A Year in Australia: The Red Centre

Thanks to Mom, we were able to take a wee trip to Ayers Rock as part of our 40th bday /10th wedding anniversary etc. celebration. THANKS Mom!!!!

Wednesday April 16th - Sunday April 20th, 2008

We left Northmead at about 6am and drove out to my cousin Aimee's place in Annadale. She was giving us a lift to the airport and since we didn't know what traffic would be like, we left plenty of time! And I mean plenty of time!!! The house was quiet with both girls sound asleep and my Mom as well. It was pitch black but we were kid-free!!! Woooo hoooo!!! We walked around Annadale until a coffee shop finally opened. Aimee got us to the airport without any trouble. We flew to Alice on Quantas and it was about a three hr. flight. The journey was smooth and relaxing.

We arrived in Alice midday in the heat and sun. It was fantastic after spending a full week in cold and wet Sydney.

A mini-van took us to Annie's Place where we would be spending two nights. One before our tour and one after. It was a nice hostel, relatively clean. There was a pool which is a nice treat. We haven't stayed in a youth hostel in over 15 years so it was nice to know that we still could!

We took a stroll to the town centre of Alice Springs. There was not much to it. It was a modern town but not a lot of people about. There were lots of aboriginals wandering around and sitting in circles through out the town as if we were back in time 10000 years ago.

We ended up at Bojangles, a well known local saloon and dining room. Unfortunately the kitchen was closed so we were unable to sample the Northern Territory specialities - roo, emu sausage, croc, etc. Check it out online. They have a live web cam!

We tried to get to bed early as we were leaving on our tour the next day at 6am. We tried to get as much sleep as possible but it was noisy!! The hostel also had a popular bar/restaurant with cheap $5 meals. It was loud but it finally got quiet at about 1am.

Day 1 - Camel ride, long 325 km drive to Kings Canyon, 3 hr. hike, bush camp

Thank goodness for cellphones because the alarm clock on our phones got us both out of bed in time for our three day Mulga Tour. We had a quick breakfast at the hostel and got on a mini-van with 22 other people and our full-on guide Leith Perrin from Adelaide.

We were a little apprehensive about going on this tour - thinking that we were 'much' too old and unsure what it would be like. Well, we lucked out and got in with a great diverse group. We weren't the oldest in the group which was reassuring! The eldest were a newlywed couple on their honeymoon. John (UK) and Ursula (Germany) met while travelling in Australia 18 months ago. They got together and were married in Sydney two weeks prior to our trip. They were lovely. The next oldest couple were from Hungary and Bulgaria. He was working on an airport project and the two of them were living in Bangkok for the year. They were quite unusual. He was relatively conservative and she more of a hippie. I think we were the third oldest couple on the trip. Not bad!

The others consisted of 6 Danes in their mid-20s who were doing a practicum in Sydney for six months. They work with disabled and autistic children. One of them Esben could only see 5% in one eye and has zero sight in the other!! It was amazing to see him hiking and travelling and having 5 good friends to look out for him.

There were also three Chinese travellers. One from Macau, one from Taiwan and one from HK. They communicated with each other in Mandarin and had met travelling in Perth 6 mths prior As well, there were three German girls travelling together. They were young in their early 20s.

There was also an Irish girl named Marie who had been to Whistler and Vancouver.

A very tall English bloke named Joe hailing from London was 6 ft. 8 inches!!! He sat at the front next to Leith.

At the back of the bus, we sat with the youngest person on the tour. Latoya was from Holland and 18. Her father was originally from Suriname so she has a bit of "Shakira Shakira about her" as Leith commented! We also sat with Katia from Germany. A really nice friendly woman in her early 30s. Finally the last couple hails from Edmonton, Canada! Danielle is a massage therapist travelling for 6 months and her boyfriend Jamie (worked in Forestry) was visiting Australia for the month.

One hour into our drive, we made our first stop for a 5 minute camel ride. It was 5 bucks and we got 5 minutes worth of laughter and giggles. It was our first time on a camel. We were quite high off the ground and they go at a good fast pace. It was a good laugh! There are over half a million camels roaming around Australia!! Who would have thought.

