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Mt Isa, or ‘The Isa’ as it’s known to locals had been a wonderful home and showcase for the rodeo; we were deeply saddened to be leaving, but leave we had to. It was a long 600km drive to Tennant Creek where we stayed in a nice little campsite, before moving on the next day towards Alice Springs. En route we made a marvellous detour to The Devil’s Marbles, a cluster of boulders, made from the red rock prevalent this central, they were formed by volcanic activity many moons ago. Continuing on we passed through Australia’s UFO capital, Wycliffe Well, boasting a petrol station adorned with plastic alien figurines. We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn (the first time of many on the trip), and eventually came in from the dusty outback and into Alice Springs.
Alice Springs is a phenomena, sitting literally in the middle of nowhere it boasts all the mod-cons of any large city, and serves as the comfort zone for tourists visiting the local, untamed attractions. With little time to spare we stayed one night then raced out to Ormistan Gorge, on the McDonnall Range, the following morning to catch a rather enjoyable wildlife talk by a
ranger. After the talk we realised the most abundant wildlife out here were the rampaging flies, they were everywhere and extremely bugging. Deciding to hang around for the night we set-up camp in the National Park campsite, right in the heart of it. After getting comfortable we enjoyed a 9km hike through the gorge, which proved invigorating and we spotted a few wild black footed rock wallabies.
The next day we drove back into Alice to replenish our supplies then hit the road south, then right towards Uluru and Kings Canyon. The scenery out here is boundless and the horizon endless, and the roads long. We camped in a free rest area half way, then the next day continued our pilgrimage to King’s Canyon. The canyon doesn’t get half as much attention as Uluru, but is an equally rewarding stop. The weather out here can get frightfully warm, often 40c, thankfully only 25c this time of year. The walk through the canyon is well worth while if you can endure the initial onslaught of flies, desperate to drink something out of any orifice. It’s only after this initial scramble that you actually see the canyon, and it’s worth all
the effort; for the rest of the 6km walk we were marvelled by this natural wonder, so vast, so beautiful. The detour we had made down to the red centre had been worth it for this alone. Uluru was next.
As we all know the Australians called this monolith Ayers Rock, and many people still do, however thankfully the land has now been returned to it’s rightful keepers, the Aborigines. Without going into too much detail, the land is extremely sacred for the Aborigines, none more so than Uluru and the surrounding area. Driving up to Uluru is an interesting experience, as it really is alone in the vastness, it’s when you get closer that it’s size overpowers your senses. Such a photographed, iconic place, it felt like we had been here before? The Aboriginals have asked people not to climb on Uluru, and to our surprise some ignorant idiots still do, shouting and posing for photos. This is like having a picnic on someones grave, or a disco in a mosque, it shouldn’t be done. I guess some people just don’t have the capacity to understand a culture different to their own, and that is a great shame.
Seeing these imbeciles tarnished my experience, perhaps naively I thought we were becoming more understanding and tolerant of each other, but this proved me wrong and left me quite angry. If I got this upset, imagine how the Aborigines feel. Rant over. From the ‘sunset spot’ we joined the hundreds of other vehicles and watched a quite majestic sunset, admiring the changing shades of Uluru’s surface, until it went into shadow. The next day we visited the equally impressive Kata Tjuta; a further series of rock formations. The 3 hour walk around the site also enjoyable. Before leaving the area we completed the base walk around Uluru. The trip into the red centre had been well worth it.
It was time to go north.
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