Despite the decision to lie in we were not too decadent and by 9.00 am we were having breakfast outside in the warm sunshine, looking out over Helen’s yard.

Breakfast over and washing out, we headed off to town for a bit of retail therapy. There are a number of galleries showing some amazing aboriginal art. Luckily space and beams limit the size of purchases for us, but we did find a couple of pieces that we really liked as a reminder of a wonderful few days in the area. We also had great fun helping Wendy and Sarah choose two yarn and wire sculpture creatures. They were lovely in bright colours. We can’t wait to see them !n situ in Sydney!

Sarah had identified a good place to grab a snack lunch, so we all dined royally on Mexican tortilla wraps – a new experience for me!

We then returned home with that happy glow you get when you had a bit of a purchase and for Keith and I a lazy afternoon ensued  – the first time we have stopped  since we arrived in Brisbane on the 6th August!  What a kaleidoscope of experience we have had since then.

We had a quick chat with Helen on the telephone during the afternoon.  She is still in Melbourne with, frustratingly for all concerned, still no sign of the baby that prevented her joining us on our trip! Who was to know? We are just so lucky that she has been so generous in lending us her car and home and providing the expertise and connections to enable us to have done so much during our time here. Extraordinary.

Supper was made up of the leftovers from yesterday with some interesting additions and we had a hearty last supper in Alice Springs. It was then a matter of getting the bags together again – no easy task as things seem to have expanded somewhat!! Funny that!