The Kings Canyon Rim Walk was fantastic. We walked for more than three hours. The trail was dramatic and varied; the route took us up and down. It was hot but not unbearable. The scenery was amazing. All around us were red rock and red sand. The north and south walls were particularly spectacular. In the Canyon is also the Garden of Eden waterhole. Unfortunately it was filled with leeches during our hike so nobody went for a swim!

After the hike, we drove for 45 minutes and we pulled over at the side of the road to collect Mulga fire wood. The boys did anyways. They literally pulled the trunks right out of the ground. We also made a pit stop at Curtis Springs for beer and wine. After another hour of driving in the dark, we had a bumpy ride towards our bush camp. We had dinner by the huge fire and Fergus and I slept up on a small hill away from the gang. There was nothing within sight except us, the red sand and rock and the stars. It was beautiful and so peaceful. We didn't think too much about the dingos nor snakes!

Day 2 - The Olgas, Information Cultural Centre, Sunset at Uluru

We awoke after a great sleep in our winter sleeping bags and swag. A swag is portable shelter that is rolled and carried on one's back. It is made of waterproof canvas and inside it has a foam mattress. It was very comfortable and warm.

Leith gave us a demonstration on how to roll up our swags properly and Fergus scored high!

The Olgas is located in the Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park and it is 30 km from Uluru. The Olgas, otherwise known as Kata Tjuta means many heads in traditional aboriginal language. We did the 7km Valley of the Winds hike through a few of the Olgas. It was another glorious day and hike. Some of the tour members had nets for the heads. We definitely should have picked up some!!! The flies OMG, there were flies EVERYWHERE!

Wot flies???

Leith's Uluru Kata Tjuta demo. Leith was a great guide. He was a one-man show - the driver, the cook, the organizer, the motivator. He was really great. Some of his catchy phrases always got a laugh from the group -

too easy, japanesy
easy peasy, lemon squeezy
cool bananas
no dramas

We spent a few hours at the Cultural Centre learning about the Anangu culture, (the Anangu people have lived in the area for 30,000 years!!). We took a short walk to the rock and watched the sun set on this amazing monolith (along with hundreds of other tourists!). When we first set eyes on the rock, we were in awe. It really is enormous!! Also the rock is not smooth as I had imagined. It has depth and texture. It is the largest monolith in the southern hemisphere; it is made of arkosic sandstone; it rises 348 metres above the desert floor and has a circumference of 9.4 km!!

The sunset circus - we tried to score some champagne but was unsuccessful.

The gently changing colours of the Rock.

We got showered, had dinner and camped at the Ayers Rock Resort. The resort has accommodation for every budget. From 5-star cabins/ hotels, to the campground in which we stayed!

Day 3 - Up at 5am to catch Sunrise at Uluru, 2.5 hr. base walk, 5 hr. drive back to Alice and party at Annie's Place

Just like at sunset, the viewing point was a zoo. There were heaps of tour buses and people. This time they had their coffees (instead of champagne). Everyone was ready to view and capture the changing colours of the rock and did the rock ever liven up as the sun rose higher and higher. It was glorious!

The walk around the base of the rock was refreshing but a bit breezy and chilly. We walked briskly around the rock and it took just a little over 2 hours. The climb was closed due to the high winds which really, was okay for us. I think even if it were open, we might have have given it a miss. This is purely based on being slightly afraid of heights and the openness of the climb. It just looked too scary!!

The big moral question for Uluru visitors is "to climb or not to climb"? The Anangu locals advise you not to climb Uluru because of its great spiritual significance. The climb is not closed and completely prohibited but the locals prefer that you choose to respect their law and culture by not climbing. 'They feel great sadness when a person dies or is hurt'. I guess we didn't have to answer the big moral question because the climb was...closed.

That's the route up to the top - pretty scary and exposed.

Now that's a barbie!

Mt. Connor - aka Fool-uru!

Party at Annie's Place - we gathered at the hostel on our last night after the tour, with our fellow Mulga Gang members. We partied like it was 1989!! It was a great night! Good thing we didn't have to get up early; but for some crazy reason workmen decided to chop down and trim the trees just outside our room at about 9am the next morning!! Urg. So much for a sleep in. We got up and headed to the town centre for brekkie and a stroll through the Sunday markets before heading to the airport. Good bye to the Red Centre. It was a fantastic wee break!!