The Tenacious Australian Fly, an Underground Town, and a Big Red Rock!
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Published: March 20th 2007
Adventure Tours Bus
Our home for the next 6 days
Flys
Home Among the Gum Trees 6 Days in the Outback, who knew it would be this fun.
As I woke up at 5:30AM, I hoped getting up this early wasn't going to become a normal habit on this trip. I hurried to check out of my hostel and get over to the tour offices to check in. The tour company that I was to spend the next 6 days with was a highly recognizable one called
Adventure Tours Australia. Over these next few days, we would be heading to the Flinders Range, Wilpena Pound, Coober Pedy, Uluru, and King's Canyon, with a few surprise stops along the way. We jumped in the bus, met our tour guide Horty and were off heading North of Adelaide. With over 2000km left to go to our final destination of Alice Springs, I thought I would introduce myself and meet some of the people on the bus. Of the 21 travellers there were 16 women and 5 men. The nationalities varied, but most were German, some from Denmark, 2 Koreans, a girl from Taiwan, and 2 from England. As we drove away from Adelaide, Horty waved happily to oncoming cars and marked down each time someone waved back. I could
Damn them all
I really hate Australian Flies. They never quit, ever. see this trip was going to be a memorable one.
Our first destination was Yourambulla Caves where we climbed up a ladder to view some aboriginal cave drawings. Also at this location was our first exposure to the great Australian Fly. These flies are probably the most annoying bug that I have ever come across. As you get one flying around your head, you swat at it and hit it, 1 second later, 3 more show up. Then before you know it, you have at least 15 flies trying to get into your ears, nose, eyes, and even your mouth. After swatting around your head for 5 minutes, also known as the "Aussie Salute", you tire and usually give up letting them crawl all over you. (Video at top) Check out the video of the 20 of us sitting around listening to our guide Horty speak about Aboriginal drawings and their meanings. It was hard to follow due to this annoying fly distraction. Over the next 6 days, we became a little more used to it, but it was still uncomfortable and not something I loved about the outback.
Our next stop was our dorms in Parachilna, a
Emu's run funny
You should see them run. I even got to chase them to get them to run. I'll hunt down that photo later. small town built on the old main railroad that consisted of the Prairie Hotel, a power generator, and a few other small buildings. We gathered into our rooms, played some cards, watched a train go by during a beautiful sunset, and sat down for our first Australian grilled dinner of Kangaroo Steaks, Emu Burgers, and Camel Sausages. This was the 2nd time I'd had Kangaroo and the closest thing I can compare it to is venison meat. It's definitely tasty, but tough if you cook it too long. The Emu burgers were excellent and definitely the highlight topped with BBQ sauce or Sweet Chile Sauce. The Camel sausage were like a regular sausage, but definitely had a different aftertaste that I didn't agree with. After our meals, we went to the "bar" of the city at the hotel and had a few drinks and some dessert. The specialty of the bar, was a dessert called
Quangdong Pie, a desert fruit similar to a peach. After a few beers we headed to bed for a long day of hiking the next day.
With another early 5am start, Sara and Kevin jumped into the small, freezing swimming pool to speed up the
Train Tracks
Train tracks in Parachilna, South Australia wake up process. Once breakfast and packing were out of the way, the sun started to come up, and with that, hundreds of flys. We quickly jumped into the bus and headed to Wilpena Pound a few hours away.
Flinders Range is South Australia's largest mountain range. We had our choice of the more difficult 3km hike, or the 2km hike around the river bed. The more difficult hike was up a much steeper hill but had more rewarding views. As most of us started up this steep Mt. Ohlssen Bagge hike, we emerged from the trees and into the hot sun. This again reminded me to put on 30+ SPF lotion, as Australia is the worlds #1 country for Skin Cancer, and today's 11AM hike was going to be a hot one. After many stops and a few photos, we arrived at the top to meet our guide Horty with snacks and a congratulations. We peered out over the valley at the amazing Australian scenery while lizards ran around our feet. After an hour of relaxation, many photos, and some ants in Horty's pants, we headed down to eat lunch.
