The Outback

So I consider myself to be relatively outdoorsy. I like to hike and camp and have cocktails on patios, but the Outback just wasn't my cup of tea. We left Cairns on Monday and flew to Alice Springs. Here is the general rundown. There are lots of rocks and dirt. There are flies the size of small birds that want to eat your eyeballs. You have to wear a lunch lady hairnet over your whole face to keep them off. For real. We took a tour out into the dirt field and learned about the Aborigines. We learned how to throw a boomerang and Dad ate some kangaroo tail. We looked at more dirt. And rocks. And flies. That is about all I can really say about Alice Springs and the Outback. I'm glad we got to see it since it is famous enough to have a chain restaurant named after it, but I don't think it will be my favorite part of the trip.

On Wednesday got up at 4am to take a hot air balloon ride over the dirt and rocks. The balloon ride was pretty cool and other than dirt and rocks we actually got to see some kangaroo out hopping around. After that we got on a bus for a 6 hour ride to Ayers Rock. The rock is really beautiful, and I wish we had time to actually climb it. We got to go watch the sunset and see the rock change colors- and they gave us free champagne which is a plus! After sunset we went back to the hotel. They had a cool open air bar and a band for St. Patrick's Day. And even better - green beer for $5!! That is the cheapest yet! Dad got to introduce Australia to his already USA famous dance moves, so that was highly entertaining. The biggest party animals of the evening were the Japanese people. Man, do they love some St. Paddy's Day!!

Today we got up and did another tour at the rock, and then flew to Melbourne where we will be for the next 3 days. I am very glad to be back in the city where there is shopping, internet, and cable TV so we can try to catch some March Madness highlights. Speaking of cable TV, I had a funny realization the other day. In Cairns when the group all went to get the early bird special for dinner, we opted out to go to the gym. Then when we landed in Alice Springs, everyone was talking about how they hate packing up all their clean clothes with their dirty clothes. We told them it wasn't a problem for us because we did laundry at the hotel after we worked out. When we got to the hotel in Alice Springs, everyone made sure every square inch of skin was covered and they sat in the shade. We greased up and laid in the sun. So I started thinking about all these things we do that no one else on the tour does. Gym. Laundry. Tan. Why does that sound familiar?? Gym. Laundry. Tan... Gym. Tan. Laundry. OMG! We are the Jersey Shore cast of our tour group. Fist pump!!!