Friday 2nd February 2007. Alice Springs to Banka Banka Station.

On the road northwards via the Stuart Highway, our first stop is Titree for morning coffee.

Most of these small towns along the Stuart Highway came about as the result of the need for an overland telegraph and communication with the Mother Country. The highway is named after Australia's most famous explorer (the Scot John McDouall Stuart)and it runs for over 3000km from Adelaide to Darwin.

McDouall Stuart played an essential part in the opening up of inland Australia and famously in his three major explorations (by which he traversed over 14,000km's of the continent); he never lost one life from his exploring parties.

It was on the remote section of the Stuart Highway that we travel today that fellow Brightonian Peter Falconio was murdered on July 14th 2001.

Lunch today is at the Devil's Marbles. This unique geological site is the result of the breaking down, rather than a building up, of rocks. The marbles are the remnants of a solid mass of granite which still lies under them.

The site is sacred to the Kaytetye, Warumungu, Anmatyerr and Alyawarr peoples with stories ranging from the marbles being the eggs of the Rainbow Serpent, to the fact that people from the dreaming here at Karlwekarlwe (the Devil's Marbles site) live in the caves under the rocks here.

After a pit-stop at Tennant Creek as we head out to Banka Banka there is quite a sand storm. Banka Banka is a working cattle station covering an area of around 12,000 square kilometres.

Tonight will be the first time in my life that I will dine with an Emu running around. Another interesting experience is sitting on the loo with the gecko's running around your feet...Paula even came in to see them!

Enjoyed a lecture on the workings of a cattle station tonight and got to see just why this dry area is cattle country when we saw just how the landscape changes over the course of the year.

As I lie here under the stars I really appreciate how wonderful our world is. In the still of the night with the warm wind blowing through my SWAG I look out on a wonderous night sky bathed in the light of the full moon that beckons my eyes to a picture postcard of stars and whispy clouds. All is still at Banka Banka Cattle Station the only movement being the gentle sway of the sporadic patches of long grass that surround my open air bedroom.

Best of all as I slept the Emu decided that he would spend the night sleeping with me at his feet.