Another 4.30am start. The worst yet. Went to the toilet and couldn't find my way back to the campsite. Had to head back to the toilet block and try again. Completely missed breakfast. Although today I'd had the foresight to have coffee as quickly as possible. Everyone else had packed up when I finally got back.

This morning's walk was King's Canyon. Choice of through it (easy) or over it (hard). Wandering through it was peaceful enough. A few other tourists and a lot of birds about the place. Fly count was high. Very high. Too high. Had a brace of sausage rolls and a snooze while the rest of the group got back. Been reading Robert Harris' Fatherland. Another of his mix of fact with plenty of fiction, taking the concept that the German's were victorious in the Second World War and what starts out as a murder case unravels into something much bigger.

Stopped again at the Mount Ebenezer Roadhouse, this time a longer wait there due to a flat tyre on the bus.

On the drive to Alice Springs, we stopped at Jim's Place. Home to the world famous Dinky, the singing and piano playing dingo. He kindly gave us a show, assisted by Lisa and Orla and a few words from Jim about Dinky and dingos in general.

And so onto Alice. Stayed at Toddy's, a great hostel with it's own pool, bar and all you can eat buffet for a mere $7.50. Had chicken and VB for dinner. Tried to ring my brother since it was also his birthday - no answer. Did get a call from Mr Skaro though, informing me of Liverpool's glorious win over Bayer Leverkusen. Hard to understand him though due to background noise, distortion and his alcohol intake.

Spent the rest of the night in Bojangles, the local pub/radio station. Had way too much to drink and had had a good time up to a point where a major depression kicked in. Felt like shit and just wanted to go back to England.

Said goodbye to everyone as the place closed at 2am. Wandered back to Toddy's and had a bad night's sleep.

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