'Any Adventure.
Anywhere in the World.
I will take you there...'

This quote will have a real relevance - trust me...you'll just have to read the rest to find out why...

So we're back - and in three days we've (been) driven over 1,600 kms, have walked over 20 (more than I have walked cumatively in the last 3 years yet alone days...), and have both ridden and eaten camel (although not the same ones). More importantly we've had a bloody great time. The hardest part on the first morning was getting up, which we somehow managed and stumbled onto the 'Mulga's Tours' bus at around 6.30am. Darrin - our driver, guide, storyteller, and all-round nutter for the next 3 days seemed chirpier than most and we were soon on our way. As an ice-breaker he got everyone to get up and tell all about themselves. The best confession surely came from Claudia who confessed about the time when she hadn't worked for any exams...the only way she could get out of it was for a couple of 'friends' to break her fingers by slamming them between two desks. Her teachers then let her pass the year and not stay down a year...NICE! Introductions done we headed off on our big adventure. We truely were an international bus, made up of the following people (apologies to anyone who's name we've spelt wrong...:
2 Swedes - Magnus and Johanna - he is a chef, (oh how we laughed when we mentioned the Muppets and the Swedish chef, unsurprisingly having worked in London for a year he'd heard it a few time before...)
2 Germans (the by now famous Claudia, and Eva - not travelling together though)
1 Frenchwoman - Myriam (travelling for the moment with Claudia)
1 Canadian - Kian, who sports a great tattoo on his chest
1 Scot - Stuart, just sporting new dreadlocks
1 Japanese girl who's name I can't spell (SORRY!)
The rest of us were all Poms - Me, Jen, and Pat obviously and:
Jess, Robyn, and Maura - on Gap year off to uni later in the year - lucky sods...(also big Vic & Bob fans, great renditions of said funnyman's work on night 2 - 'I love the smell of....'etc etc....)
James - Alan Partridge in diguise, very funny (dirty) Leeds fan
Rachel - Mad Tate Modern woman - great laugh, known now for an appalling redition for the Vall-der-ee, Vall-der-ahhh song...we have the evidence on video...
oh, and one mad 'lazy bastard' Aussie guide...

The ice-breaker seemed to work and we were all getting on really well by the time we got to our first turning which, Darrin explained, would be a rare occurance. From that point every junction got rapturous applause and wild cheers, we even did a 'U-ie' to the bemusement of a couple in a campervan and went absolutely nuts...guess you had to be there for that one really. The first port of call was to be the King's Canyon (named, according to Darrin, after Elvis after it's discovery in the late 1800's). Lots of opportunities for ooh's and ahhh's on the walk around it...truely breathtaking views - it is, after all, the biggest canyon in the world as the Grand Canyon is actually a gorge not a canyon...technically...Anyhoo, off to the waterhole where a few brave souls dived in and promptly jumped straight back out. I would love to repeat on here what those hardy guys said as they entered the water but as it's just 4-letter words I will spare you the details. I think the only people to do it were Stuart (he's from Scotland and has been in Loch Lomond in the winter so he was fine), James (twice) and Eva & Rachel - who'd borrwed Jen's swimming cossie for the dubious pleasure. We all stayed on the side and ate snakes given to us by Darrin. (Jelly ones)

After the walk we stopped off for tea (Camel con Carne, or Chilli con Camel depending on your view) before heading off for our first night in the outback...beers were drunk and the name game was played - Stuart coming up with inspired 'Pontius Pilate' when presented with the letter P. Utter genius. James kept us entertained with his encyclopadic knowledge of Alan Partridge, we all had a go on a genuine didgereedoo and Pat lost at the drinking games - badly...

Up at 6ish for our trip to the Olga's - these are basically loads of round(ish) rocks that you can walk through and are even more sacred to the Aboriginals than Uluru. It was exceptional, the walk taking in some great Kodak moments and our first group photo - to appear here soon hopefully. We made it to Uluru for sunset, and had a nice cold beer whilst watching the sun go down. If you were wondering it really does change colour, and is as spectacular is it is in all the photos world-wide. Again, loads of piccies and another group shot were had. Night number two was much colder than the first night - and we had a bloody early start - 6am...not great after a few cheeky beers and a 1.30 bed-time...God I feel old...

Anyhow, we made it to Uluru but couldn't climb it due to high winds...this solved a nasty dliemma as the Aboriginals are not keen for you to climb it anyway (interestingly if you do they call you Minga's - bit harsh they don't even know us - it means 'ants' in their language btw). So, we set off on the 10 km base walk - walking round the whole thing. The stragglers - Me, Jen, Pat, Eva, Rachel and the Japanese girl (sorry again) made it back one whole hour after the rest of 'em...by which time James had taken to the mike for some impromtu karaoke, safe to say a career in singing does not beckon, although stand-up maybe a possibility...

So, to the end of our trip - a short stop at a camel farm for a quick ride and lark around with a friendly dingo (ironically named after Lindy Chamberlain's daughter), followed by arrival back in Alice. What to make of the 3 days? Unbelievable! The sites themselves were interesting but the whole trip was made great rather than just good due to a couple of other things...namely:

Darrin - this guy is an absolute headcase, but he can tell a great story, build a ripping fire and can gell a grroup of people together really quickly - we cannot recommend him and the tour itself highly enough.
The people - we're pretty convinced we'll never get a group like this on a tour again. Everyone out for a good time, friendly, fun, no egos, just a great bunch of people having a great time...we'll hopefully be staying in touch with a few and have invited Eva over to ours when she's next in England...she's reciprocated too

Ahhh to the quote...I didn't hear it - we have it though thanks it to the three Pommie girls (Maura, Robyn and Jess)...it was said by a love-struck guy to his girlfriend whilst watching the sunset at Uluru - the girls somehow managed not to vomit. It became the quote of the trip (along with Eva's 'I want to be a pussy!') instantly and was written ceremonially on the windscreen in marker pen.

The trip iteslf was basic yes, but the swags were great and relatively warm - hey we also got to stay in areas with no other people and as above, our guide was exceptional. I would recommend Mulga's tours and Annie's Place to anyone and can honestly say it's been 3 of the best days we've had since we've been away. Photos should appear here tomorrow. Off to Cairns tomorrow afternoon for some sun (it was -2 last night) and some diving...can't wait.