Week 10

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After Kakadu I was supposed to start the Darwin to Alice springs section the next day, but due to an ever so slight exhaustion, I decided to reside in Darwin for a few more days. To get to know Frank and Bobbie a bit better I went to stay with them at the Campsite. They have a van, which they've customised, so there's now a double bed in the back, with underneath storage, a proper stereo and a mini fridge. There's only room for 2 in the van, so they have a HUGE (and I mean huge... you can actually stand up in it) tent (they travelled with a french girl for 2.5 months), which is where I slept. We had great fun getting the tent up on the first night because one of the poles broke and it took us nearly 2 hrs to thread all of the sections back on and replace the broken bit. If that wasn't bad enough, once we'd fixed the first pole and began to put the tent up again, the other pole broke. This time we didn't have the patience to go through the whole process again (we were already dripping and it was dark) and just hacked off the broken bit and put the tent up with a slightly shorter pole. Thankfully while Frank and I were faffing with that, Bobbie was cooking us dinner. Frank and I sat up talking till the early hours of the morning again, im surprised we haven't run out of things to talk about.

The next day we went on a hunt for tent repair kits with little success. You would have thought for such a major town they would have a decent camping shop, but that was not the case.

The following morning I had to be picked up early for the Darwin to Alice Springs section of my tour. Thankfully I woke up this time, and its a good job i set my alarm nice and early because when i got back from cleaning my teeth, I had a phone call from the guide saying he was 10 mins away (I wasn't expecting him for another 30mins atleast) - I knew they'd given me the wrong time. I was the first to be picked up, since the Campsite was slightly out of town, so had first pick of the seats.

The first day was a relatively short drive to a town called Katherine, which is famous for its huge gorge and when we arrived we had the option of taking a helicopter flight over it (at additional cost). I decided not to go for it as would rather save my money to do a flight over Uluru/kings canyon instead. After lunch, we went on a 6km hike to the top of the gorge. Although we were slightly further south, it was still very hot and humid, so we all got very sweaty very quickly. The view from the top made the walk worth it though and we had a nice cool off in the rock pool at the top... just to get all sweaty again on the way down, lol. There was something different about the dynamics of the group this time, that wasn't quite as exciting, I didn't seem to get on with them quite as well and had an early night.

Our guide managed to sleep in this morning, which is ironic because we had been joking about the exact same thing last night. Some of the guys last night also thought it would be funny to put his shoes in the freezer, which he thought was quite original. There was a lot of driving today, we travelled 700km, to a place called Tenants Creek on the Stuart Highway. In the morning our guide took us to see Barramundi being fed. They are huge fish and the guy feeding them, let them latch onto his hand as they lept out of the water. Personally I thought it was cruel, but everyone else seemed to like it.

Afterwards we stopped at some thermal pools, where we went for a quick dip, before continuing on the drive to a place called Daley Waters. Daley waters is a pub along the Stuart Highway, but its no ordinary pub. I don't even know how to describe it in words, other than original and a little bit crazy. (You'll understand when you see the pictures). We stopped there for lunch, which our guide cooked on the BBQ, before setting off yet again on another long drive this time straight to Tennant Creek. After dinner tonight we laid outside and watched the Stars. I haven't seen that many stars since Drakensberg (where I actually remember being able to see far more). Now we're moving south the nights are getting colder and the days slightly less humid (although still hot). After Kakadu I decided not to pack quite as many warm clothes (the guys had my backpack), which turned out to be a mistake, because I froze until I climbed into my sleeping bag.

Before we left Tennant Creek the next day, our guide arranged for us to go to the arts centre, which is where local aboriginal groups create and record music. Now this I really enjoyed and I felt privileged to be able to see one of the groups practice. We must have been there for over an hour, but I completely lost track of time, I couldn't say for sure. I bought one of their CDs and the founder of the group signed the cover for me.

The main stop of the day was at the Devils Marbles, which are huge granite boulders, that look very out of place in their surroundings. Our guide left us to do a walk though them to a car park on the other side, but me and another guy ended up at the next car park along... thankfully our guide found us safe and sound (well except the 100 or so flys we managed to pick up on the way). On our final stretch into Alice Springs we passed through a place called Wycliff wells, which is where australia is said to have endured several Alien encounters. They had huge models of Aliens and UFOs on display at the service station, which was quite funny.

Just before we drove into Alice Springs, we crossed the tropic of Capricorn. Before then I'd completely forgotten the tropic of capricorn cut through australia. As a child I'd always wondered what it would be like to cross such a line and it felt strange to finally do it. It was marked by a strange shaped sculpture, that had the longitude and latitude marked on it.

I checked into the Haven backpackers for the night, which is the backpackers recommended by the tour company and in the evening, all but 1 or 2 of us went to a very strange pub for dinner and a few drinks. A lot of people, including the guide, got very drunk and we had a laugh, but I wasn't in the mood, so me and 2 other girls left and went back to the hostel... well we tried to get back to the hostel. Our guide walked us a very strange way there and we couldn't quite remember the way back, so ended up walking back to the pub to ask for directions... very embarrassing. It turned out we were only 100m from the hostel, when one of the girls said she thought it was the other way... turned out I was right... anyway we made it back safe a sound.

