Monday
The cricket was still chirping away when our alarms went off at quarter to 5 the next morning. We did our best to keep the noise down while we shifted our bags out the room and into the reception area, where they would stay while we were away on the tour. We had slightly misjudged the timing and didn't really have time for breakfast before we would be picked up, so we settled with eating it on the bus. We let ourselves out of the locked gate and only had to wait a couple of minutes before the bus pulled up. The driver introduced himself as Matt, telling us we had to pick up a few more people before heading to the office to check in (which hardly seemed necessary bearing in mind we had already done it twice before). We lined up to go through the formalities and then all bundled back on to bus to try and catch some sleep before our first stop. We were informed by Matt, our tour guide, that we would have a long first stretch and we'd be stopping in around 2 hours. We hit the road, heading South down the Stuart Highway, the way the Greyhound had come in from. After about 2 hours we passed a roadhouse we recognised at a place called Erlunda. We had fully expected this to be our breakfast stop but were left disappointed when, after bus turned down another road instead of into the forecourt. We had been driving about half an hour since the turnoff when Charlotte and I gave up and got out pack of croissants out of our cool bag and tucked in. Typically, we pulled into a roadhouse just as we were wiping the crumbs from our mouths. It was called Mt.Ebenezer, although there wasn't a mountain in sight, so it seemed a bit of a bold claim. There was nothing of note in this part of the Australian outback, apart from flies. Lots and lots and lots and lots of flies. Flies that have a penchant for your face. By the time we had made it into the roadhouse, we had perfected the Aussie salute (Australian slang for the act of swatting flies away from your face). We purchased a coffee and were pleasantly surprised to receive one that actually tasted good in such a remote place. We sat outside with the flies again drinking our coffee while our tour guide laid down some ground rules. They weren't serious ones. First up was that we were no longer aloud to call flies flies. We had to call them bananas. Sounds easy, but it's not when you have 10,000 hiding out on your back and some kamikazee ones setting up base camp in your nostril. Second was that we were no longer aloud to say the word "mine", if we did we would get a forfeit of 10 push-ups, this one was as easy as it sounds. Finally, we were told that when we got back on the bus, we would all have to go up to the front and answer a few questions over a microphone. That was the worst of the lot, talking in front of people. We all piled back on and prepared ourselves for the ordeal. To make matters worse (or better actually) he started calling us up from the back, which meant that Charlotte, me or the man sitting next to me was up first. I went first, keen to get it over and done with. The questions were actually easy and fairly innocuous. They consisted of name, hobbies, where are you from, favourite animal and preferred superpower. It was just a getting to know you exercise. For the animal I just plumped for Polar Bear and superpower was to breath underwater as they were the first things that popped into my head. With me done I struggled back to my seat in the bumpy bus. Next up was the man sitting next to me before everyone just started getting up wildly hilly and not sticking with the back to front policy. Eventually, Matt called Charlotte up, suggesting that she was hiding away at the back, which wasn't true because of the other keen ones in front. Tiger and time travel were the significant answers Charlotte gave. Eventually, everyone except a few Koreans who spoke limited English had been and gone, we were now told that some pens would be sent round and we had to write our name and the favourite animal conducting the superpower on the vans Windows and while we waited for the pens to get to know the people around us. Being at the back the pens took quite a while to filter through so we got to know a few of our next door neighbours. Sigurd from Norway was sat to our left and we spent a good while chatting, mainly from him lightheartedly criticising the UK and talking about politics. His main problem was the weather in England, driving on the left, basins with taps that have a separate hot and cold tap (actually, that one irritates me too) and so on and so forth. Generally things that any foreigner finds odd about the UK, which we fund completely normal. We did throw some complaints Norway's way for good measure too. The conversation then moved onto politics and it was slightly embarrassing how much more he knew about our own political system than Charlotte and me. Eventually, the pens came round and it was our turn to scrawl on our windows. Sigurd next to us clearly regretted choosing a wombat when he lent over to us and enquired as to what one looked like. We couldn't really help him as we had no idea either. Our drawings were terrible but they would suffice as nobody really looked at them. By the time we were done we were just pulling up to our first bush walk at a place called King's Canyon. There were 2 options for walks, a 3 hour return, or a 1 hour return. We had no choice but to do the 1 hour return one as the 3 hour walk gets closed off when the temperature exceeds 36 degrees. It was pushing 40 today so we were happy for the shorter option. It was a mazy walk into the canyon, over rust coloured rocks and past countless eucalyptus trees. Just before we made it to the viewing area at the end we stopped and were told how King's Canyon was formed. Unlike the Grand Canyon, which was formed by a river eroding through the rock, King's Canyon was formed by the rock collapsing in on itself. We were also told that the reason the rocks and ground was red was because of the iron in the ground, which after thousands of years of rain and air has turned the outback rusty. After our history lesson it was a short walk up the path to a viewing platform which allowed us to see the walls and length if the gorge. After taking some photos, we completed the 30 minute walk back to the bus.
