Day 12

Hurrah! A lie-in at last!

Packed up and waited for our transfer to Alice Springs airport as our Red Centre experience comes to an end.

Waited with another 'Doug' (are all Aussie men called that?) who was an ex pat touring alone. Kept us entertained for a while with his tales of how he moved to the outback as a child with his bee-keeping father and mother.

Flew to Adelaide which took a couple of hours and picked up our Mitsubishi Lancer hire car from the airport. It was an upgrade on what we were expecting but sadly didn't have a spa bath in the back.

Decided to give Adelaide a miss so drove for an hour to Aldinga where we had booked a couple of nights in a deluxe lodge at Beech Woods Eco Park.

Did the laundry and chatted to the owners. He was an ex RAF Wattisham serviceman so knew Suffolk well. Whilst waiting for our smalls to dry, we went on t'internet and stocked up in supermarket where we bought the worlds largest sprouts.

Sue ironed while Tony cooked. Domestic bliss.

Day 11

"The excitement never stops" - a regular quote from our laid back Australian tour guide / coach driver, Doug.

Another silly o'clock start (alarm went off a 5 a.m. to be precise and we're supposed to be on holiday!)

We took the coach the short distance to the Kings Canyon where we were given a choice of attempting the six kilometre / 3 1/2 hour rim walk or the 'strictly for big girls blouses' shaded one hour walk inside the canyon.

Obviously being super fit as we are (ahem...), we opted for the former. There were ten of us plus Penny the guide.

Start of the walk was mega steep but Sue's heart held out well. Fantastic views, some of us got closer to the edge of the canyon than others for the best photos.

The highlight was probably 'The Garden of Eden', a series of pools culminating in a large lake which some members of our groups took the opportunity to swim in.

The walk commenced at 6 a.m and finished at 9.20 a.m. We went back to the resort to pack our cases (after a quick daylight search round our original room in case we missed anything last night).

Before we departed, we treated ourselves to the spa bath with some cracking views from the window right next to it.

At 11.00 a.m. we left for Alice Springs. Stopped at Kings Canyon Station (the camel place) again for a veggie burger and the obligatory chips. Can't tell you about the next few hours as we slept through most of it.

After one or two more stops for refreshments, we arrived at Heavitree Gap in Alice Springs around 6.30 p.m.

Spruced up and took a taxi into the town courtesy of a Rick Waller lookalike driver. Lots of Aborigines in town and Rick gave us some serious advice about how to rebuke their requests for money without causing offence but they didn't approach us. Must have thought we were were zombies after the early start and exhausting walk.

Ate gnocchi and downed a bottle of local plonk before taking a cab back to resort.

Last thing at night, we fed the wild rock wallabies that came down from the hills and ate right out of our hands. We even saw our one and only wild kangaroo at last!

No early start tomorrow thankfully. Been a great day.

Day 10

Met the coach at the ungodly hour of 04.30 a.m. to head off to Uluru to watch the sunrise. Not as impressive as we had hoped to be honest, it was just like the sunset but in reverse!

We then took a guided walk to the Mutijulu waterhole where we saw cave paintings before walking to the Kantju Gorge, both at the base of Uluru where aboriginal people once lived.

Continued on to a cultural centre before returning to the hotel at 10.00 a.m for a couple of hours chill time in the common room, reading and 'Nintendo DSing'. Too early for cafe to be open so forced to eat crisps again. Reminder to selves - Diet when home!

In the early afternoon we set off to Kings Canyon resort. Long drive through miles of nothingness but arrived at KC at 5.00 p.m via a place that sold coffee and camel burgers / rides. Presumably when they could no longer do the latter, they ended up between two pieces of bread!

We also took a quick glimpse at the canyon in readiness for tomorrows early morning hike including our first view of 'heart attack hill' at the start of the 6 k.m. climb.

Got allocated our room and then the fun started! We booked the al a carte restaurant to get away from the constant pizza and chips so got dressed up a bit. CLUNK - the power to the whole resort went out at 6.00 p.m..

The room heated up to boiling point, everything we had recharging stopped and worst of all, Sue couldn't dry her hair!

Got a couple of 'frothies' from the bar and walked to the sunset viewing platform with a view of the rock to wait for the power to return.

After an hour, there was no sign of it coming back so the only eating option available was the BBQ, not great for veggies! After much messing about and the power coming and going for short periods, we had pizza and chips again!

Tony popped to the room to check the power was back but it was the only one in the block without it so the room was like an oven.

