Happy Christmas Everyone!!!
(We're listening to old songs on Youtube - who remembers Honeyz - Finally Found haha!!)
It's like a blanket of heat!
It's been a little while since I last updated my blog (understandably as it's been Christmas!) Since I last blogged we have been to Alice Springs on our Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kings Canyon Tour!
We got up at 4.30am (lovely!) so we could have a shower, breakfast & finish packing before Adventure Tours picked us up at 6am! Our tour guide was Miles & our cook was Mark - great Auzzie lads! There were 6 other people - quite a small tour this time! We had Yta (from Israel who was lovely & loved to talk!) Doris & Alfred (an Austrian couple), Jess & Matt (a couple of friends from the USA) and Guiseppe (an Italian bloke).
Our first stop was a camel ride! This was at about 8am & it was already boiling hot! Getting on the camels was like a roller coster & I got stuck at the front which is apparently worse! We were on a ride with an old English couple next to us & they were hilarious!! All you could hear from the old lady was "ooo dear, ooo I don't like this....ooo Frank I don't like this he's going a bit fast!!" - I had tears down my eyes & was trying to wipe them away when all of a sudden the guide starting running with the camels!!! I was cracking up watching this lady's face but my legs were burning from the seat!!
It definitely woke us up...
We headed to camp to have lunch (& stop at a viewing point for Uluru, which is also known as Ayers Rock). From here, we headed off for a 'Cultural Walk' where we saw all the Aboriginal paintings in caves & learnt a bit about their culture & why they don't like people climbing Uluru as it is sacred for them...We then got back in the van & headed to Kata Tjuta for a 30 minute walk. It was boiling by this point but luckily Miles brought a plant spray bottle filled with water with him which was a God send on a day like that!! We learnt that you can only publish a photo of Kata Tjuta if you include both rock faces, otherwise you can't...(little fact for you all!)
After we'd had enough of walking, we headed back to a spot near Uluru for a champagne sunset (ahh yea, bonus of being upgraded!!) The sunset was beautiful & we all enjoyed nibbles & drinks before heading back to camp for dinner.
Mark said he was cooking burgers on the barbie so we were all up for that! Until he came out with some suspiscious looking burgers....kangaroo burgers and camel sausages!!! Just after a camel ride that morning - talk about great timing!! You'll all be very impressed...I ate the whole camel sausage! I tried to eat the kangaroo but only managed a couple of bites as it was still practically jumping around my plate...apparently they like it raw, bleugh...!!
We were up at 4am the next day to head to Uluru to see the sunrise but it was a really cloudy morning so we didn't see a lot unfortunately! We had to head straight to the National Park from the sunrise as they don't let people in for the base walk after 8am as it reaches over 36 degrees!
The walk was 9.4km around the base of Ayers Rock & it was stunning but you are prohibited from taking photos at quite a few points as these are sacred to the Aboriginals...The walk took about 2 hours & from there, we met Miles and he took us on a little cultural walk - The Mala Walk. There was a lot of stopping to tell us about each rock & although it was interesting, I think a lot of us were flagging in the heat & just wanted to sit down! We went back to camp for lunch & Miles went to pick up a Japanese couple who were joining us for one night, before we all headed to our base at Kings Canyon.
Twinkle Twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are...
Mark cooked up a great casserole & then we lit the camp fire & sat around laughing & telling stories whilst we toasted marshmallows on the fire & made smores courtesy of Jess (yummy!!!) One of the tour guides heard us all laughing & left his group to join ours as he said his group weren't as much fun, ha!! The sky was really clear & absolutely full of stars so we were trying to work out which patterns we could find & Mark spotted Jupiter which was cool! (Although I called it the party star as it was the sparkliest!)
Some of the group chose to 'swag' it outside - in a sleeping bag type thing but we took advantage of the tents & got a good night's sleep away from the dingos!
Fingers on the Rim & spotting pigmy koalas!
Our wake up call was 5am the next morning (lovely, again!) because we had to get to Kings Canyon before it got too hot! The walk was incredible...it was only 6km in total but we walked all the way around the rim of the Canyon & there were sheer drops down to the bottom! During the walk Miles would stop and tell us little facts...we stopped at one tree and he told us to look up into the branches where we saw a teeeny little koala clinging on! We all thought it was adorable & took loads of photos! He also told us about "drop-bears" that apparently wait until people walk underneath the trees, then drop on them and cling on...not nice!!