With one bush walk down for the day it was time for a short drive to the next one, which was about 30 minutes along the road. This walk was different to the one advertised as we didn't get to do the 3 hour one at the Canyon, and was called kings creek walk. This walk was a flat meandering pass through the bush with few points of great interest. The good part was at the end though as there was an outback watering hole that was teeming with wildlife such as birds and insects. Again we had a short lessons about waterholes in the outback and how the aboriginal people wouldn't jump into one for a wash as soon as they found it because if they used it as a bathtub the animals (food sources) wouldn't want to come and drink from it. So if they had 2 watering holes, one would be used for washing and one would be used to gather food. Again, we lingered for 5 minutes to take some snaps and enjoy the view and then we started heading back. Mercifully by now the bananas had died down so the fly nets we had bought could be taken off. Once again we all piled on to the bus in preperation for our next stop. This one was at the side of the road as we attacked some dead Mulga trees in order to obtain some firewood for our cook fire that evening. I say "we", I wandered off into the bush alone to see a man about a horse while everyone else collected the firewood. By the time I had returned and avoided the millions of snakes that I'm sure we're camouflaged 2 feet from me all the wood had been collected and we were all ready to depart, after taking some photos of the straight road.
While travelling to our next destination, some of us started noticing a rather large, red coloured rock passing by on the left of us. I pointed out to Charlotte and our new Norwegian friend that there was Ayre's Rock but I immediately started to doubt myself. It just wasn't how I had pictured it and I was still sceptical up to when Matt the guide stopped the bus at a viewing site at the side of the road, turned round to us, whistled and said "that's one big red rock!". I then thought, well it must be it and went along with it. It did seem strange that he hadn't mentioned it by name and so the doubts were still there as we walked up a sand dune to get a better view and take some photos. By the time we had reached the top I was sure it wasn't Uluru but just didn't have the confidence to front up and say it wasn't. We went along with it, took some photos and also had a look at some salt flats which had been left over from an Inland Sea that had long since dried up. We walked back down the sand dune and joined the bus to go to the bottleshop to buy some beer. It wasn't actually a proper bottleshop but a roadhouse that had showers, sold groceries as well as alcohol. The place was called Curtin Springs and there didn't seem to be much going on, apart from some cows dotted around the place. We picked up the beer and then headed to our stop for the evening. Matt the guide claimed he a had picked it at random but it was pretty obvious it was a predetermined site as their was an old fire and a gazebo set up. While Sigurd and I feigned a runner with the cool box full of beers the rest of the people set to tasks like breaking the firewood ready for the fire and prepping the food. Once that was done, Charlotte and I found a log to rest on to enjoy a cold beer while appreciating where we were and what we were doing for the first time. It was getting dark quickly so we moved to a seat closer to the fire where I wouldn't get in the way or trip over things endlessly. While a couple of people helped with the cooking, the majority settled into seats around the fire and enjoyed the moment. Dinner was served and bearing in mind it had been prepared and cooked in the bush, it was pretty good. We had a mild chilli, rice, freshly baked bread and a ratatouille and were pretty full come the end of it. After washing our plates and cutlery and braving a trip to the outside 'dunny', we returned to our swags, which we had been using as seats, to find them stolen by George the Korean and his lady friend and our things we had left next to them had been shoved out the way. We weren't impressed but left it and found a couple of spare ones around the campsite. A swag is pretty much a sleeping bag with a mattress inside that you can roll out on the ground and sleep in without a tent and then roll it up the next day and move on. We rolled ours out in a gap by a tree near the fire and had barely settled in them when someone called out that had seen a load of green spider eyes in the tree. We