By now it was after 11.00 p.m. We reported our outage to reception for a second time to ask to be moved but unbelievably she couldn't tell which rooms were occupied and which weren't. She phoned one of the rooms which had no reply but asked Tony to let himself in to check if it was empty. He could have been mistaken for an intruder and bludgeoned to death but luckily it was vacant.

In the meantime, Sue packed our cases in the dark and Tony carried them to the side of the resort making his arms 6 inches longer in the process.

The good point about all of this is that we were upgraded to a larger room with a spa bath that we will take advantage of tomorrow!

Day 9

Left Sydney to catch a flight to Ayres Rock at 09:30 for a three day tour of the Red centre.

After settling into the Outback Pioneer Hotel, we left for an afternoon tour of the Olgas, walking down the gorge in the intense afternoon heat!

We then visited Uluru to watch the sunset accompanied by several glasses of wine and nibbles. The monolith had a warm glow after that!

Returned to the resort and had some chips with a fellow traveller called Jacomina who we met earlier in the day before retiring to bed.

Woke at 11.00 p.m to the sound of water from the air-con dripping onto the spare bed. Used towels to soak up excess and paper bin to catch drips.

Spent the rest of the night very warm due to no cool air and the dripping on metal bin - all we needed when we had to get up in the middle of the night!

Day 8

Happy New Year!

An even later start as didn't wake until 10.30 a.m.

Caught a packed bus to Bondi Beach (everyone had the same idea).

Shared a pizza before hitting the beach and making the locals jealous with our fit tanned torsos!

There were several surfers in the water and the beach was chock a block.

We stayed three hours but got a bit frazzled.

Caught bus back to hotel and changed for dinner. We walked for miles looking for vegetarian eateries but from our list, one had closed down and another was closed for New Year so opted for Wagamamas.

Took taxi back to hotel for last might in Sydney (for now).

Day 7

A late start after our late night. Corking weather again, we took a walk through Hyde Parks to the barracks. The building houses an exhibition about convict life and the prison ships they arrived on.

Had delicious lunch at an Italian then headed back to hotel to prepare for New Years eve.

By the time we arrived on Circular Quay, the public areas were already full and it was only 5 p.m.! Drinking in public areas was banned for the day but people were sitting around with picnics and parasols as it was so warm .

After several unhelpful instructions from stewards we found our way to the Opera Bar queue and managed to bag the best seats in the house, right on the harbour wall when the doors opened.

Started drinking immediately (as you do) and chatted to all sorts - Danes, Scots, Americans and Kiwis. Great camp entertainment as per the disco theme with plenty of cheesy tunes we'd not heard for years. Drag queens, girls on roller skates and guests dressed up in lairy 70's get up.

The family fireworks started at 9 p.m. followed by more eating and drinking.

At midnight the main event commenced with five million dollars worth of pyrotechnics going off from the bridge, tops of skyscrapers and barges, watched by a million and a half people. The boats in the harbour were all illuminated and it was pretty stunning.

Finally safe to leave our privileged position by the wall and put on our dancing shows for a couple of hours before stumbling back to hotel about half two in the morning. A memorable night!

Day 6

After waking later than usual, we had a complimentary breakfast since our room safe wasn't working then caught the open top bus to Circular Quay. Really warm day and no shade where we were sitting. Still can't complain having heard the weather in Blighty.

Booked ourselves on the 1.30 p.m. Sydney ferry sightseeing cruise and took a stroll around The Rocks for an hour beforehand.

Ferry left half an hour late since a member of the crew must have been having a lie-in but we went as far east as Shark Island and as far west as Goat Island (but saw neither goats nor sharks!). Some of the waterfront houses were fantastic especially the glass fronted modern ones.

Following the boat trip we bought tickets for the 5.45 p.m. Sydney Opera House backstage tour and had some time to spare so walked through the botanical gardens. Saw some unusual wildlife including cockatoos and trees full of flying foxes which are like big scary bats.

Both sat in Lady McQuarrie's chair for a peaceful view of the Opera House and the bridge. Walked back through the gardens to commence our SOH tour.

Had a sit inside both major concert halls and an impromptu performance from a comedy band warming up for an event.

Went and (eventually) found the location of the Cafe Sydney restaurant so we knew where it was when we needed it on a future date.

Walked all the way from Circular Quay to the cinema in George Street to see the 'Australia' film. Somehow seemed more appropriate than seeing it in Cardinal park, Ipswich.

Finished at 11.30 p.m. and grabbed a slice of pizza on the way back to hotel after a long day.

Came back to several texts telling me that Paul Jewell the Derby manager had resigned following another embarrassing defeat against Ipswich. How apt.