...About 30 minutes later, Miles admitted the whole thing was a joke & there were no such things! So I told him I wasn't going to believe anything he said for the rest of the tour (as I really loved that lil pigmy koala :o( ) and everytime he tried to tell a real fact from then on, we all laughed at him!
The walk was pretty demanding & it was getting hotter & hotter...we stopped for a snack & this is when Miles got out his shortbread fingers...he then proceeded to ask "does anyone want a finger on the rim?" and for the next 2 hours there were endless jokes flying about!! (None of which I can possibly repeat!)
You wanna Tim Tam?
By the end of the walk, we were all really sweaty (nice!) so we headed back to camp & jumped into the pool after some lunch! We didn't have long before we headed back on the bus for our 5 hour journey back to Alice Springs & it decided to rain nearly the whole way so it took us longer :o(
When we got back, we all decided to meet up in the evening for our last night of tour - @ Annie's Place.
"Cross over the road my friend..."
Me & Ceri went back to our "luxury twin-bed room" and it turned out to be a skanky caravan!! We did laugh but it was horrible...we didn't have much time to complain though because we showered & went straight back out again!! The night was a really good laugh & we all had a few too many Jagerbombs....there was a live band on for a bit but then it was dancing & showing everyone how "oops upside your head" goes....then came the drinking games....
Ceri managed to fall asleep in a chair at the end of the night (pretty impressive) & when we made our way out I had to guide her to the cab, saying "cross over the road my friend" and then we remembered the song from school haha!! Drunken fun times...
The next day...
We woke up & got a cab to the airport - where we bumped into the whole of our tour haha! It was funny to catch up on the dramas of the night before! Our flight to Sydney was delayed for a little bit but when we got on it wasn't too bad (considering the hangover!) We watched a couple of films & before we knew it, we were landing in Sydney! We stayed for a couple of nights in different hostels, mainly catching up on sleep & chilling out, then we booked into Sinclaires b&b for a week so we could base ourselves somewhere! We spent a week solid handing out CV's & I had 2 job trials & got a job, wahoo! I work in a bar which is pretty cool - it gets packed & with no bar experience, i'm learning quickly!! It's hard to understand half the customers & they ask for "Schooners, stubbies, tinnys and handles" which is different from home! Australia is also reaaaalllly strict on alcohol abuse so we had to take an exam so we got our RSA certificate (Responsible Service of Alcohol). It's so different to home, where drunk people are served everywhere - here, if you are seen to be even slightly drunk, you're thrown out without warning!
We managed to spend a couple of days down the beach, before it started raining (and hasn't stopped since!) and we also saw a photo-shoot with Lara Bingle - there are pictures on my facebook for all the guys ha!
We then moved to Xanthe's place for a week which was loooovely! We really enjoyed just chilling out & watching Christmas movies! We also had the company of Bindi - their cat :o) I started working a couple of days before Christmas so I wasn't getting in until about 5am (which was tiring as I didn't want to sleep through the whole of the next day so I was getting up at about 10-11am and then starting all over again...) we made it down the beach a couple of days and even treated ourselves to the cinema to see The Invention of Lying! (A very strange film!)
On Christmas Eve, we got up early and moved all our things to Judy's house (a friend of Xanthe's) we're renting her apartment for 5 weeks & it is LOVELY!!! The view overlooks Bondi Beach & the living room is lovely & big, we each have our own room, we have a full kitchen & even a bath in the bathroom! It's luxury for us.. :P
I worked Christmas Eve, so after spending the day chilling out & watching Christmas films (and a quick trip to Westfield in Bondi Junction to buy some santa hats! :P) I got showered & ready for work....with glitter & the full works!! Ceri didn't want to sit at home all night so she met me in work at about 1am and ended up getting very merry from other guys buying her drinks!! Standing at the bar by yourself is obviously the way to go! :P
Christmas Day we woke up at about 11am and had some breakfast before I burnt and then managed to recover the Christmas cake (with lots of chocolate icing! :o)) We then attempted - and somehow managed by a Christmas miracle, to cook a full roast dinner!!! This might not seem a lot to many people, but to give you an idea of our cooking skills, me & Ceri have been living off pasta and toast for the past 2 months!! It all came together perfectly & the roast potatoes were fluffy on the inside and crunchy on the outside - perfect!!
