Camping in the outback!
Trip Start
Aug 01, 2007
1
70
91
Trip End
Jan 11, 2009
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park,
Northern Territory,
Australia
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Just a warning... this is LONG!
On my free day in Alice Springs, I just chilled out and caught up on some much needed sleep, and of course and internet session to get photos posted on Facebook. I also hit up Kmart for the essentials: some knee-high socks for warmth gloves and a hat!! At sunset, I headed up Anzac hill with one of the girls from the Desert Venturer tour to watch the sunset. It was amazing! A good mini-workout as well since we left pretty late and had to boot it up the hill.
Another early morning (I am noticing a trend with the outback and early mornings) to store our luggage and have brekkie before boarding the bus at 6a- this tie for a 3 day bush camping tour (Mulgas company) of Ayers Rock/Uluru (with Kings Canyon and the Olgas/ Kata Tjata as well). Erin and Raimund from my previous trip were also on this one, as well as two of Erin's fruit picking buddies from Bundaberg, so we had a good little group, as well as everyone else turning out to be really awesome as well. We (attempted) to sleep a bit before arriving at Noel's Camel Farm about half 7- a few of us paid $5 and went for a camel ride around the paddock. It was not like you'd expect- it's not a smooth ride at all! It was really fun though and we had a good laugh.
We stopped shortly after to stock up on water and snacks before tackling the first challenge of the trip: a 6km hike through King's Canyon, starting with a walk up "Heart Attack Hill"- 110 metres of stairs to contend with! Once we got to the top though, the views were just absolutely stunning. It seemed so surreal! Of course loads of photos were taken, and it was nice because we were given lots of time to sit and enjoy the views. Once we finally made it to the bottom, we had a little snack before heading onwards.
On the bus, we divided ourselves into 6 groups for the "Mulgas Olympics". Our group was the 3 Desert Venturers, as well as two people from Israel. We dubbed ourselves the "Killer Kangaroos". This would serve to keep us occupied over the next three days, with tons of little games and competitions. First we had a music quiz, before collecting some poisonous melons from the side of the road and using them for various purposes- target practice with roadside signs and poles, bowling, cup toss, etc. We were making pretty good tie when we got to the bottle shop, so we made a collective decision to press on to the further campsite which would allow us to sleep in the next morning. Our guide, Halley, whipped up some Camel Bolognaise for dinner, and we had a few drinks and a good chat before retiring for the night. We slept in Aussie swags directly under the stars! It was so cool just looking up from your sleeping bag and seeing the full moon. That is, until it started getting a bit chilly and I had to burrow down inside my bag!!
Halley woke us up at 5:30, and we had some brekkie before rolling up the swags and jumping on the bus to see the sun rise at Kata Tjata (European name: The Olgas). After the sun rose, we embarked on a 5.5km hike through one of the valleys, to an amazing viewpoint. Some of the group had opted for a 2km longer version, so once again we had heaps of time to chill and take photos etc. We also found some ochre, which is what the Aborigines use as face paint. Erin, Kelly and I had a go at each others faces with the stuff, it was good fun! The rest of the group was not so adventurous however!!
Once we were back on the bus, it was time for our next destination: Uluru! (aka Ayers Rock). We first spent about an hour at the Cultural Centre, while Halley set up lunch. After that, we headed to the rock itself for the 10km base walk. We spent a few hours walking around the rock, just amazed at the sheer vastness of it! Needless to say by the time we were done, we were ready to sit down and get our shoes off- I had on my hiking sandals and my feet were a nice shade of reddish brown from being coated in the red dust!! We drove to the sunset viewing area, where we managed to snag one of the two picnic tables. We once again took what seemed like millions of photos, in loads of creative positions: jumping, eating, pushing, holding, leaning, the list goes on. All the while Halley was cooking up dinner, for us to enjoy while the sun set. Once it was dark and all the other groups had gone, we had a group singing session. First Halley taught us the bus song, and then it was somehow decided that I was to get up on the picnic table and teach the group the "G'day G'day" song that I had learned on the other tour- guess it's my own fault that I couldn't stop singing it!! Then we learned some shark song, before leaving the park. We stopped at a supermarket to stock up on some munchies, before it was time for group Karaoke!! The Kangaroos decided on Spice Girls "Stop". I was, by default, Ginger. I think we did a pretty good job, but it appeared that scoring was done by the badness of performances! The Olympic race was getting tight!
Around the campfire, we played lots of different games and had a fun time, before snuggling deep into the swags again- it was much chillier!! In the morning, we got to "sleep in" till 5:45, since all we had to do was pack up our swags and drive directly to Uluru to see the sun rise. Halley cooked us some sausages and baked beans for brekkie while we attempted to stay warm and get good shots! It was another group photo sesh after that- but instead of saying "cheese" we managed to come up with a different TYPE of cheese for every shot. Amazingly we managed, and still had some more to say! It defo helped us stay amazed while staying in place for 20 pics!!
A few hours later, we stopped for another feed. We climbed up some red sand dunes to get a view of Lake Amadeus- an inland saltwater lake. It was really stunning, but of course the photos did it no justice at all! After dropping off the swags later on, it was time for the final stretch before arriving in Alice- and time for one last Olympic game- Weetbix eating.
So, if you've never eaten a Weetbix dry before, you have no idea how difficult it really is! Halley said the average was about 2 mins- then the first guy goes and does it in 58 seconds, earning his team an extra 10 bonus points for being under a minute. When it was the Kangaroos turn, I was somehow elected to go up. 1:18! It is just the direst thing and it sucks all the saliva out of your mouth, making it really hard to swallow. Let's just say there are now numerous photos of me which will probably surface on facebook, making the worst faces and going through a variety of expressions, which are definitely not flattering! But, I actually came third of ANYONE who made an attempt, but it wasn't enough. Then we were given our final chance: everyone got a shot altogether to have one final go, and anyone beating the minute mark would get the bonus points.
It was do or die time! And guess what- I did it in 54 seconds! KANGAROOS!
Later on in the evening once we had all showered up, we all got together in the hostel bar/restaurant for a group meal. We also managed to break another record of how many shots/shooters we could consume as a group- I'm not even going to say how many! But we were able to get other people in the bar drinking for our group as well so that helped us out for sure! We had another really good night, again the perfect way to top off yet another amazing trip. The outback/ Red Centre has been by far by favourite in Australia so far!
Now I only have a few more days in Australia before heading back to North America for a few weeks! I am beyond excited. Not to mention it has been freezing here and I am looking forward to the Mexican sun!
XX
