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Published: August 24th 2008
We've been quite busy since our last entry! Right now, we are in Cairns and Greg has gone off diving, while I'm waiting for a tour pick-up to go to Kuranda.
When I last wrote, we had just spent our first day in Sydney. The following day, we awoke early (damn that jet lag!!) and so went for an early morning walk out to Mrs. Macquarie's Point to see beautiful views of the Sydney Harbor bridge and the Opera House. It was a really nice walk through a nice park and because it was so early there weren't too many people out. On our way back we heard an awful racket coming from the trees and discovered cockatoos!!! I had no idea that parrots were so common in Australia, but as we've since learned, there are many different species around the continent.
After our walk we rented a car and drove out to the Blue Mountains, which are a couple of hours away. The drive was a little harrowing. Greg was driving and did a great job, but did admit that it was quite stressful driving on the other side of the road. Not helping matters, within town (and
Sydney sprawls for quite a bit), there was a lot of traffic and lanes were quite narrow. When we got to the Blue Mountains, we were surprised at how cool it was there. People were bundled up in winter jackets and with hats and gloves! I guess it is winter here, but still, we figured it would be a bit warmer. Our first stop was the town of Katoomba, which is the largest town in the region. There are a number of lookouts of the sandstone cliffs and eucalyptus forests within the park. We did a great hike down into a valley where we saw some waterfalls and wonderful rainforest plants. The views were outstanding, but we were pretty tired out by all the stairs. Greg counted over 600 steps going up, which was a lot for us after the amount of sitting we had done for the couple of days beforehand.
In the evening, we drove out the Jenolan Caves for an evening ghost tour. It was a little over an hour drive away and the drive was CRAZY! Twists and turns every which way as the road winded in an out of a mountain side. It was
dark out so we could only see to the next turn. Again, the roads were very narrow making meeting oncoming cars a challenge. Fortunately, there weren't too many at that hour. The caves were impressive although we both agreed that we would have been better off going on a daytime tour. During the ghost tour, we lit our way through the caves using headlamps, however in the daytime, the cave is strategically lit up to highlight the different formations and that would have been impressive to see. On our tour, our guide told us of spooky things that had happened in the caves, but the stories were pretty cheesy and not really scary. Nonetheless, we did enjoy ourselves and were impressed with the size of the cave system. We walked through a number of different caves and were glad we went even if we would have prefered a different tour.
The following day we went to the Scenic Park in Katoomba, which has a couple of cable cars, a steep railway, and some nice walking paths through the rainforest. We took the steep railway down into the valley. The railway used to be an old mining railway to take
miners into the valley. It really looks more like a rollercoaster car then a train, but it was steep! At the steepest point it was over 50 degrees to the horizontal! Next we walked on the boardwalk through the valley. Lots of mining history in the area to read about along the path. It was also interesting seeing the different species of eucalyptus and hanging vines. Some of the vines were as thick as 15 cm!!! They looked just like tree trunks looping around! We took the cable car back up to the top, which gave us some impressive views of the forest top.
In the afternoon we drove back out of the park along a different and very scenic route along the north end of the park. When we stopped for lunch, we met a friendly Australian couple who suggested we drive out to Mt. Wilson. We took their suggestion and more windy roads ensued. At Mt. Wilson, we did a short hike at the Cathedral of the Ferns, which was a little rainforest walk. The place was deserted, so it was quite serene. After that, we headed back to Sydney. Greg was pretty tired from the driving.
The scenic road may not have been the best choice as he didn't really get a chance to enjoy it.
The next morning we flew out to Alice Springs and spent the afternoon preparing for our 5 day Outback tour with Wayoutback Safaris that started the next day. We were up bright and early at 5:45 for our tour pick-up. Our group consisted of 2 French couples, a former Frenchman now living in Australia, an English woman, a woman from Brisbane, and a woman from Auckland. Everyone was about our age except for the last two woman who were a little older. It was a great group to travel with.
The first morning, we drove out to Uluru (Ayers Rock). It is over 400km away, so it was quite a drive. During the drive we saw a few kangaroo. I was interested in the landscape. I thought it would be all flat, but we passed some low mountains as well. It is not surprisingly very dry there, but despite that, there are quite a number of trees and shrubs. Speaking of dry, the rivers were quite funny as they were all dried up! Just lots and lots of
sand. This is very normal. Apparently Alice Springs has only had 13mm of rain so far this year!
When we got to the rock, it was very impressive. Like most people, I have seen many pictures of it and none do it justice. The red colour of the rock against the blue sky was so beautiful. I swear the sky is bluer here than anywhere else that I've seen it. We did a walk around the base of the rock, taking so many pictures as we went - just hoping that some will do justice to its beauty. In the evening, we watched the sunset from a lookout on a sand dune near our campsite. The tour also provided champagne for us to enjoy. The sunset was nice, but since there was not a cloud in the sky, the colours weren't as brilliant as we had hoped.
All around the area, not only are the rocks red, but the ground is covered in fine sand which is also red. My shoes have taken on a bit of ochre shade - not to mention my white socks!
The evening was spent around the campfire before rolling out our
swags for bed. A swag is essentially a canvas bag with a thin mattress on the bottom that you put your sleeping bag in. Although the swags weren't all that comfortable (a little restrictive for my liking), it was great lying there because you could see all the stars as you fell off to sleep. There was so many! And the Milky Way was pretty brilliant, streaking overhead.