We were really sleepy after lunch so we snuggled up on the sofa & watched The Grinch & ate cake :o) Later on, we freshened up & headed down to the internet cafe where I managed to speak to home on their Christmas morning!! It was lovely to speak to them all but for the first time since we've been away I think we both felt a little home sick...
I told lil man to go to my room & directed him to where i'd hidden Christmas presents :o) They all opened them whilst I was on Skype so I felt part of Christmas hehe! Mum had managed to send photos in to Dan from The Feeling and she sent me the link to the video of a special Christmas song he'd recorded and as I was watching, a photo of lil man appeared holding a banner saying "Happy Christmas Rachel in Auz, love & miss you lots" from everyone! It brought a little tear to my eye....then as I carried on watching, a photo of me & Nanny popped up!! It was so thoughtful & amazing that they'd managed to do it :O) - you can see the video on facebook!
We headed back to the apartment after speaking to home & chilled out on the sofa for the rest of the evening - until my family called from Sarah & Paul's house at 2am :o) It was lovely to speak to Sarah as I didn't get the chance in the morning & it was only the start of their Christmas when ours was nearly over!! I also opened a parcel from home which was lovely! I didn't even know mum had our address - sneaky lil thing!! In my parcel there were lots of lovely little prezzies and some PERCY PIGS!!! We have a video of me opening them and I can't remember the last time i've been that excited over a bag of sweets!!! haha
We spent Boxing Day unpacking our big backpacks in our pj's! It's so nice to be able to hang clothes up and have things out rather than rummaging through your backpack every time you need something! We headed down the internet cafe again & I managed to Skype everyone at Sarah's which was cool! :o)
For the past few days we've loved doing nothing! It's been raining non-stop but we're hoping it stops in time for New Year! We're planning to be next to the Opera House for New Year & I managed to get the day off work (yay!!) so we're going to get there nice & early :o)
I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas & enjoyed all the snow!!
My next blog wont be as long as we're based here for a little while! Look forward to hearing from you all, take care & lots of love!
Rachel x x x
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(We're listening to old songs on Youtube - who remembers Honeyz - Finally Found haha!!)
It's like a blanket of heat!
It's been a little while since I last updated my blog (understandably as it's been Christmas!) Since I last blogged we have been to Alice Springs on our Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kings Canyon Tour!
We got up at 4.30am (lovely!) so we could have a shower, breakfast & finish packing before Adventure Tours picked us up at 6am! Our tour guide was Miles & our cook was Mark - great Auzzie lads! There were 6 other people - quite a small tour this time! We had Yta (from Israel who was lovely & loved to talk!) Doris & Alfred (an Austrian couple), Jess & Matt (a couple of friends from the USA) and Guiseppe (an Italian bloke).
Our first stop was a camel ride! This was at about 8am & it was already boiling hot! Getting on the camels was like a roller coster & I got stuck at the front which is apparently worse! We were on a ride with an old English couple next to us & they were hilarious!! All you could hear from the old lady was "ooo dear, ooo I don't like this....ooo Frank I don't like this he's going a bit fast!!" - I had tears down my eyes & was trying to wipe them away when all of a sudden the guide starting running with the camels!!! I was cracking up watching this lady's face but my legs were burning from the seat!!
It definitely woke us up...
We headed to camp to have lunch (& stop at a viewing point for Uluru, which is also known as Ayers Rock). From here, we headed off for a 'Cultural Walk' where we saw all the Aboriginal paintings in caves & learnt a bit about their culture & why they don't like people climbing Uluru as it is sacred for them...We then got back in the van & headed to Kata Tjuta for a 30 minute walk. It was boiling by this point but luckily Miles brought a plant spray bottle filled with water with him which was a God send on a day like that!! We learnt that you can only publish a photo of Kata Tjuta if you include both rock faces, otherwise you can't...(little fact for you all!)
After we'd had enough of walking, we headed back to a spot near Uluru for a champagne sunset (ahh yea, bonus of being upgraded!!) The sunset was beautiful & we all enjoyed nibbles & drinks before heading back to camp for dinner.
