The Red Centre
Day 7
We left Alice and fortunately there were some familiar faces in the group including the driver - Kiwi who had been the driver on the second bus down to Darwin and my two German friends Heike and Sandra, two of the funniest people I have met on my travels (Hello you two if you are reading). At first I was a bit worried as Kiwi had seemed a bit lost on some sections of the last trip = luckily I was worrying over nothing though as he really knew his stuff. He re-planned the trip a lot too to make sure we spent minimum time walking in the hottest parts of the day - If I thought it had been hot on the trip so far I was wrong.
We started the day with a visit to the Outback Camel Farm and I got to do a lap of the field on a camel! 5 dollars well spent.
After a long drive we arrived at our camp in Ullara the Ayers Rock Resort. For some reason everyone thinks that Ayers Rock and Alice Springs are really close together - it's a 461 km journey.
We stopped off at the Visitors Centre and were all really starting to feel the heat. After a look around we went to the campsite and jumped in the pool to cool down. The guide cooked a BBQ for us and we drove up to the rock for sunset - we got a great spot and enjoyed the view with our beers and food. A lot of the other groups were looking enviously at us.
We slept outside in our Swags before a really early start to head out to the rock.
Day 8
We were up at 4am to get to the base of the rock. You could opt to climb the rock or do a walk around it. The Aborigines don't like you to climb the rock as it was a sacred climb used by their ancestors however they have the option to close the climb if they want to but chose not too because of the money generated by tourism. They also feel responsible if anyone dies or injures themselves when climbing.
I decided as I would probably only ever be here once and that the climb may be closed in the future that I would do it. Only 3 people decided to do it from our group. I made it to the top pretty quickly - you use a chain to pull yourself up some sections but as you get closer to the top there are some steep bits with no chains. The view from the top was pretty good and you could see the Olgas in the distance. I phoned home from on top of the rock in the style of Trigger Happy TV - HELLO! YES I'M ON TOP OF AYERS ROCK!
I climbed down again and there was loads of people now trying to get up including lots of Japanese wearing white gloves and dust masks for some reason (strange as it was hard enough to breathe anyway!!). You could tell a lot of them weren't going to make it. Because I'd made the climb in good time I got to do a bit of the base walk too.
When everyone had finished the walk we headed on to Kata Tjuta (Olgas) and hiked the Valley of the Winds. There was an option to do an extended walk and most of the group decided to continue on. By the end though it was pretty hot and we were glad to get back to the bus for water and some lunch. The track had been closed to stop new walkers starting the route because of the extreme heat.
We drove arond the rock and the driver gave us a talk detailing some of the Aboriginal stories behind the features of the rock which are all explained by Aboriginal Dream Time stories.
That afternoon we drove to the Kings Canyon Resort where we got to go swimming and cool off.
After a nice diner which included a chocolate cake cooked on the camp fire we hit our swags and were all told to hide our shoes under them as the Dingos often steal them!!
Day 9
A lie in this morning until 5 am. Incredibly because of the cloud cover it had not cooled down from the previous day and was red hot even that early in the morning. We packed up and headed out to Kings Canyon. On the way out of camp we passed a Dingo by the side of the road. We did quite a big hike around the canyon where we saw the impressive formations of the 'Amphitheatre', 'The Lost City', the picturesque 'Garden of Eden' and the breathtaking North and South Walls.
The Garden of Eden is like a desert Oasis with a water hole and lots of ancient plants that have only survived in this area.
The guide also explained about some of the plants of the area including a type of halucuinagenic bush (similar to marijuana) and the ghost gum used as sun screen. The guide also told us about Ippy Ippy used to cover wounds but also rubbed in a sleeping persons eyes as punishment for committing crimes - the Aboriginees eyes stick together rendering the victim blind for three days (bear in mind they are always close to the edge of the Canyon) - if they survive they are forgiven by the group! We also learned about aboriginal law and teaching whereby the grandfathers teach the grandsons whilst the father is out hunting.
We left Kings Canyon (it was already 43 degrees in the shade!) and headed back to the resort for a Chicken Burger lunch and a swim.
The journey back to Alice was long and hot although the air con was working it was so hot no one could sleep or concentrate to read. We saw a few Whirl Winds in the desert on the way back including one which blew onto the road and pushed the bus sideways - scary stuff!
Finally we arrived back in Alice after what felt like the longest journey of the trip so far. We met up for a farewell pizza and drink - it was a good trip and I'd made some really good friends.
I had a free day in Alice. I was staying in a nice hostel - The Alice Lodge but just used the day to relax and do some washing before the start of my next road trip - Alice Springs to Cairns.