The next morning were up at 5AM to catch the sunrise on the otherside of Uluru. Unfortunately, when our guide tried to start the truck, we discovered the battery was dead. We tried pushing it to get it started, but nothing worked. We ended up watching the sunrise from the same lookout as we had the sunset, but we were on the wrong side of the rock to get the colours. After the sunrise, the group walked to the Ayers Rock Resort Centre to grab a coffee and look at the shops while our guide waited for a mechanic to open.
After that was sorted out, we drove out to Kata Tjuta (Mt. Olga) and did the Valley of the Winds walk. Again, we were in awe of the colours.
Simply stunning. There are also a number of trees in the area and the green is a beautiful contrast. We were again blessed with clear blue skies. During the walk it warmed up quite a bit, probably to the mid-20s, which we welcomed as the evenings had been quite cool (under 5 degrees! Glad I brought some long underwear!!!) Next we went to the nearby Aboriginal Cultural Centre. It was really great, but because we were behind schedule, we only had half an hour there, which wasn't nearly enough for me.
Then it was on the road again, heading out towards Kings Canyon. Halfway there, we discovered that one of the tires had a puncture. So we pulled over to change the tire. We had one bottle of champagne left over from the other night, so we cracked that at the side of the road to make the most of the situation. As is his nature, Greg got right in there helping the guide change the tire. The rest of the group was quite impressed at his skill. While we were changing the tire, I was surpised that there were about 5 vehicles and tour groups that drove by
us and didn't stop. I would have thought that they would have at least checked to make sure we had everything we needed! Very strange.
Finally we reached our camp for the night and had a late dinner at 10PM - just a bit behind schedule. The campsite was very remote, and I believe was just for use by Wayoutback Safaris. They had made a toilet area that was quite amusing. It was a real flushing toilet, but it was enclosed only on 3 sides, so while you were sitting there you could look out into the bush. Since it was night time, it had very impressive views of the stars as well. Most scenic toilet experience I've had! There was also a shower, similar in style with only 3 walls. It even had hot water courtesy of a water tank heated by a small fire at the base.
The next day, we went to Kings Canyon early in the morning. We weren't quite early enough to beat the crowds though so there were a lot of people there. The Canyon was beautiful. More red rock and beautiful canyons. We climbed up to the top for some great
views of the area.
Following our hike at Kings Canyon, we hit the road again. This time, we took some unsealed roads and were treated to a very bumpy ride. Later in the afternoon, we had to drop off 3 of our group as they were only signed up for a 3 day tour. Then we headed for our next camp at Oak Valley. The camp is owned by an Aboriginal family, and when we arrived, Craig, the owner, had a fire already going for us. This was great as the wind had really come up and it was freezing!!!
The next morning, Craig took us for a walk around some different nearby areas and told us some Aboriginal history and about their culture. It was very interesting, but as the wind was still up, it was very cold and we were all happy to get back to the truck for more driving. We travelled on some more 4WD roads and saw a lot of kangaroos in the afternoon. It was great to see some more alive ones. We have seen a lot of kangaroo road kill - I suppose they are just like deer out here. I
forgot to mention that we have also seen some wild camels during our drives. By evening, we arrived at Glen Helen Gorge and did a short walk to view it. That night, we stayed out in the bush. As it wasn't a campground, there were no facilities at all. It was very nice just being us. As we have seen everynight, the stars were amazing. It was another cold evening as the wind was still up. Its amazing the difference that this can make in the temperature!
The next morning, we went to Ormiston Gorge and did short hike. The area had a lot of Ghost Gum Trees, which are a type of eucalyptus with brilliant white bark. They are so striking against the red landscape and we couldn't get enough of them. I don't know how many pictures I have of trees!!! Then we did some more 4WD roads out to Palm Valley. In order to get to the Valley, you have travel along a 4 km "road" which travels along a riverbed. It was quite extreme and the truck was rocking all over the place! We saw a few SUVs that people had left because the road
was a bit too tough for them to go any further so they had to walk the rest of the way. I was glad we were in such a big high truck.
Palm Valley was really incredible. As the name would suggest, there was a valley with palm trees in it. It was quite lush in the middle. Quite a contrast to the arid landscape surrounding the area! After hike through the area, we headed back to Alice Springs for the end of the tour.
After some much needed showers (extra long to get rid of all the dirt!!!) and laundry, we met back up with our tour group for dinner at a local pub, Bojangles. I had a kangaroo fillet - really good, while Greg got a sampler plate of Australian meats: kangaroo, camel, crocodile, emu, and bison. He said they were all good except for the camel, which was very tough!
Yesterday we relaxed and packed to head out for Cairns. We went to a market in Alice Springs, which was incredibly busy. I had no idea so many people were actually in the town! We arrive here after dinner and are now staying in
Cairns for 2 nights before we head out to Cape Tribulation.
Hope all is well with everyone! We are having a great time!!!
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Sandy
non-member comment
Hi Guys!!
hey you guys, the pictures look awesome and its very reminiscent of our previous trip!! i wrote a comment last week, but don't see it here... not sure how this works :) Call ME SOMETIME!!! keep having fun, sam xx