outback adventure.

so i went on a contiki tour to the center of australia. it consisted of waking up to an alarm for the first time since i have been in australia! and leaving the airport at 7am. and then flying for 2 hours to cairns, the northern famous city of northern queensland. and then flying another 2 hours to alice springs. the center of australia in the northern territory. i met up with the other contiki people and met people from switzerland, france, germany, the netherlands, australia, the states, canada, and new zealand.
our first day we traveled to the famous desert park of alice springs. we then went to simpsons gap and hung out there for a while, then traveled to the telegraph station and anzac hill. later people went out on the town and partied. i went to bed at 8. i can't give up my sleep. 8 is the magic number.
day 2. we went to the bush and did a bushtalk tour and we met some aborigines and got to experience their lifestyle. we ate bugs, nuts, kangaroo tail and did some boomerang throwing. let me tell you. i have skills. if the target decided to jump 10 feet...oh we speak meters out here...3 meters out to the right from where i aimed. we then went to kings canyon and toured that area. we did a 6k hike and it was exciting because the environment here reminds me of southern utah and when we went hiking...party! home sweet home. we then went to the camping spot for the night. this was the highlight of the trip for me. i loved sleeping out under the stars. we couldn't have been more blessed with perfect weather conditions on this adventure. clear skies for the night, perfect temperature...where it's a little chilly and you snuggle up in your human condom and your sleeping bag and sleep. perfect! and the night stars of australia shining and shooting stars! beautiful! friends, i made a wish for 6 of you...well i prayed for you when i saw one. just 6 friends though. that's all i could do. just kidding. let me clear this thought up...when i see a shooting star, instead of making a "wish" on it, i pray for someone that God has laid on my heart and someone that i had been thinking about that day. ok. back to adventure details to share with you all. i woke up in the middle of the night to see the moon, and i'm thankful that it wasn't out earlier because it would have obstructed the starry night sky. and then later to some howling. i would like to say it was dingoes making that noise because it sounds more exciting, but it could have just been a dog. but i don't know where any dogs would have been since we were out in the bush. kind of.
we then woke up, packed up and traveled to uluru national park. we visited kata tjuta, also known as the olgas. they are not so commonly known, but they are beautiful. just a whole bunch of random rocks sticking up and pretty cool. we did a little hike and then went to our hotel for the night. everyone went to bed pretty early because it was going to be an early morning the next day.
we got up around 4:30 and got up to go see the sunrise at good old famous uluru. beautiful watching the colors change in the sky and on the rock. watching the rock dance to life. we then went to the rock and were hoping to climb it, but it was closed due to high winds. so it's still open to climb, but was not open while we were there because they wind was a blowin! so. we walked around it instead. 10k baby! later that afternoon we just hung out and then went back to uluru for a champagne sunset. mmm. memorable. it was cool watching the rock change colors again. and how quickly it happened. God, thank You for Your beautiful creation.
thursday, i said my see you laters to everyone and then spent the day at the hotel. i had booked an extra day at uluru for another chance to climb the rock in case if it was closed, but it ended up being more windy than the day before. but i had a nice day relaxing to myself.
friday, i flew to sydney and met up with tanya.