Swagging under the stars in the Red Centre

The Australian Outback conjures up images of a remote wilderness populated only by kangaroos, camels and the few real Crocodile Dundees. The main attraction, Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) is one of the most recognizable icons of Australia, although I must confess that I only had a vague knowledge of it until saw some pictures in my Lonely Planet. As I was planning my trip, I came to fully appreciate the true vastness of Australia. Uluru is located in the Northern Territory and is a mere 2,977 km from Brisbane, roughly 1 day and 14 hours straight of driving. The nearest “major city” is Alice Springs (population 24,000) and is still 440 km away, about a 5 hour drive. In short, Uluru is in the middle of nowhere.

Over 13% of Australia is covered by desert and it is no small wonder that many early explorers died during their expeditions to cross the country. When I pictured the Red Centre, I saw gigantic red sand dunes similar to those in the Sahara Desert. Quite to the contrary, the desert around Uluru is extremely colorful and full of vegetation that has adapted to the harsh conditions. It even rains! One of my other misconceptions was that it would always be extremely hot. Much to my dismay, although it is quite warm during the day, the temperature at night in June dips down to a cool 5C. Brrrrr!

As Sidd had opted out of this adventure, I was on my own. Originally I had big plans to fly into Uluru and then hire a car and drive myself up to Darwin, covering about 2,000 km of real Aussie Outback. Sidd quickly nixed this idea (no cell phone coverage!) and persuaded me to join a tour group that would visit Uluru, Kata Tjuta and King’s Canyon, eventually ending up in Alice Springs.

All in all, my budget backpacker tour with Outback Safaris was fantastic. Uluru was fascinating and it really does change colour and glow red at sunset. As it is sacred to the Anangu, the local aboriginal people, I opted not to climb the rock and instead focused on the interesting creation stories about various parts of Uluru, including my favorite about a fat, lazy, blue-tongued lizard that rolled off the top of the rock and left his scales behind. One of my favorite facts about the world’s largest monolith is that it is estimated that the sandstone rock extends almost 5 km underground! The other attractions, Kata Tjuta and King’s Canyon, were also beautiful and made for some good hiking.

My favorite part of the tour was the opportunity to experience swagging. I confess that I had major concerns about sleeping in a swag, which is helpfully defined as: “The pack or bundle containing the personal belongings of a swagman”. Essentially, it is a large canvas bag with a padded bottom and a flap for your head - you stuff your sleeping bag into the swag, pull the flap over your head and hope that no curious spider, snake or scorpion decides to join you in the middle of the night. Or a dingo for that matter! Luckily, I was reassured by my tour guide that as it was winter, all the creepy crawlies were hibernating so I decided not to be a wimp and break out my tent. Although it did rain a bit on my first night, I thoroughly enjoyed swagging out under the brilliant stars and it was actually really warm and comfy inside!

After experiencing the Aussie Outback, I can understand why it holds allure for many people. It is truly a beautiful wilderness and part of Australia not to be missed.

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