The tour members

Thursday Sept 5- Saturday Sept 7 

........Under the Southern Cross

The Rock Tour

Thursday  started very early.  We were up at 5:15 for a 6:00 pickup.  Seven people from Toddy’s, including us, were on the 3 day, 2 night camping tour to Kings Canyon, Uluru and Kata Tjuta.   We, of course, were the oldest members of the group of 14 and the youngest was an 8 year old girl travelling with her mom, from Victoria.  Our little group represented Colombia, Germany, Korea, Italy, England, France, Switzerland, the US and Canada.

The landscape towards out first stop Erldunda, about 180 kms south of Alice on the Stuart Hwy, was much like the Cariboo….low bushes, some larger trees, grasses on flat to low rising hills.  It was greener than what we thought but talking to the guide Mark, there had been a big rain a few weeks before.  When we got out in Erldunda. we were attacked by small flies, the flies we had first encountered at the airport only in massive amounts…..and I mean massive.  Lori and I ran across the highway for a cache…which are few and far between  in the outback.  This was a fuel stop($1.80 a litre),  a toilet stop(Aussi for bathroom, washroom)and snacks stop (we had ice cream, which was cheaper here than at Rogers Arena…)  for the next part of the drive to Kings Canyon. During the driving time we each went to the front of the bus to introduce ourselves and then were handed a felt pen that we had to write out name and country and draw a picture on the window we were sitting beside.  Rock music was blaring for the entire trip.  It was pretty much straight-line driving in high heat.  Each time we turned a corner to get a change in the highway, we all had to cheer, hoot, and holler.  (There are only 3 turns!)

At about 1:00pm we arrived at Kings Canyon……it was HOT.  Mark would not let you go on the hike unless you had 3 litres of water.  It is a 3 hour hike….very steep for the first part (called Heartbreak Hill) then flat at and slight up and down over rocks  on the top with no shade  and then of course down again.   Lori looked at the steep first part and thought about the no shade on the top and decided to do the flatter lower trail, about an hour hike.  Two others soon joined her…(maybe I should have too). I opted to go the full route Kings Canyon Rim Walk (6km 3.5 hrs)looking to gather information for the earth cache here.  I did fairly well until the last hour…..the heat was severe….we figured it was about between 32-34.…not my comfort zone.  I was the last one to get back to the bus area….Monika, Mark and one of the Korean ladies encouraging me……I had drank the last of my 3 litres of water in that time.

The hike was beautiful though.  Land and rock formations similar to the Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, in Utah that I visited in June.  Red and yellow sandstone in various formations.  About half way a downward climb on stairs to a beautiful cool waterhole called the Garden of Eden  with lots of vegetation, then of course another stairway back up to the plateau eventually leading to a long downward climb to the parking lot and the air-conditioned bus!!!  It was a beautiful trail if it wasn’t for the heat!

Heartbreak Hill

Emergency phones along the trail

Scrambling over rocks

Stairs from the Garden of Eden

Then because it was now past 4pm when we were on the road again to our campsite….still a good 120-150 kms away.  Along this road, we saw a group of wild horses.  We made a stop just as the sun was setting to pick up firewood from the sides of the road and into the forests and then a “beverage” stop.  This place was so remote, and everything we thought it would be out there!  Old music playing, rednecks with their leather hats pounding back the beer at the bar (sort of zoned out), dim lights, ceiling fans that really did nothing, heat, and flies. We pushed on, arriving to the camp spot at Curtin Springs.  The campsite was a red powder-dust area with only a large fire pit in the middle.  We have never burned donuts in a bus before, but we have now…..in the Outback.  We set up camp, a fire was built, and Mark had supper made for us on the coals in record time (Thai chicken noodles, a rice dish and a veggie dish) even though some of the food that he was expecting was not in the cooler . He was very inventive and quick thinking in an unexpected situation.

A quick dip in a near by pool

When we arrived it was dark.  The sky was AMAZING……there were sooooooo many stars and the Milky Way was so intense……it is just too hard to describe.  There was no moon, and no hills out there, so the stars were visible up from the flat land in every direction.  After dinner we were all so tired that when Mark showed us how to set up our swag and sleeping bag, we all pretty well climbed into bed around the campfire under the stars.  The swag bags were a thick, zippered canvas designed for warmth and protection from biting animals.  Unfortunately, just as we were setting up, a rather large spider was spotted crawling around the rim of the fire!  

Lori in her swag under the stars

Sleeping around the campfire

Friday we were woken up early again….to a fire and breakfast all set up, toast and cereal.   With all the heat and the driving between distances we had to start early and try and get to the first hike before it got too hot. I had a great sleep under the stars but I don’t know about the 2 people on either side of me….I’m just hoping I wasn’t snoring too loudly!  Oh, and no bathroom facilities at this campsite….”When in Rome……”

Breakfast

Valley of the Winds

Our first stop was Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) ….about 50 km west of Uluru….a monolith that was once 10 times the size of Uluru and has been carved over millions of years into 36 huge domes.  We got there it was before  noon and already so very hot.  We all walked together to start (about 3 kms) and then we broke off into the long 7 km and the shorter about 1 more km.  We started the Valley of the Winds  walk but got as far as the last huge rock to climb over and decided we couldn’t attempt it in the heat.and wandered back to the bus to find a shady area to wait.  

