The Middle

Started up north along the Stuart Highway, and made it to Coober Pedy, a little town a million miles from nowhere, with two claims to fame. Firstly, they mine the majority of the world's opal there, and secondly, half of the population lives underground to avoid the heat. Homes, and our hostel, are dug or blasted into the rock, and maintain a year round temperature of about 23C, regardless of the weather outside. Our room was so cool and comfy, though with no windows, midnight and midday are equally dark. Went for a tour through the area to see how opal is mined, and enjoyed seeing the grassless golf course. Also toured the underground home of Crocodile Harry, a real life croc hunter who was the inspiration for the movie "Crocodile Dundee."
From there, traveled further north to Uluru - Ayers Rock. It truly is a remarkable sight, and towers mightily over the flat surrounding landscape. Spent several days camped there, and in that time, rode a camel to watch the sun rise over Uluru, hiked the 9.4km trail around the base, and saw the sunset and sunrise with the mobs of tourists from every part of the world. It really does change from brown to bright red as the sun starts to beam down on it. Also went for a hike through Kata Tjuta - the Olgas. It is a group of rounded monoliths whose name means Many Heads, and is visible from Uluru, some 50 kms away. Walked to the Valley of the Winds, and were just about blown over by the gale force winds that rushed through the narrow end of the valley.
We next drove up to Kings Canyon, where a geological marvel houses a wide range of plants and animals in an otherwise dry and barren desert. Looking up 100m from the bottom, you see sheer face walls towering above you, from where rocks have fallen into piles at the base. Walking along the top, there are series of large beehive shaped rocks, weathered through time to get their shape, that used to be at the bottom of vast inland sea.
On to Alice Springs, where we had a bit of time to relax in a converted school bus that was our room at the hostel. Watched a game of footy at a bar one night, did some shopping, toured aboriginal art galleries and bought an original painting, and even managed to find a great show one night. The Alice Desert Festival was on, and we got to see some great bands, including the Barons of Tang, a klezmer-gypsy-punk band, similar to Gogol Bordello, who got the whole place dancing. It was our latest night of the trip so far, as we didn't get home until 2:30. We are two wild and crazy kids!!!
Last stop in the middle was a place called Devil's Marbles. It's a spot that is basically flat and boring like the last 500kms, except for the giant round rocks scattered around the ground, some piled up on others, and some seeming to defy gravity. The rocks ranged from 1 to 5 meters tall, and appear to have come from nowhere.
Next up, we continue to drive north towards Darwin and the Top End of Australia.