forget.

Last stop in the outback was the crazy opal mining town of Coober Pedy. The town is weird! It looks and feels like the end of the world, its crazy hot , dusty and you rarely see a sole above ground. The majority of the population live in underground houses, as did we for our nights stay and that is where they seem to hang out during daylight hours at least. Sleeping 6 metres below ground was an odd experience, although its cooler the atmosphere is very flat - but I think it gives the biggest clue as to why the town folk are the way they are!

Missing: For those who were wondering if this travel lark is taking its toll here's my list of 5 things I'm missing
- Towels that dry you
- Internet access freely available whenever I want it
- Having ingredients to cook with
- Curry
- Never running out of books to read