At Kata Tjuta

Uluru

We stopped at the place where we were to camp that night, just outside of the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park ( a UNESCO World Heritage site) entrance to drop off our swags and made our way to Uluru.  We did a little walk (about 2 km) around the base of Uluru….Mark telling us information about special caves and areas that are special to the Aboriginal people of the area.  All the while we are gathering information for the two earth caches that are in the area. 

The rock itself is huge and can be seen for kilometers away…..a huge red rock with nothing else around it.   There were people climbing it.  This is a really sensitive subject….to the Aboriginals it is a sacred place….like a church…..they do not want people to climb it…..the parks people do not want people to climb it because of the ecological issues..…but the government will not stop people climbing because it is attracting tourists!   We were told that  many of the tourists DO climb despite signs.  The area that they climb is   very smooth and it would be very hot climbing…..there are ropes up to help people go up and down!!!!  It is crazy……and so disrespectful.

The sign

The climbers

We also learned that Uluru is an “inselberg,” which is like an iceberg, except on land.  The part we can see is really just the tip, and it is believed that the rock actually goes down 2.5 km below the Earth’s surface.

Late Afternoon

After our walk we sped over to the spot where we were to see the sunset over Uluru!    There was at least 400 people from tour buses in the area we were in and there is another area for buses and on the other side of the rock plus parking areas for cars.  Most of the tours do a dinner out there so after the sun went down Mark cooked us supper there.  A chili that he put together with things that he bought at the local store because someone was supposed to meet us and give him meat that he was going to barbeque for us.    Poor Mark, things were not going well for him this trip and we still hadn’t finished!

By the time we finished our meal it was past the 7:30 park closing time so we cleaned up quickly and headed back to the campsite where we had a campfire….tried to show them how to make smores with chocolate that we had and some marshmallows that someone had picked up on the last stop and some cookies!  Some stayed up late partying.  A few of us went to bed earlier, I was so tired I didn’t hear them .  Again we slept around the fire under the stars…..beautiful!

Saturday, day 3.…..guess what! We got up really really early so we could see the sunrise over Uluru.  We packed up quickly and had breakfast while the sun was coming up;  I wasn’t as impressed with the sunrise as the sunset…… maybe we weren’t in the right position, I don’t know.

We then went to continue our walk around the base of the rock.  Yesterday we did 2 kms today some of the group did the entire 9 km around, other including us did the rest of the 6kms.  This was were the next problem started….or rather didn’t start!  We dropped off the long distance walkers and then Mark tried to start the bus…..it didn’t start! So the 6 of us that were doing the short walk had to push!   We drove to the place where he was to drop us off and he left it running.  By the way we saw a little dingo at that area (which is the same area that the famous dingo incident happened  over 30 years ago)

Young dingo wandering about

The water hole

It was a beautiful walk in the morning, cooler and there are shady parts along the way.  My favourite part was the  Mutitjulu Waterhole, as you walked down the path towards it you could free the temperature drop and the air get moister.  Uluru is sandstone and so when it rains, most of the rain is absorbed by the rock and especially in the little crevices, cracks and caves.  We made it back to the appointed area in about an hour and half.  The meeting point was where the people climb…..the first day we only saw a few people climbing the second day …..there must have been about 50 we could see and it was early in the day.

When everyone had finished we started off to Alice Springs…..pushing the bus each time we stopped and then started.   Mark played us some Aussie music on this portion of the road.  “Waltzing Matilda” came blaring out, but we were surprised that we were the only ones who knew the words!!!  (Age?  Cultural?  Don’t know!)  We stopped at Mt Conner lookout and again at Erldunda……where we had lunch and Mark called the office and we waited to see if they were going to send another bus…..we were now travelling with no air conditioning and no music.  The flies were the worst here….in our eyes, ears, noses, and all over our food.  You couldn’t stand still with your lunch, and you certainly couldn’t put it down.  We had seen those face nets  for sale on the first day but,  thinking they were kind of nerdy, we passed on a purchase.  Bad move; we sure could have used them but, by now, there was no point.  We also stopped at a camel farm along the way…..yes camels  Camels were a big part of the settlement of the outback.   They are now kept on farms and people pay to ride on them.  Then we had to push again. 

Alice the camel

We did eventually make it back to Alice, got showered and changed and met the group for dinner and drinks.  Lori and I lasted  til about 9 or so and then got a taxi back to the hostel……we had to be up and packed  the next morning.  The shuttle was picking us up at 10 to take us to the airport for our flight to Darwin.

Mark had told us at the beginning of the tour, that his job was to ensure that we had an Outback experience that we would never forget.  He delivered….big time.  You could see this spectacular area from a posh bus and stay in a fancy hotel, or you can really “experience” it.  Wouldn’t have done it any other way!

Zoom in on this photo...check out the fork!