refused to move now though. Before we had got in our swags we were told by Matt that if we draw a line in the sand with a stick it will prevent snakes from slithering in and joining us as they don't like crossing broken ground. Again, this was something we were highly sceptical about but when in that situation, you can't help but believe the person who has done it before. Despite drawing the lines, everyone decided to stick their swags so close to one another that by the time everyone was tucked up the lines had been walked over anyway. Surely a footprint would class as broken ground anyway? For a short while we laid on our backs and watched the stars up in the sky in the hope of seeing a shooting star. All we could see though we're static ones and atleast one planet shining away brightly. Just before giving up though, Charlotte and the girl next to her did see one scoot across the night sky though, it just happened to be while I was blinking though.
The alarm went off at 5 and everyone struggled up to roll their swags up and return them to the van. We hadn't had the best night sleep. The wind had been blowing sand into our faces all night and it was a struggle to relax. That's not to say we didn't enjoy the experience. We got ourselves some breakfast consisting on Weet-Bix (not to be confused with Weetabix) and due to their being no seats, stood around and ate it. The air was fairly banana (fly, just incase you'd forgotten) free at this time of the morning so it was a pleasant time to eat. Everything was packed away and we headed to Ayres Rock Resort camping ground so everyone could freshen up with a shower and use a flushing toilet before setting out for a long day. Everyone was back in the van and ready to go by 8 o'clock and we set out on the road. After about 10 minutes driving we reached the entrance to Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park, where we were told to wave our tickets at the person in the ticket booth to prove that we were aloud in but we were through so quick I'm not sure she really saw us all. It was now we started to notice the large red rock emerging from the horizon. A different large red rock than the one we had seen the evening before. It was pretty clear that this was Uluru and there were a few surprised faces around when Matt pulled over and admitted to his deception the day before. It had been Mt.Conner we had seen, which has developed the name Fuluru, due to so many tourists being duped by the similar appearance to Ayre's Rock. We continued on past for now. As we were headed to Kata Tjuta (also known as Mount Olga) which is 16 miles west of Uluru. On the way we were told about the 3 main types of vegetation to be found within the national park. Spinifex, which is a type of grass that helps stabilise sand dunes and usually found around the coast. The Mulga which is a shrub only found in the arid areas of Australia. Finally, the Desert Oak, which again, is indiginous to Australia. This tree grows very little in its first 80 years of life while it sends down roots to find water in the dry desert. We pulled up in the car park of Kata Tjuta and prepared for what would be our longest walk over the 3 days. The walk was called Valley of the Winds and, because it lasted 3 hours, park rules stated we would have to take 3 litres of water with us, each. While everyone hauled on their heavy backpacks, Charlotte and I just went with our bottles of water in our hands. The first portion we all did as a group until we reached a shaded sitting area. Here Matt and some "volunteers" showed us how Kata Tjuta was formed. Kata Tjuta/Mount Olga are a series of 36 dome rock formations made from such as granite and basalt cemented with sandstone. From here we carried on without Matt and followed a long track around one of the domes to an area called the valley of the winds. It was pretty flat and routine most of the way until the last section which was a steep climb over rather loose rocks. While we were climbing we heard a rustling in the bushes and turned just in time to see a large grey kangaroo hopping through the bush. When we reached the top we informed Matt of our sighting and were told we were pretty lucky, as they only tend to come out at night. We sat around 15 minutes and took some snaps while we waited for the people we'd left behind to catch up. When we were all present it emerged that we were the only people to see the kangaroo, so we were pretty chuffed with ourselves for the sighting. It did make us laugh that just before we saw it we were complaining about the lack of