Days 8 - 13 - Outback

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This was my first organized trip. It was fantastic! I met some really wonderful people and learned alot of interesting things.

Our tour guide was actually very steriotypical looking of someone from the outback. He even kept calling things "beautiful". We trecked around for about 3 - 4 hours a day. Always in the morning because by the time 9 am came around the temperature was already in the 30s.

The first two night we had storms blow in and we had to set up tarps and box ourselves in to sleep. The second night was so bad that it actually hailed! So much for being in the desert! The next two nights were spent away from any camp site and we slept by rivers, under the star light. I think there were more stars out than I had ever seen. The one morning I woke up really early and there were wild horses all around our camp site. Showering was done in the form of swimming in the river and any water holes we came upon during the day that was considered sacred to the aboriginal people.

The meals we cooked were great for bush food. The first day we had Desert sandy pasta. It was nicknamed as such because the wind blew so much dirt into the food it was actually crunchy. Another meal was stirfry and damper (a simple flour bread with beer added). The next night we had a great bbq with all sorts of meat and veggies. On the last morning we actually had bacon and eggs for breakfast. I think I ate better out in the bush than I do on most days in the city myself!

After 5 days though I was ready to come home and shower! On our last day there our little tour met up with another one that we had been crossing with the whole time and had dinner and drinks.

That's about all for the outback.

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