So much to see and do!

Well the time has flown by since my last post - I've been so busy that I'll try not to make it too long of a post but I'm not hopeful!
After my last post I was heading out to the Barossa Valley for the day where I got to taste wines at Wolf Blass, Vine Crest, Grant Burge and Monkey Nut Tree wineries. All very yummy - including the wide varieties of ports I got to try and being a bit of a port fan anyway this was good! Also had my first taste of Kangaroo as I had it for lunch that day too.
For the rest of my time in Adelaide I went to the Donald Bradman Collection (who went to work for Harry Hodgetts - a stockbroker - when his cricketing career was over!), The South Australia Museum, SA art gallery, Adelaide Uni, Chinatown and Central Market. On my last day there it was the Melbourne Cup so a few of us booked a table at the local pub to eat and watch the race. My go on the sweepstake was about as successful as it is on the Grand National but a fun time was had by all!
After Adelaide I travelled on the Ghan train up to Alice Springs which took 26 hours but was good because a. you get loads of leg room; b. I got a double seat to myself and c. there is a lounge car and dining car for you to walk around in so you're not stuck in your seat all that time - they even have a shower on board if you want one!! The sunset as we travelled on the train was absolutely amazing and so was the sunrise the next morning.
Once in Alice Springs I went to visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service base there which was really interesting and then went to a kangaroo rescue centre where they look after joeys that are rescued from the their mother's pouches when the kangaroos have been hit by vehicles. They were soooo cute! After there I went to the School of the Air where I saw a lesson on computing taking place. These days the lessons take place via computer linkup rather than radio and so there have been some issues with when the homesteads switch on their generators as they need to be on for the satellite linkup which wasn't an issue with the radio system. The logistics of it all was amazing though and it was a fascinating place to visit.
The next day I had a really early start (5.30am) for my Mulga's tour of King's Canyon, Kata Tjuta (think can 'a' tuna!) and Uluru. On the first day of the tour we had a long drive out to King's Canyon and then we walked the rim until we got to a swimming hole that hasn't had water in it for a year (but obviously knew I was on my way so they'd had a huge storm which had filled it up) so we got to swim in it which was cold but lots of fun and also saw the creek that runs though it which also had water in it for the first time in a year. That night we set up camp and slept out under the stars in swags which was freaky at first but then when you got used to the idea of bugs and spiders and snakes it was OK!
The following day we walked through Kata Tjuta (otherwise known as The Olgas) which was absolutely beautiful, the place was magnificent. From there we went round to Uluru and saw the watering hole there and some of the aboriginal paintings that had been done on the stone. Then we went to the sunset viewing area and had dinner whilst the sunset over Uluru. That night we went back to camp and made it up in the dark! Then we all sat down and had a few beers and Beej (the guide) starting playing the guitar. Just lying back on the swag listening to him and looking up at the many many stars made for a magical evening. Which was good because we had and even earlier start the next morning (4.30am) to go watch sunrise at Uluru which to be honest wasn't all that impressive!! After that we did the base walk - you weren't able to climb it that day due to the high winds - not that I wanted to anyway - which is still about 9 km to give you an idea of just how big this rock is. On the way back to Alice that day we stopped off at a camel farm and I had a ride on a camel, which I have to say was almost as traumatic as the donkey ride I had along Blackpool beach when I was about 8!! After arriving back in Alice we had a group dinner that night and then went to the most soulless nightclub I think I've ever been to - but we'd had a few beers so all was good!!
The next day, myself and 5 others from the Mulgas tour flew to Cairns, where not surprisingly it was throwing it down with rain, but we went out for a few drinks together that night anyway. The following day we all had breakfast together and then we all went our separate ways. That afternoon I went white water rafting on the Barron River which was great fun. I had 4 Japanese, 2 Korean people and the Japanese guide in my boat so I got my picture taken a lot but couldn't really have a conversation with most of them (the guide spoke English of course) and so there was lots of fun and lots of smiles but not too much chat from me! Fortunately I didn't fall out of the boat either!
The next day I went up to Cape Tribulation in the rain forest where it wasn't supposed to be rainy season for another month but Cyclone Guba was having it's fun in the area (the first cyclone in November for 35 years!) and so it poured down with rain the whole time I was there. Didn't stop me doing a days diving on the Great Barrier Reef although it did make the dive fairly murky having churned up the bottom of the sea. Also didn't stop me Canopy surfing where you fly from tree to tree on zip lines which was excellent fun. Unfortunately on the 3rd day it stopped me getting back to Cairns by completely flooding the road that I need to cross! Fortunately after waiting for a couple of hours the water level dropped enough that a large 4WD truck was able to tow us across so eventually made it back to Cairns in time for the 3 day liveaboard boat that I went diving from the next day.
So, remember the cyclone I mentioned? Unfortunately the liveaboard was following in its wake. So that made for a very bumpy journey (Jim you'd have hated it!). Also meant that for those 3 days we didn't get the best visibility in the water - I've had better in the UK at times! However, it was still good to dive the Great Barrier Reef and the fish were fab. I even got to see a long-nosed hawkfish which is a fish I'd been desperate to see but never did in the Red Sea so I was excited anyway!
And so now I'm in Brisbane for a couple of days before I head off to Singapore on Monday which I'm very excited about. It's not raining at the moment, but of course, it's forecast for later!!