Arrived at Uluru 12th July

Well for the last week we have truly being in the outback with no mobile or internet connection to be seen. We are now in Uluru and everything you could possibly need is here as well as alot of Australia and the rest of Overseas it seems.

After leaving Leigh Creek we headed up the Oonadatta track as far as Oonadatta, track is maybe a little harsh. It is more like a dirt highway, with lots of people on it, but beautiful nether the less. Highlights of the track were bushcamping along the Old Ghan Railway with emus joining us for breakfast, sometimes near derelict stations, Plane henge, a sculptural park using actual planes in the middle of nowhere and Lake Eyre, with water in it! We actually managed to stand in the waters of lake eyre north! Visited the very remote pubs of William Creek, Mt Dare and Oonadatta which all have young foreigners working in them. Not sure if they really knew what they were in for when they signed up. They really are in the middle of nowhere. From Oonadatta we headed further off road towards the Simpson Desert to the Dalhousie Hot Springs through huge cattle farms and pretty rough roads. We had to do a 100km detour as the quickest access route had been closed as no one is prepared to take the public liability. The hot springs were worth it though. A better description would be a hot lake, the exact temperature of a hot bath and up to 15m deep in some places. Very much appreciated after 5 days of no washing and worth a 2 day stop. This is where people head out to the Simpson or come back from so there were some pretty serious 4wd'ers there and it was busy, nothing by Uluru terms though. Fully refreshed we headed back into the outback across a really horrible road to Mt Dare and the pub there. From that point we remained off road to Uluru which was lovely. For 2 nights and 2 days we virtually saw no one and the roads although dirt were actually a pleasure to travel on. We went through the aboriginal community of Finke which was a bit depressing really and camped out under a massive rock structures which the boys really enjoyed climbing. Last night we went bush towards Mt Cooper which rose out of nowhere and is incredibly majestic. Got semi lost (not really) on some big cattle station and camped with fantastic views of Mount Cooper with camels roaming around during the night. Woke up this morning in a complete fog, and no view and 2 hours of bush bashing to get back to the road. We are now in Uluru where we have met up with the Cracknells and its raining! We have sighted it however and if the weather clears will head out for sunset drinks, after much needed showers, washing and food shopping.