We left Alice and fortunately there were some familiar faces in the group including the driver - Kiwi who had been the driver on the second bus down to Darwin and my two German friends Heike and Sandra, two of the funniest people I have met on my travels (Hello you two if you are reading). At first I was a bit worried as Kiwi had seemed a bit lost on some sections of the last trip = luckily I was worrying over nothing though as he really knew his stuff. He re-planned the trip a lot too to make sure we spent minimum time walking in the hottest parts of the day - If I thought it had been hot on the trip so far I was wrong.
We started the day with a visit to the Outback Camel Farm and I got to do a lap of the field on a camel! 5 dollars well spent.
After a long drive we arrived at our camp in Ullara the Ayers Rock Resort. For some reason everyone thinks that Ayers Rock and Alice Springs are really close together - it's a 461 km journey.
We stopped off at the Visitors Centre and were all really starting to feel the heat. After a look around we went to the campsite and jumped in the pool to cool down. The guide cooked a BBQ for us and we drove up to the rock for sunset - we got a great spot and enjoyed the view with our beers and food. A lot of the other groups were looking enviously at us.
We slept outside in our Swags before a really early start to head out to the rock.
Day 8
We were up at 4am to get to the base of the rock. You could opt to climb the rock or do a walk around it. The Aborigines don't like you to climb the rock as it was a sacred climb used by their ancestors however they have the option to close the climb if they want to but chose not too because of the money generated by tourism. They also feel responsible if anyone dies or injures themselves when climbing.
I decided as I would probably only ever be here once and that the climb may be closed in the future that I would do it. Only 3 people decided to do it from our group. I made it to the top pretty quickly - you use a chain to pull yourself up some sections but as you get closer to the top there are some steep bits with no chains. The view from the top was pretty good and you could see the Olgas in the distance. I phoned home from on top of the rock in the style of Trigger Happy TV - HELLO! YES I'M ON TOP OF AYERS ROCK!
I climbed down again and there was loads of people now trying to get up including lots of Japanese wearing white gloves and dust masks for some reason (strange as it was hard enough to breathe anyway!!). You could tell a lot of them weren't going to make it. Because I'd made the climb in good time I got to do a bit of the base walk too.
When everyone had finished the walk we headed on to Kata Tjuta (Olgas) and hiked the Valley of the Winds. There was an option to do an extended walk and most of the group decided to continue on. By the end though it was pretty hot and we were glad to get back to the bus for water and some lunch. The track had been closed to stop new walkers starting the route because of the extreme heat.
We drove arond the rock and the driver gave us a talk detailing some of the Aboriginal stories behind the features of the rock which are all explained by Aboriginal Dream Time stories.
That afternoon we drove to the Kings Canyon Resort where we got to go swimming and cool off.
After a nice diner which included a chocolate cake cooked on the camp fire we hit our swags and were all told to hide our shoes under them as the Dingos often steal them!!
Day 9
A lie in this morning until 5 am. Incredibly because of the cloud cover it had not cooled down from the previous day and was red hot even that early in the morning. We packed up and headed out to Kings Canyon. On the way out of camp we passed a Dingo by the side of the road. We did quite a big hike around the canyon where we saw the impressive formations of the 'Amphitheatre', 'The Lost City', the picturesque 'Garden of Eden' and the breathtaking North and South Walls.
The Garden of Eden is like a desert Oasis with a water hole and lots of ancient plants that have only survived in this area.
The guide also explained about some of the plants of the area including a type of halucuinagenic bush (similar to marijuana) and the ghost gum used as sun screen. The guide also told us about Ippy Ippy used to cover wounds but also rubbed in a sleeping persons eyes as punishment for committing crimes - the Aboriginees eyes stick together rendering the victim blind for three days (bear in mind they are always close to the edge of the Canyon) - if they survive they are forgiven by the group! We also learned about aboriginal law and teaching whereby the grandfathers teach the grandsons whilst the father is out hunting.
We left Kings Canyon (it was already 43 degrees in the shade!) and headed back to the resort for a Chicken Burger lunch and a swim.
The journey back to Alice was long and hot although the air con was working it was so hot no one could sleep or concentrate to read. We saw a few Whirl Winds in the desert on the way back including one which blew onto the road and pushed the bus sideways - scary stuff!
Finally we arrived back in Alice after what felt like the longest journey of the trip so far. We met up for a farewell pizza and drink - it was a good trip and I'd made some really good friends.
I had a free day in Alice. I was staying in a nice hostel - The Alice Lodge but just used the day to relax and do some washing before the start of my next road trip - Alice Springs to Cairns.
posted by Phil at 7:49 AM
1 Comments:
I know your parents and I enjoyed the phone call - so thank you!
Jen
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