Now heading to our next destiation of Rawnsley Park,
Another Great Australian Sunset
Looking over the Train Tracks in Parachilna we noticed that most of bus occupants slept between locations. When we got to Rawnsley Park, we were happy to see a swimming pool, so we quickly put on our suits and headed over. The water felt so good after such a hot day of hiking. Afterwards, our guide Horty and I split a nice, large plastic 5 Liter jug of
Goon Fortified Wine. Goon, or Box wine, is a common drink for backpackers in Australia due to the fact that its cheap but yet still contains alcohol. This particular container looked like windshield wiper fluid, smelled like fruit gasoline, and I'm sure colored my insides a very sad purplely red. Sarah, Alke, and Kevin also got a few cans of alcohol, so we all sat down and had a few drinks. It felt good to hang out with them and talk. Over the past few days, we all seemed to get along really well and definitely had the same sense of humor. After only 2 days of traveling, it felt like we all had been friends for years, yet we were from different parts of the world and had never met before. That night's dinner was a green curry
Roo Sign
The sign really meant it. There are around 60 different species of Kangaroos. So yes, we saw a few around Australia. stew with white rice, not bad for a camping trip dinner. Also that night, by suggestion from our guide Horty, a few of us decided to sleep outside in swags, which are Australian camping mattresses that sit below your sleeping bags, and then zip up on the sides, keeping dirt, bugs, snakes, and any other unwanted visitors outside of your area. However, one small oversight that night was an unusual amount of mosquitos that had recently hatched due to some rain. As we attempted to sleep under the stars, we were constantly bit, buzzed, and annoyed with unwanted "mossies" swirling around our faces and ears all through the night. When we woke up to brush my teeth, I started to make a disgruntled comment to Horty about telling us how fun it was to sleep outside, when I noticed 3 large red bites on his face, apparently, mosquitos aren't partial to just tourists.
We hurried this morning to wake up, eat breakfast, and pack, as today's drive would be along the Stuart Highway through a town called Port Augusta. Along the highway we would also visit a salt lake, see the Central Australian Railway where the
Ghan operates, and
Wild Roos
They were everywhere then finish up with our arrival at the much heard about opal mining town of Coober Pedy. After an amazing sunrise, some games on the bus, we quickly stopped at Port Augusta for a supermarket purchase of Iced Coffee and chips. Once back on the road, the bus fell back into it's normal state of Horty's Ipod music and sleeping backpackers, with an occasional tune of
"Schnappi Das Kleine Krokodil" and
&mode=related&search=">"Home Among the Gum Trees" complete with mandatory choreography. (Video at top) A few hours into the drive, we stopped at a salt basin called Lake Hart, which is one of the smaller lakes of
Lake Erye. Next to the train tracks and military bombing area, we cautiously wandered out onto the lake basin to feel the hard, white dried up ground. A few more meters out, we walked into the shallow water which felt normal. However, once we stepped out, the water started to evaporate immediately and our feet unveiled a white crusty salt all over. Back on the bus, we were off to Coober Pedy for a tour of an old opal mine and our first nights sleep, underground.
Coober Pedy is the opal capital of the world. Around 80%!o(MISSING)f all the opals in
MMMmm Kangaroo
I wouldn't say it tastes like Chicken. But it does have a gamey taste, similar to Venison. the world come from this town. The name 'Coober Pedy' comes from the local Aboriginal term kupa piti, meaning "white man in a hole". This name coming from the fact that due to the 100+ temperatures in this area of Australia, around 80% of the people live underground to stay cool. These houses, which at one point were also opal mines, are sometimes built as deep as 90 feet. Plots of land were purchsed and owners begun to dig. If they found opals, they continued. Sometimes they would find as much as $250,000 worth of opals from their 25,000 dollar purchased plot of land. Some of the hotels were even below ground, ours being one large cave with side rooms, small kitchen, and large vents to keep air circulating. During our opal mine tour, we went down into a old mine/house and even saw a portion of real opals still inside the mine wall. Not my idea of residential living, but as humans we definitely adapt to our surroundings to live and the 3,500 residents would probably agree with me. That night we had dinner at a local pizza place and drinks afterwards in a underground hotel bar across the
Wild Roo
Ok, we didn't eat this one, but I saw so many Kangaroos, that I can see why people are hunting them. street. After a few drinks, some foosball, and some 80's music videos, we headed back to our cave.
