Roaming the Red Center
Trip Start
Mar 10, 2005
1
16
24
Trip End
Aug 02, 2005
Uluru,
Australia
Sunday, May 15, 2005
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Our 6:15am pick-up by Sahara Outback Tours came while it was still dark. Even from this early beginning we knew that this tour was going to be quite different from our last in Kakadu. The bus was bigger to begin with and there were more people on the tour (18 vs. 9), including our guide who was also older than our last guide though was quite youthful with his dreadlocks. It was also a more mature crowd. In Kakadu we were the oldest along with the Danish women, but this time around we were the youngest. Americans also were in the majority in our travelling group (8), followed by 3 Germans, 3 Dutch, 2 British and a Korean guy who was quiet. This tour was to be a little heavier on creature comforts, we found out.
It took us about 5 hours to reach the Uluru area. Along the way we stopped at a couple of cattle stations for fuel and snacks. Our first one though provided the opportunity to have a quick camel ride for AUS$5pp. At 8am in the morning, we hopped on the back of a camel named Blackie and we led around a track with the last part being in a full run. So much fun though a bit bumpy! We reached our permanent safari camp around 1pm and had lunch. Now, our last trip we didn't shower, slept in swags, and were expected to help considerably in the preparation of meals. This trip we had clean, hot shower facilities, slept in permanent tents with actual twin beds inside with sleeping bags and sleep sheets provided, and our guide rushed around getting the food prepared while anyone who wanted to could help out but it wasn't mandatory.
In the afternoon we drove out to the Kata Tjuta (meaning 'many heads'; aka the Olgas) and hiked around to the Valley of the Winds. These rounded dome-like monoliths are composed of whitish sedimentary sandstone and were painted a beautiful color orange-red by the iron in the sand that had been blown around and covered the rock. We caught a little of the setting sun on the Olgas before heading over to Uluru for the famous sunset viewing. This was the first opportunity for us to bust out the fly nets that we had been advised to purchase. The flies in central Australia are ridiculous. They are numerous and annoying. You are swatting at your face all the time though at least they don't bite. Amy was glad that Alex purchased the nets though she may not have realized their importance at the time of purchase. She still called him a dork for wearing his.
The sun setting on Uluru is captivating as the rock turns from reddish-brown to deeper shades to charcoal as the sun sets. The sunset was equally spectacular. White clouds glowed golden in a blue sky as the sun went down turning to red then violet as it dropped below the horizon.
We headed back to camp for a delicious dinner prepared by our guide of steak and sausages with lots of accompaniments. We slept like rocks in our warm and comfortable beds.
May 13
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Our guide woke us early for our drive out to Uluru for sunrise. We started our base walk around the rock before sunrise and got a close-up view as the sun rose quickly illuminating the entire rock bringing out the brilliant red-orange color. Halfway around the rock, visitors are able to climb to the top of Uluru though the Anangu (Aboriginal people who take care of the rock) prefer that people not climb since it goes against their spiritual beliefs. It is a balance though it seems. Our guide was telling us that though the Aborigines don't want people to climb, they get 50% of the entry fees to the park and it has been speculated that attendance would drop significantly if the climb was closed. For now, the visitor's guide strongly urges you not to climb and gives the reasons for this request. We thought we might climb up, but in the end, after having gotten about 50 ft. up to the starting point of the chain rail that you follow all the way to the top, we didn't and continued our walk around the base.
We finished our visit to Uluru by noon and were on our way to the next camp site for the night after lunch. We had another delicious meal of marinated drummies and veggies cooked in large pots over a campfire. By this time, the group had warmed up to each other and we particularly hit it off with the British couple, Sara and David. They had gotten married in January and their honeymoon was this 6-month trip. They had loads of good information for us for New Zealand and have even talked us into renting a campervan for our 2 1/2 weeks stay. It should be interesting.
May 14
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Another early morning out to hike around the rim of Kings Canyon, South of Uluru, before heading back to Alice Springs in the afternoon. It was a great hike and in some respects we enjoyed it more than the Olgas or Uluru. It was composed of two different layers of sedimentary rock and had lots more interesting features. The canyon walls were spectacular colors - lines of black, red, and white (underlying rock). There were also these dome features where weather had eroded the rock to create a city of domes on top of the canyon. There were also eerie-looking ghost gums (kind of eucalyptus with white bark) growing out of the rock crevices.
After a picnic lunch we headed back to Alice Springs though on a much different path. Our guide drove us on bumpy, unpaved roads through a couple of national parks to meet up with another bus to take us back to town while he went on with several of the group for two more days on the trip.
Arriving back in Alice we had a great dinner at Annie's Place and crashed after a wonderful trip. Though we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the desert landscapes, we realized we are definitely coastal people who prefer water to sand. We are looking forward to our time on the Great Barrier Reef. It should be a main highlight of our trip.