Mark said he was cooking burgers on the barbie so we were all up for that! Until he came out with some suspiscious looking burgers....kangaroo burgers and camel sausages!!! Just after a camel ride that morning - talk about great timing!! You'll all be very impressed...I ate the whole camel sausage! I tried to eat the kangaroo but only managed a couple of bites as it was still practically jumping around my plate...apparently they like it raw, bleugh...!!
We were up at 4am the next day to head to Uluru to see the sunrise but it was a really cloudy morning so we didn't see a lot unfortunately! We had to head straight to the National Park from the sunrise as they don't let people in for the base walk after 8am as it reaches over 36 degrees!
The walk was 9.4km around the base of Ayers Rock & it was stunning but you are prohibited from taking photos at quite a few points as these are sacred to the Aboriginals...The walk took about 2 hours & from there, we met Miles and he took us on a little cultural walk - The Mala Walk. There was a lot of stopping to tell us about each rock & although it was interesting, I think a lot of us were flagging in the heat & just wanted to sit down! We went back to camp for lunch & Miles went to pick up a Japanese couple who were joining us for one night, before we all headed to our base at Kings Canyon.
Twinkle Twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are...
Mark cooked up a great casserole & then we lit the camp fire & sat around laughing & telling stories whilst we toasted marshmallows on the fire & made smores courtesy of Jess (yummy!!!) One of the tour guides heard us all laughing & left his group to join ours as he said his group weren't as much fun, ha!! The sky was really clear & absolutely full of stars so we were trying to work out which patterns we could find & Mark spotted Jupiter which was cool! (Although I called it the party star as it was the sparkliest!)
Some of the group chose to 'swag' it outside - in a sleeping bag type thing but we took advantage of the tents & got a good night's sleep away from the dingos!
Fingers on the Rim & spotting pigmy koalas!
Our wake up call was 5am the next morning (lovely, again!) because we had to get to Kings Canyon before it got too hot! The walk was incredible...it was only 6km in total but we walked all the way around the rim of the Canyon & there were sheer drops down to the bottom! During the walk Miles would stop and tell us little facts...we stopped at one tree and he told us to look up into the branches where we saw a teeeny little koala clinging on! We all thought it was adorable & took loads of photos! He also told us about "drop-bears" that apparently wait until people walk underneath the trees, then drop on them and cling on...not nice!!
...About 30 minutes later, Miles admitted the whole thing was a joke & there were no such things! So I told him I wasn't going to believe anything he said for the rest of the tour (as I really loved that lil pigmy koala :o( ) and everytime he tried to tell a real fact from then on, we all laughed at him!
The walk was pretty demanding & it was getting hotter & hotter...we stopped for a snack & this is when Miles got out his shortbread fingers...he then proceeded to ask "does anyone want a finger on the rim?" and for the next 2 hours there were endless jokes flying about!! (None of which I can possibly repeat!)
You wanna Tim Tam?
By the end of the walk, we were all really sweaty (nice!) so we headed back to camp & jumped into the pool after some lunch! We didn't have long before we headed back on the bus for our 5 hour journey back to Alice Springs & it decided to rain nearly the whole way so it took us longer :o(
When we got back, we all decided to meet up in the evening for our last night of tour - @ Annie's Place.
"Cross over the road my friend..."
Me & Ceri went back to our "luxury twin-bed room" and it turned out to be a skanky caravan!! We did laugh but it was horrible...we didn't have much time to complain though because we showered & went straight back out again!! The night was a really good laugh & we all had a few too many Jagerbombs....there was a live band on for a bit but then it was dancing & showing everyone how "oops upside your head" goes....then came the drinking games....
Ceri managed to fall asleep in a chair at the end of the night (pretty impressive) & when we made our way out I had to guide her to the cab, saying "cross over the road my friend" and then we remembered the song from school haha!! Drunken fun times...
The next day...
We woke up & got a cab to the airport - where we bumped into the whole of our tour haha! It was funny to catch up on the dramas of the night before! Our flight to Sydney was delayed for a little bit but when we got on it wasn't too bad (considering the hangover!) We watched a couple of films & before we knew it, we were landing in Sydney! We stayed for a couple of nights in different hostels, mainly catching up on sleep & chilling out, then we booked into Sinclaires b&b for a week so we could base ourselves somewhere! We spent a week solid handing out CV's & I had 2 job trials & got a job, wahoo! I work in a bar which is pretty cool - it gets packed & with no bar experience, i'm learning quickly!! It's hard to understand half the customers & they ask for "Schooners, stubbies, tinnys and handles" which is different from home! Australia is also reaaaalllly strict on alcohol abuse so we had to take an exam so we got our RSA certificate (Responsible Service of Alcohol). It's so different to home, where drunk people are served everywhere - here, if you are seen to be even slightly drunk, you're thrown out without warning!
