Big red rocks

Sorry, still no photos - hotel net access remains expensive, so stuck to using net cafes.

Travelled up from Adelaide to Alice Springs on the Gahn train - more fantastic food while travelling through the middle of nowhere, all in complete luxury. I then headed outback to see a few rocks, admittadly big ones. Uluru (Ayres Rock) is probably one of the biggest letdowns in Aus, especially the sunset viewing which is just crammed with tourist buses, all having drinks parties. The Olgas was much better, as I had no expectations. For sunrise we avoided the crowds by getting close to Uluru, which was a much more plesent experiance.

It was a pleasently small group for the trip, 12 for the first 2 days after which one couple left us. However an ability to speak German would have been an advantage as apart fom an english family of 4, me and patricia from Austria the rest were all German. Still our driver/guide/cook Smiley did a fantastic job of getting the group to jell.

Highlight of the trip was palm valley, which we had to ourselves, a little part of the Jurasic in the middle of the desert. Even the flies (mostly) stayed away.

Late edit - photos of the trip now on Flickr, see link to right