A great ending to a whirlwind trip to Urulu (Ayers Rock) where that evening, we had a barbeque, sipping champagne.  It had been overcast all day – which meant it was cooler and so enabled us to do three walks in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Then 30 minutes before we were due to park and have our picnic, the clouds cleared and we had the ever-changing pinks and greys of Uluru as the sun slipped down over the Outback behind us. Truly magical.

We had flown over to Tahiti to join the Arcadia for a guest speaking engagement through the Polynesian Islands calling at Bora Bora, Fiji and New Caledonia before sailing over to Brisbane and Sydney. On arrival in Sydney, we met up with Maxeen’s cousin and his wife for a three hour walk round the bays to Bondi beach.

The next day, we flew to Alice Springs. It was raining there when we arrived (first time in 40 days). There was time that afternoon to do a walkabout across the dried up Todd river bed in the centre of Alice and climb to the top of Anzac Hill for a superb view of the town and the West MacDonnell Ranges beyond. 6.30 am the following morning, we were on a coach for a six hour trip through the outback to Uluru, returning 12.30 am Saturday morning to fly back to Sydney and catch a plane to London the next day.

Phew, yes it was hectic. But well worth the effort.