wildlife we had seen in Australia so far. At the top in the valley we had great views down the hill we had just walked up so we had a couple of group photos taken of us (that we are yet to receive from the persons whose camera they were taken on). After this break we finished the remainder of the trail, getting back to where we had split up and walked with rather painful feet back to the van. It was nice to have a sit down but the bus was so hot it was almost unbearable. We were driving back towards Uluru when we stopped at a viewing platform that gave a panoramic view of Kata Tjuta round to Ayres Rock, although our cameras couldn't quite capture it all. By the time we had finished it was lunch time and we stopped at a site that had covered picnic tables. It's just a shame they didn't have nets to keep the bananas of the food. Bowls of salad, tuna and ham were set up and we each had a wrap to fill with what we could manage. The bananas over the food were a slight put off but with a quick swat they'd scatter to the bowl next door.
It was finally time for the big one. The thing we had all come to see. Uluru. We drove up with it looming over the van and pulled into the cultural centre, which is just next door. The cultural centre is a place for visitors to go in order to learn about the local aboriginal culture, see artifacts and ofcourse, buy souvenirs. We wandered round and read various things but there was so much it was hard to commit it to memory, so I can't write about it all on here. The area is inhabited and Uluru is considered sacred by the Pitjantjatjara people, that's about as much as I can give you without relying too heavily on Wikipedia. Anyway, we gave it our full attention and enjoyed it, although, we weren't allowed to take many photos. We picked up a refreshing drink on the way out then gathered round the bus. Our departure was delayed slightly as one of the Koreans that had stolen our swags the night before had lost her iPhone in the toilets. Karma. We headed off to the base of Uluru to do a short walk around part of it. When we arrived we were pointed out a chain running up the side of Uluru to the summit. This is there to aid climbers, despite those who hold it sacred requesting that nobody does climb it. The chain is dangerous itself as it is very low to the ground due to the person building it being a very short man. Apparently, we had all seen him the day before in the roadhouse in Curtin Springs but we couldn't remember him. You aren't aloud to climb the track if it's too hot, too windy or too wet, so it is rarely open. The last person to climb it was a Taiwanese gentleman who fell into a crevice and couldn't be rescued until the next morning. To make matters worse, he didn't have travel insurance and had to shell out $75,000 dollars to be flown home. This walk took in various sacred areas that we weren't aloud to take photos of. What we were aloud to take photos of were the cave drawings that had been there for thousands of years and nobody really knew their meaning. There are certain parts of Uluru only a particular gender of the local Aboriginies are allowed to visit. There was a "school" area that only the men can visit and a "kitchen" area that only women can visit. That's not me adhering to a stereotype or being sexist, that's just how it is. While on this walk I started to feel a bit queasy and nauseous. This was slightly frustrating as I'd drunk so much water throughout the day but there wasn't any other explanation for why I felt ill, apart from the heat. I had some Powerade which is supposed to be good at rehydrating but it didn't really help the situation.
We pulled up to where we were having dinner which was a fantastic viewing point across to Uluru with the sunset illuminating the rock while we ate. I sat on the van doorway and after getting some food into me, I did start to feel better. While we were sat around, we watched as endless tour coaches pulled up, filled up with posh British tourists, and hordes of Chinese and Japanese groups, watched the partial sunset, had a glass of champagne and moved on as quickly as they had arrived. After the sun had long gone, we packed up and headed to the campsite we had stayed at the day before as that was where we would be staying the night. As we drove in, Matt asked us to sing and clap along to 'We Are The Champions' to annoy the coach loads of champagne swiggers in order to wake them up, as they had arrived at the site long before we had. After a shower and a chat around a table, we all settled down into our swags for the last time.
