Of all the places in the World for my camera to finally give up the ghost, The Red Centre of Australia would have to be about the worst: home to some of the most amazing landscapes that I shall ever see and absolutely no way of getting a replacement. I was not a happy camper on Thursday evening!

Thankfully I am not the only one with a camera, so when we went to visit Kata Tjuta/The Olgas on Friday morning we were able to get some great shots of the tremendous natural domes. We completed our walk through The Valley of the Winds by lunchtime, just after the clouds had cleared and the Sun had begun to bake the Red Earth below.

We spent the afternoon exploring the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre and learning about the Aboriginal people who live in the area. We also took a drive around the base of Uluru/Ayers Rock. It became clear to me that the reason all photographs of Uluru/Ayers Rock seem to be from the same side is that some parts of the rock are considered so sacred to the Aboriginal people that they ask for them not to be photographed. We had agreed before our trip that we were not going to climb the rock out of respect for the traditional owners. It turned out that the climb was closed for the entire time that we were there anyway, due to the weather conditions, so it was good to see nobody on the rock. I learned that Kata Tjuta/The Olgas is considered more sacred to the Aboriginals than Uluru/Ayers Rock, so much so that they tell you very little about it. From one of the viewpoints I could see two more large rock formations in the protected Aboriginal land; I imagine that these are probably even more sacred to their custodians. I hope that they can keep them tourist-free.

Never having been on a camel before, I didn’t know what to expect from a Sunset Camel Tour. The cameleers who arrange the tours were very good at putting their customers at ease and soon after our arrival at the camel farm, K and I were on our camel for the evening: Bendy (short for Bendigo). Bendy is the tallest camel in the chain and was half-way along the chain giving us great views of not only the wondrous scenery around us but the rest of the camels and their riders.

We set off across the red sandy desert with our fly-nets installed (our walk around Kata Tjuta taught us that the flies in the area love fly-repellent and will make a beeline (fly line?) for the lugholes of anyone who’d ever worn it) and took in the spectacular views as the sun set to the west of Kata Tjuta. The Olgas and Uluru/Ayers Rock looked magnificent, as did the skies around us as the day drew to a close.

We were somewhat surprised when after the tour had ended we were offered smoked camel as a snack with a glass of wine! Still, having eaten barbecued crocodile, emu and kangaroo the previous evening, we were game and the camel was very tasty indeed.

Yesterday we got up very early (so early that it couldn’t yet be called bright and early), collected our things from the dormitory and headed for Uluru/Ayers Rock to watch the sunrise. Sadly, the clouds had descended overnight and this meant that the sunrise wasn’t the magnificent spectacle that we had hoped for. It also turned out to be a lot damper than we’d hoped for.

The early morning drive back along the Lasseter Highway turned out to be very perilous. We found ourselves having to stop for herds of wild camels, wild cows and wild, wild horses! There was even a flock of galahs sitting in the road at one point. We reached Kings Canyon having collected only flying insects on the front of The Beast. The sun was not yet at its hottest, so we took the short walk along the creek to take in the impressive views of the red, rugged landscape.

The afternoon was to be spent on the highway collecting yet more bug splat on the windscreen. By tea-time we had reached our destination: Alice Springs, which is where we shall be spending the next couple of days. It’s great to be in a YHA again, I’m really enjoying the hostelling experience. The people you meet are both interesting and interested and the standard of accommodation is really very good. In most cases the hostels we have stayed at have been nicer, friendlier places than the hotels and only cost a fraction of the price. It’s also nice to be away from the hordes of tourists. The area around Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park was full of white tour buses and white campervans, which made me feel like part of a herd when driving our white Ford Laser. It’s a good feeling to be travellers, just doing our own thing.