Today has erased any and all negativity from my head.  It's barely past 10:30 in the morning and yet today has brought about the completion of a lifelong dream.  I wish I could transport all of you here, to this moment.

Today I woke up at 3am, wrapped in a swag, in a clearing in the outback.  I looked up at the sky and couldn't go back to sleep.  There was so much light coming from the stars that I could actually make out the forms of the people sleeping around me.  I couldn't close my eyes and shut this out, I lay there and just looked at the stars til everyone else got up at 5.

We then came to Kings Canyon just as the sun was rising.  We trudged up the 400 or so steps to the top of the steep cliff, and all around me was the most stunning scenery I've ever seen.

If anyone plans to come to Australia, I highly recommend following my path.  The Great Ocean Road was incredible.  The whalesharks were a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  The reef, Kuranda, everything was amazing.

But this.  THIS.  Nothing can top this.  These three days are what I'll remember most.  I know my memories of running off to the woods to cry my eyes out in private are going to fade, that was just last night and yet it's already meaningless to me.

Today has been the absolute highlight of this trip.  We hiked to the top, and stood over the canyon, which gave us the most powerful echo I've ever experience when we yelled as a group.  Then, in the middle of all this rock, was The Garden of Eden.  That's actually what they call it and I can see why.  It's this incredible, beautiful vegetation in the middle of this bright orange rock. And on one side, a cool, clear, beautiful pool of water.  What an incredible feeling, to run off the rock and jump into the incredibly refreshing water.  I could have stayed there all day.

Now we're on our way back to Alice Springs, to have a night of proper fucking PARTY TIME.  It's amazing how well you can get to know people on a short trip like this, many of them feel like true friends already.  Tonight will be a blast.  I'm sure I will literally have to drag my hungover self to the train station tomorrow, but it will be worth it!

next stop: Adelaide.