We managed to spend a couple of days down the beach, before it started raining (and hasn't stopped since!) and we also saw a photo-shoot with Lara Bingle - there are pictures on my facebook for all the guys ha!
We then moved to Xanthe's place for a week which was loooovely! We really enjoyed just chilling out & watching Christmas movies! We also had the company of Bindi - their cat :o) I started working a couple of days before Christmas so I wasn't getting in until about 5am (which was tiring as I didn't want to sleep through the whole of the next day so I was getting up at about 10-11am and then starting all over again...) we made it down the beach a couple of days and even treated ourselves to the cinema to see The Invention of Lying! (A very strange film!)
On Christmas Eve, we got up early and moved all our things to Judy's house (a friend of Xanthe's) we're renting her apartment for 5 weeks & it is LOVELY!!! The view overlooks Bondi Beach & the living room is lovely & big, we each have our own room, we have a full kitchen & even a bath in the bathroom! It's luxury for us.. :P
I worked Christmas Eve, so after spending the day chilling out & watching Christmas films (and a quick trip to Westfield in Bondi Junction to buy some santa hats! :P) I got showered & ready for work....with glitter & the full works!! Ceri didn't want to sit at home all night so she met me in work at about 1am and ended up getting very merry from other guys buying her drinks!! Standing at the bar by yourself is obviously the way to go! :P
Christmas Day we woke up at about 11am and had some breakfast before I burnt and then managed to recover the Christmas cake (with lots of chocolate icing! :o)) We then attempted - and somehow managed by a Christmas miracle, to cook a full roast dinner!!! This might not seem a lot to many people, but to give you an idea of our cooking skills, me & Ceri have been living off pasta and toast for the past 2 months!! It all came together perfectly & the roast potatoes were fluffy on the inside and crunchy on the outside - perfect!!
We were really sleepy after lunch so we snuggled up on the sofa & watched The Grinch & ate cake :o) Later on, we freshened up & headed down to the internet cafe where I managed to speak to home on their Christmas morning!! It was lovely to speak to them all but for the first time since we've been away I think we both felt a little home sick...
I told lil man to go to my room & directed him to where i'd hidden Christmas presents :o) They all opened them whilst I was on Skype so I felt part of Christmas hehe! Mum had managed to send photos in to Dan from The Feeling and she sent me the link to the video of a special Christmas song he'd recorded and as I was watching, a photo of lil man appeared holding a banner saying "Happy Christmas Rachel in Auz, love & miss you lots" from everyone! It brought a little tear to my eye....then as I carried on watching, a photo of me & Nanny popped up!! It was so thoughtful & amazing that they'd managed to do it :O) - you can see the video on facebook!
We headed back to the apartment after speaking to home & chilled out on the sofa for the rest of the evening - until my family called from Sarah & Paul's house at 2am :o) It was lovely to speak to Sarah as I didn't get the chance in the morning & it was only the start of their Christmas when ours was nearly over!! I also opened a parcel from home which was lovely! I didn't even know mum had our address - sneaky lil thing!! In my parcel there were lots of lovely little prezzies and some PERCY PIGS!!! We have a video of me opening them and I can't remember the last time i've been that excited over a bag of sweets!!! haha
We spent Boxing Day unpacking our big backpacks in our pj's! It's so nice to be able to hang clothes up and have things out rather than rummaging through your backpack every time you need something! We headed down the internet cafe again & I managed to Skype everyone at Sarah's which was cool! :o)
For the past few days we've loved doing nothing! It's been raining non-stop but we're hoping it stops in time for New Year! We're planning to be next to the Opera House for New Year & I managed to get the day off work (yay!!) so we're going to get there nice & early :o)
I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas & enjoyed all the snow!!
My next blog wont be as long as we're based here for a little while! Look forward to hearing from you all, take care & lots of love!
Rachel x x x
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
