West Mac's & Uluru

After plenty of corrogation and dust, we drove straight to Alice Springs to meet Adam and get ready for the Larapinta trail! This was a definite highlight for me. We started just out of Alice and walked 107km through places such as Simpsons Gap, Stanley Chasm, Brinkley Bluff and Hugh George. I think this was the most challenging hike I have done as there is so much elevation change each day and a lot of up and down. Some campsites don't have water, so you have to carry a lot more than normal to get you through. This extra weight doesn't help up the hills!

The vegetation changes so much each day and there are so many wild flowers out after the rain this year. The most spectacular campsite was Brinkley Bluff 1209m, you camp at the top and have 360 degree views. We were up there on a full moon so watched the sunset on one side and the full moon rising on the other. No photos of mine can do this justice. Stanley Chasm was another highlight and was absolutely stunning walking down into it. The big breaky was also an added treat midway through the hike, and we were very hungry! We met a few interesting people on the hike and a standout to me was "Bruce". We overtook Bruce one morning and then he rolled into our campsite that night, he would have to have been in his 70s, hunched over and very slow. But he was doing the full 200km unassisted and on his own, so he was very inspirational. He said his motivation to keep going each

day is not to miss his pick-up day at the other end; I say whatever works! Most nights on the trail were so cold that our water bladders were frozen in the mornings. On return from the hike we were told it was the coldest few weeks on record.

To celebrate our finish of the hike, we had tickets for Melb vs Port Adelaide (AFL) which Nada was very excited for. It was great to see Kossi Pickett kick 6 goals in a good win for the Dees. Sitting close to the action on a grassy hill watching AFL like country footy was a treat.

Then we were off again for the Uluru, Kata Tjura, Kings Canyon, and Gosses Bluff Crater Circuit. We enjoyed two evenings of sunsets and the many "moods" of Uluru. While there, it struck me how far we have come in our

understanding and reconciliation with Indigenous Australians. I have been to Uluru years ago and climbed to the top with many others, and although signs respectfully requested we didn’t, we all did anyway and didn't really know any better... I have been exposed to so much more about Indigenous culture now as an adult and I can't imagine myself doing that now and am glad the focus has changed at Uluru. This time visiting I learnt more about the Anangu people's dreamtime stories, plant foods they ate and how they prepared them. Breads and biscuits were actually a part of their traditional cooking too!

We said goodbye to Adam and are heading north now to chase the sun and water.