"Ayers is gonna rock"

4 days after returning from Melbourne, I was off to the outback! We flew into Alice Springs, although I like to call it Radiator Springs (from Cars), as it is in the absolute middle of the desert, aka nowhere. We started the day off with a Didgeridoo lesson, which is a wooden instrument used by the Indigenous tribes. It proved to be much harder than it looks… you blow into it kind of like a trumpet, but there are a lot of challenging breathing techniques. Basically you need to be able to breathe out and in at the exact same time. I was able to get a few actual didgeridoo sounding noises out of mine, but mostly just a lot of loud “TOOOTS!”

 After our lesson we went to the Reptile Center to educate and prepare ourselves for surviving in the Outback our next few nights. A reptile expert showed us a lot of the native snakes and lizards and we also got to hold a few, including the Blue Tongued Skink, Jacky Lizard, Bearded Dragon, and an Olive python! After coming face to face with the creatures of the outback and a lesson on snake safety….we were ready!

The next morning we were up before the sun, as we had a long drive ahead of us to Ayers Rock. Our bus picked us up at 6am and the road trip was off to a start with a sunrise, a lot of sand, and quite a few naps. We got a few pit stops along the way, and (un)lucky for us one was a fire wood stop in which we all wandered into the desert to gather fire wood. Let me tell you, finding fire wood in the desert is not so easy. Sure there were trees, but they were all made of tiny little twigs and I was sure we were going to freeze that night without a fire. After 291 miles and 6 to 8 hours of driving, the big red rock finally came into view and it really is as magnificent as they say. Since the native Anangu people ask tourists not to climb the rock due to its sacred and spiritual significance, we did the 10. 6km base walk. According to Aboriginal culture, Uluru was created during “dreamtime,” the era in which the world was created. The rock is about 348m high and this is literally just the tip of the iceberg as the majority of it remains underground. Every aspect of Uluru tells the stories of the aboriginal people—from the art work marking the walls, to the imprinted paw print of the demon-dingo dog, to dark greenish streaks from where the lizard thief fell to his death for stealing an emu, to the formations that represent the Mala boys who couldn’t leave ceremony due to the dingo dog and are now stuck forever until another Mala person returns to Uluru. It was truly a magical experience hearing and reading about all of the stories and the cultural significance this one rock had. Uluru is also known to change colors throughout the day, so besides the base walk we also did a sunset and sunrise viewing. Once the sun hits the rock from just the right place during sunset, Uluru turns a magnificent dark red. As the sun rises from behind Uluru, the dark silhouette of it stands out against blues, purples, and pinks. I can see how the aboriginals have lived here for so many years, as it is absolutely breathtaking at all times of day from all places.

The magic doesn’t stop there, though. Our first night we stayed in a campground in Ayers Rock. We DID actually have a campfire and we rolled out our “swag” and sleeping bags under a billion stars. Despite being absolutely exhausted, I couldn’t close my eyes. After eventually dosing off, I woke up at 3:30 am to the wind howling and dingo’s singing in the distance all while I laid under those billions and billions of stars. I can’t even explain what I was feeling at that moment, but it was truly magical, spiritual, and unreal. “Wow,” was literally all I could think.

 

We also did the 7.4km Valley of the Winds walk at Kata Tjuta (pronounced Joo-ta), which means “many heads.” Kata Tjuta is a group of 36 domes (Olgas) rising out of the dessert. The tallest of the domes is referred to as Mount Olga and is said to be the home of the snake Wanambi and it is his breath that is the wind in the Valley of the Winds. The walk went around some of the Olgas and through gorges and valleys. It was pretty exhausting towards the end as the sun started coming up, but no worries because I had my fly net and was ready to battle the thousands and thousands of flies that live in the desert! After our hike we had another 200 mile drive towards Kings Canyon. We were camping at another site this night and cooking dinner on the campfire, so naturally had to stop to collect firewood again. Since our dinner depended on it, we all brought back trees this time! That night, it rained, and rained, and rained, but luckily our fire worked out enough for us to have an absolutely delicious dinner cooked by our tour guide. We had chili, bread cooked in the fire, potatoes and cooked veggies, pasta, and rice. Yum, yum, yum.  Despite the fact that we had a shelter to set up our swags under, I was woken up more than a few times to water leaking in and dripping all over my face. At 5:20 am, we were woken up to begin our last day.

It continued to rain our entire last day at Kings Canyon, but I had no complaints because it was better than pouring sweat and the rain kept the flies away. Also…anyone could say they went to the Outback, but not everyone can say they saw it in the rain. At Kings Canyon we did the 6km Canyon Rim Walk, which starts off with what people call “heart-attack hill,” and I actually think I did have a heart attack…so...many…steep…stairs. Once to the top, I swear I left Earth and walked straight into Mars. It was sandstone on sandstone on sandstone and I have never seen anywhere like it. During out walk we learned about some of the plants and how the aboriginal people used them. Some were used as medicine (rubbing it on your forehead to cure headaches), some for hunting (put the leaves in the water and animals that drink it get drugged and pass out), and some for punishment (put it in the eyes and you go blind). Halfway through the walk we got to the Garden of Eden, which was absolutely amazing with the rain. It was overflowing and it was so cool to just see a big running waterhole in the middle of a big rock Mars. Even our tour guide was freaking out because he had never seen it like that. 

 

 After another 205 mile drive back to Alice Springs, our trip came to an end. We closed the trip out with new friends, dinner, and drinks at the bar owned by our tour company. Oh yeah, and I rode a camel!

P.S-HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEANU FROM THE OUTBACK!