This afternoon our group arrived to Alice Springs, a small town in the middle of the Australian Outback in the Northern Territory. Our flight from Sydney gave us an aerial view of the expansive ochre-red desert that we are soon to explore.

Upon landing, we were met by one of our guides, who educated us on the correct pronunciation of common Australian greetings such as “G’day, mate. How ya going?” (And you have to say it really fast!)

We met as a group, played some games and got oriented to the program for our month together. In the evening, we had a picnic dinner, eating burritos while marveling at the strange and colorful birds that populate the parks here (one looks like a pigeon with a mohawk!).

We are all pretty exhausted from all the travel and are hunkering down for our early departure into the Outback desert tomorrow.

We will likely have no service until July 12, but we’ll tell you all about our adventures when we’re connected again!

Ta-ta for now!

– Jaimie & Topher