Most people in my room had to be up at 4.30 am to be picked up for their tour to Uluru (I still had one day left in Alice). In australia, the 25th April is Anzac day, which is similar to 11th November in the UK, except they get up really early to watch the sun rise and ultimately get very drunk. They have a special hill in Alice Springs called Anzac Hill, so since I was woken up by everyone packing in the morning, I decided to get a taxi to the hill and watch the sunrise at the morning service. Just as the taxi pulled up at the base of the hill, 50 or so vietnam veterans on huge harley Davidson's swarmed past, an amazing site to see. The hill was packed and it wasn't until I was on my way down, that i realised pretty much the whole of the Alice Springs community had turned out. From the top of the hill you can see the whole of Alice Springs and as the sun rose I saw the town reveal itself for the first time. The whole experience was something special and I was glad I'd made the effort to go. I walked back to the hostel (it was now light, so safe to walk round on my own), buying some breakfast on the way. When I got back I was so tired I climbed straight back into bed and slept for another 2 hrs.

When I finally woke up again I walked into town with one of the girls from my room (who was also on my tour). Lots of places were closed, 1 because it was the weekend and 2 because it was anzac day (australian public holiday), so the girl I was with walked back to the hostel and left me to hunt for the flying doctor museum. It was closed till 1pm, so I sat on the grass field opposite and enjoyed the sun... that is until I received a txt from Frank saying they were already in Alice Springs, so I went to meet them for lunch. While they went to find a campsite for the next few days I went back to the flying doctor museum and was just in time for the last tour. Our Helicopter Emergency Medical service (HEMS) in the UK, originated from the Flying doctors in Australia, which established to provide a more efficient emergency and non emergency medical care to the australian outback. For someone who wants to work is this kind of medical field it was fascinating, but im not going to bore you with the details. On the way back to the hostel I had to stop off at coles (australia's equivalent to Tesco) to buy a new mobile phone... mine conveniently decided to die on the way to alice springs. Its working again now, but I didn't want to risk in happening again in the outback. Frank came to pick me up from the hostel, so we could have dinner together at their campsite, only he got lost on the way, so I had to walk all the way back to coles (a 15min walk). I think I walked just about everywhere today and by the end of it, my legs felt like they were going to fall from beneath me.

Very early start again in the morning to be picked up for the 2day Uluru tour. Our guide was much older than on the last 2 tours, but he knew his stuff and was full on fascinating facts about the aboriginal culture and the formation of the landscape we were travelling through. In 2 days we travelled 1500km, which is a hell of a long way to do on a *micro*coach. Our first stop was at Kings Canyon, where we did a 1hr round trip walk into the centre of the canyon. Our guide stopped every 5 mins to talk about the properties of a specific plant/the formation of the Canyon itself, so it actually took us over 2hrs to complete.

We then had a race against time to make it to Uluru in time to watch the sun set from some sand dunes. Our guide drove like a maniac and we made it just in time (with our ears ringing from the constant beeping of the alarm everytime he over reved the engine). The view was amazing. We could see right across the desert and in the same view we could see Uluru (ayres rock) and Kata Tjuta (the olgas), two huge rock formations which look very out of place in their flat landscape. The colours of the sky continue to amaze me, every time you looked back the view had changed. At the top of the sand dune I look of my shoes, to make it easier to walk, but when I went back for them they weren't exactly where I left them... They appeared to have leapt apart and one had a huge chunk taken out of it... the working of the Dingo we saw just as the last ray of light dissappeared.


In Australia they have these things called swags, which are traditionally a matress inside a canvas bag with a flap at the head for air, that you can sleep in under the stars... and thats exactly what we did. It was a very cold night and I questionned whether I would last the night, but once I was inside the swag (plus several layers of clothing and 2 sleeping bags), I was nice a cosey.

I think this was one of the highlights of the tour.. its a very exhilerating feeling, sleeping under the stars out in the open, with no roof over your head.

(start of week 11)

In the morning we got up very early to drive to the base of Uluru and watch the sun rise. I didn't find it quite as speactacular as the sunset, but the walk around the base of it afterwards made up for it. Pretty much everyone on the tour was a couple or part of a family, so I felt slightly isolated. Thankfully though I made friends with 2 couples from the UK, who I walked round Uluru with. Our guide gave us 2 hrs to do the 9.2km walk, but it took us almost an hour to do the first 1/4... simply because we kept stopping to take photos. After the walk we then drove to Kata Tjuta, where we did yet another walk. Kata Tjuta (the olags) isn't quite as well known was Uluru, but I think its just as spectacular. From a distance it looks just like uluru, exept a few thousand years down the line, after lots of erosion from wind and rain (when they get any). There are only 2 walks you can do at Kata Tjuta, because of the scared nature of the site to the aboriginal people who protect it. We did the shorter of the 2 and it was strange walking into the centre of the rock.

Back in Alice springs the guide dropped me at the campsite Frank and Bobbie were staying at, where they had a Baarbi waiting for me.

Cant quite believe I've only been in Australia for 2 weeks, I feel like I've done so much. Am really looking forward to the next few weeks and tomorow is when the real travelling begins...

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