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Published: December 10th 2008
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How do you describe Australia's landscape with enough adjectives to do it any justice? I have seen colours I didn't know existed.
In the Outback, sand so red that it appears almost three dimensional to the naked eye, fringed in a blue hue. Ghost gums so breathtakingly stark against mint-green foliage, you touch their trunks to confirm they are indeed real.
Snuggled deep down in a canvas swag, staring up at the exhilaratingly coolness of a sapphire sky to marvel at the millions of stars that greet you at days end, I find myself contemplating how is it possible that life coincides so well here in this hostile environment? Perhaps a love-hate relationship worked out over the millions of centuries? It doesn't matter, because all I know is I'm cozy warm and gloriously peaceful here in this vast Australian land.
When I first arrived in Alice Springs, I expected to find a sparkly gem in the middle of a dehydrated desert, but upon closer inspection, found a town that appeared slightly battered and unkempt. The result of a mini-cyclone a day earlier I am told. Stray aboriginals wander the streets like ghost people, sitting in family groups at
several park locations strewn throughout the town, blatantly ignored by all the white residents. I am saddened. But then there is something glorious about this unpolished oasis. I meander about the Todd Mall picking out the expected touristy trinkets, and daytrip to all the expected touristy places, the flying doctors museum, the lizard sanctuary, etc. It is quite obvious that this place survives by the 'almighty' tourist dollar, but to me Alice is one of those mystical places that if you wanted to truly hide your identity and disappear, you could.
The backpacker hostel teeters on the outskirts of town. My only regret was that I was forty, not twenty, and my days of drinking till I puke were long gone. The onsite bar rocked out to didgeridoo music into the wee hours, and I found myself buttering white bread and snarfing down Tim Tams and tea with a motley bunch in the breakfast room each morning. When in Rome right?
Scheduled to partake in a week long camping and hiking trip, my tour guide picks me up bright and early, he is a cute Aussie bloke with bundles of charmed energy, and our group of seventeen are
whisked off down the Stuart Highway in a truck that resembles a camel. I think I'll name her
ol' humpy. Things here in the outback are farther apart than any map would ever reveal, we bump along for hours, with stops at expected touristy sites to pick up refreshments and stretch our legs.
Now, over the years I have seen at least a thousand pictures of Uluru (Ayers Rock), but seeing it in person for the first time moved me. The red dust permeates your nostrils, like a million rusty cars in a junkyard. Piles of Spinifex clump like twig nests forever dotting the red landscape. Scraggly trees are frozen in time...like they tried to outrun the summer heat.
The 9.6 km walk around the circumference of the red rock is effortless and excruciatingly breathtaking. I take pictures knowing very well they will not capture what I have now permanently etched in my minds eye. Our tour guide quips how lucky are we that there are no other people around, so we take our time, and welcome a light breeze that seems to sing through the crevasses of Uluru. You don't hear another sound except gravel under foot,
and try to stiffle the odd laugh as you watch your tourmates do 'windmill arms' trying to keep the millions of flies off their face. Not that I would ever climb Uluru, but it is a scary steep jaunt to the top. A creamy path is carved deep into the red rock signifying the many brave souls who could not resist the urge to disrespect a simple request not to climb.
My group, I've lovingly dubbed the IHOP gang (international house of peeps) is a motley bunch from Belgium, Austria, France, Czechoslovakia, Germany, a couple Aussies, and one token Canadian...me. Our hyper guide is replaced by the bass player for the band ZZ Top. He mumbles incoherently in Australian, and the IHOPs look to me for a translation to English.
After Uluru we make camp close by, and the ‘wild and crazy’ Czech brothers pull out their homemade distilled hooch they try to pass off as plum schnapps. We do shots of this concoction (resembling paint thinner) while watching the sun go down over Uluru, changing the lonesome rock of blood red orange into a myriad of day glow purple. At 4 a.m. we rise again in order
to witness the sun bathe Uluru in the dawns glowing warmth. Satisfied, I have now seen Uluru at every angle, and in every spectrum of light.
Our next trek is to the Kata Tjuta (the Valley of the Winds). It is indeed very windy and I make a pact with myself not to lose my dorky aussie hat. I will desperately need it, as it will reach 40 celsius long before noon. An easy 7.4 km trek, we snake our way through the gorges and valleys, completing the circumference in a leisurely pace. It is here where I realize I have never seen this type of beauty before, and I sit down to momentarily covet it, while my group haggle over biscuits.
Vainly I’ve always believed my birthplace (British Columbia) to be the most beautiful in this world, but like a parent that believes their child to be the best looking, I realize Australia is winning the contest by default. Australia is stunning.
Between the daily treks, we camp out in lovely isolated sites allowing us to socialize by the fire and eat the local fair lovingly referred to as 'Skippy' (kangaroo) and 'Camel Con Carne' (camel).
Both were interesting, but more delicious chased with Australian beer.
When not globetrotting back and forth across the scorched desert by day, we make camp and sleep outside in swags, the desert cools down to a nippy 10 celsius and I can almost see my breath as I peer up at the stars. It’s at this very moment I realize it has been a long time since I’ve had this kind of internal peace. I sleep like a baby.
Kings Canyon (Watarrka) is a breathtaking climb around the rim of a horseshoe-shaped canyon. At the halfway point you descend into the ‘Garden of Eden.’ Stepping stone rocks whittled out by a million years of erosion lead the way, you feel like you have gone back in time to a place where dinosaurs roamed. ZZtop mumbles something about the ripples in the rocks being left by a sea that was here a zillion years ago. I raise an suspicious eyebrow...but then he points out shell fossils stuck deep in the ripples. Cool!
I am messmerized by the giant Sago palms that line the canyon floor, they have to be at least 500 years old and the size of
a VW bug. As you walk along the trails, the odd butcherbird echos an eerie song. We finally come across the trapped water of the billabong which is slimy and stagnant. ZZtop tells us that years ago the water was a clear and swimmable before the latest endless drought. It is about 42 right now, and I'm still contemplating going for it! Instead, we sit in the shade of the canyon eating apples and watching the ducks bob around in the muck unchallenged. A busload of tourists at the top of the canyon yell down at us, the echo of
ello ello ello slightly irritating.
For the rest of the trip we visit several sheep and cattle stations, and inbetween we keep our eyes peeled for wildlife, namely ferral camels and horses. We found both - the first was a group of cranky camels trying to hide under one lone tree, and the second was a pack of mustang type horses that almost became dash ornaments when they ran out in front of ol' humpy. Also spotted were several kangaroos, dead and alive, the odd cow, dead and alive, with many many lizards, snakes and birds. The desert is
so dry and hot it gives you the impression nothing could survive out here, but it is teeming with life.
At the end of the week, our group was reluctantly returned to Alice, and I sadly don’t want to go back to Brisbane. I love this unpolished outback that has dyed my shoes a bright red, and wish I had left myself more time to explore the surroundings. I promise myself that one day I will be back.
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Snap Shot Stacey
Snap Shot Stacey
Awesome!
Looks like you've seen a stunning side of Oz that even I (as an Aussie) haven't seen yet! Great photo's!