Wednesday
We had an even earlier start on our final day and didn't even have time for breakfast before departing the campsite. The reason for the rush was because we were off to the same site as the night before to see the sun rise. We ate when we arrived and waited for the sun to pop over the horizon behind Ulruru. We'd spoken to people who had said that there tour guide had played "The Circle of Life" from the Lion King when the sun started to pop up which we both thought was a little bit cheesy. So it was a nice treat when "Here Comes The Sun" by The Beatles started playing behind us, which made it a very nice moment, particularly for me having grown up with that song being played on the tape player of the Nissan Sunny and Ford Escort we used to have. After the sun was fully up we packed the things away and headed to Uluru for one last hurrah. While it was still slightly cool we were going to do the Uluru base walk, which picked up from where we left off the day before and circumnavigated the rock until we would have covered all 360 degrees of it.
This walk was really easy and pretty flat the entire way round. Everyone took it at their own pace though with some people, like Charlotte and I stopping to take plenty of photos along the way. There were a few spots dotted around that we were unable to take photos of but the area was so huge there were plenty of places we were aloud. We were fairly near the back and were quite alarmed when we looked at our watch and realised we were running quite late. We picked up the pace, skipping past the posh group who had got up after sunrise and missed the good bit, and made it to the bus bang on the suggested walk time. We had so many photos and had spent so long around Uluru that we had almost got to a point where had seen enough of it. It had been fantastic, a real cultural experience as well as a real tourist experience. We'd had a fantastic, enthusiastic tour guide, the majority of the group had been great and good to mingle with and the weather had been pretty good too. We got to the time when it was time to start heading back to Alice Spings. After dropping a select few off at Ayres Rock Airport in order for them to catch connecting flights, we hit the road due East. We stopped at Mt.Ebenezer again in order to have a lunch of wraps and salad again. The bananas were almost unbearable and I'm pretty sure it was them that filled me up and not my actually lunch. We had to laugh when Sigurd the Norwegian came back from the toilet remarking how he was in utter disbelief that he had just seen people (from a different group) eating their lunch in the toilets. We also noticed a sign on the side of one of the buildings saying "4 pipes - 1 water, 3 Unknown". When consider that the building could have been built within someone's living memory, that's rather strange, it may have been a joke though.
We had one final stop on our journey which was a trip to a camel farm on the Stuart Highway where everyone had the opportunity to ride a camel, for a small fee of course. We turned the opportunity down as we had both ridden a camel before on separate occasions in Egypt but a few people did give it a whirl, the most entertaining being George the Korean who found it very funny. It was only a short trot round a track so we didn't feel like we had missed out on much.
As we were driving back into Alice Spings to the sound of "The Boys Are Back In Town" by Thin Lizzy we stopped off at the "welcome to Alice Springs" sign for one final group photograph and a couple of personal ones too.
That evening we all met up in town at a place called 'The Rock Bar' and had dinner, few pints of lager and ale and maybe even an After Eight flavoured shot. I had Ostrich Steaks which came out pretty medium rare, but they have to be done that way otherwise they would be very tough. Charlotte had Chicken Parmagiano, which is pretty much chicken with a pizza topping but it was absolutely colossal. It was a really good evening, nice to relax after some very long days and we managed to secure a place to stay in Norway when we head there, thanks to Sugurd and his wife Suzanne. After assuring Charlotte we wouldn't be late home, we actually turned out to be the last ones to leave just after the Norwegians, so we thanked Matt and headed back to the hostel for a good nights sleep.
James and Charlotte
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