The Rock... and the journey there...

...well, we left Melbourne in a blaze and headed down the Great Ocean Road towards Adelaide. The GOR was pretty fantastic with lots to see... i.e. The 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, London Bridge etc... very nice :)

From GOR we headed further north towards the Fleurieu Peninsula and Adelaide. Excellent beaches, nice city, great meal out and lovely sunny weather :) but then... the big trek was to begin.... THE OUTBACK!!!!!

OK, it started well... but then came the flies... the intense heat, the rotting carcasses of everything from Kangaroo to Camel, and a drive for 4 days sold just to get to Uluru (Ayre's Rock)... but it was worth it :)

The huge emptiness of the outback is crazy and scary- but also really, really beautiful. The colours, the changing landscape... just everything. We are both really glad that we have driven so far instead of flying to the centre. The things we have seen and the experiences it has given us are amazing!

We headed from Adelaide up to Coober Pedy- a crazy Opal mining town... rather in-bred... and, well, odd! We were pleased to get back in the van and scoot! That is until we saw the roadkill and things got even hotter!

Next stop, Uluru and the Olgas. As we drove to Yulara (the Ayre's Rock Resort) and Uluru came into view, it was an excellent experience- the thing seemed to glow luminous... and this was in broad daylight!! Trace described it as iridescent. It was just this huge, amazing thing on its own in a wilderness of flat, barren land. Really strange and you can understand the Aborigines affiliation and belief in its spiritual powers.

As usual, pictures just cannot do it justice, but the changing colours of it throughout the day and as we sat and watch the sunset over it were unbelievable! We cant really say anymore on it except it is amazing and definitely worth the drive :) Oh, and 45 mins further down the road is the Olgas, which are nearly (but not quite) just as mesmerizing as Uluru...

We are currently in Alice Springs... and it is soooo hot its just nuts! We thought we'd get this updated and then go for a little explore :) So, hope you like the pics and we'll update again soon after our 5 day trek out of the desert towards Cairns :)