Today was going to be a good day as we started our trip to the great
Uluru. Ayers Rock, or now more commonly referred to as Uluru, is one of Australia's most recognizable natural icons. Some may say it's just a big red rock in the desert, but after you see it, it's much, much more. With 800km to go, we tried passing the time with some dry erase marker Hangman, Australian themed of course. Horty wanted to also make sure we stayed attentive, so the first to see Uluru and jump up and down loudly about it, won his approval and a beer that night. As the kilometers lagged on and people started to fall asleep again, I saw a faint reddish rock in the distance. Feeling a little bit crazy, I stood up, screamed at the top of my lungs, "ULURU, ULURU, OVER THERE!!!! I SEE IT!!!! ARRGHGHGHAHHHHHA!!!!" After a few heart attacks, some insane laughter, and tears of insanity, Horty got on his intercom and saluted my random alertness, but unfortunately he had fooled me, it wasn't Uluru,
Large Burned Gum Tree
Kevin inside a Burnt Gum Tree as we were still 90km away. What I had seen, was another large formation called Mt. Conner, found in 1873 by William Goose shortly after Uluru was found by
Ernest Giles in 1872. As we continued down the road, we saw a thorny devil walking across the road and after a short rest, bogged in the side of the road, we arrived at Yulara for a quick unpacking. We hurried over to Uluru's base, where the climbing portion of Uluru starts. The local indigenous people of the area do not climb Uluru because of its great spiritual significance. Although some visitors still climb it, at least 35 people have died from this very difficult 1 hour hike up very steep rock and very hot conditions. With that in mind, we were advised to walk around Uluru instead and admire it's beauty from below. After a brief hike around a portion of the rock, we headed to the sunset viewing area a few hundred meters out, just in time to see the sun going down. Hundreds of people and tour companies were out, some with food, some with champagne. Although we were a little late in our arrival to get the full effect
Mt. Olhssen Bagge - Flinders Range
Flinders Range and Wilpena Pound. A great 2.9km hike up the hill to a wonderful view. of the rock, we still got a glimpse of Uluru as the sun went down and the sky changed colors along with the rock face. The sky was clear and the colors of Uluru were definitely different from 30 minutes earlier when we were hiking around it. We took a group photo and headed back to camp to make dinner. After an unusual BBQ'd burrito, we looked at the wonderful stars above with Horty's Planisphere sky map. The amount of stars viewable in the desert were amazing, even the milky way stood out like an actual river of stars shooting through the Southern Cross. Now away from mosquitos, 10 of us saddled up in swags for a nights sleep in the open. I put in my Ipod, mentioned the wonderful view of Southern Cross and Orion, and feel asleep within 2 songs.
Waking up 7 hours later at 5:00am, I stared up at the still dark sky and the slightly shifted Southern Cross. After breakfast we were going to hike around Uluru on a 10km walk during sunrise. We packed up our things and headed to the starting point. Some portions of Uluru are non-photographical due to certain gender
Top of Hike
1 hour later, phewwww. Definitely a little tiring. related ceremonies held by the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara indigenous people. As we walked around Uluru, signs posted told us to please not photograph the area, as these photos might and have somehow ended up on the internet or in brochures. If local indigenious people then see these, it would violate their beliefs and rituals. Hopefully the ones I have on here, do not violate that in any ways, as I was pretty careful on what I photographed. After a quick 2 hours, I felt I could have walked it again. The views around the rock were amazing with colors and detail. The sunrise rose over the desert with rays of light silhouetting trees and the bush. While some of Uluru looked very solid, other areas seemed to have holes melted into it. It was an amazing sight and easily the most memorable thing I did on this 6 day trip.
As we met up with the rest of the group, we headed over to the
Olgas, or Kata Tjuta. These multiple rocks mountains, similar to Uluru, and only 55km away. At one angle, it even looked like Homer Simpson laying down. I imagined this hike was going to be very similar to
Lizards
Tons of lizards sun bathing at the top too. Uluru, but I was wrong, as the way these mountains were laid out was a little bit different. We walked between two of the largest peaks, while passing hundreds of large boulders that had fallen out from the sides of the rock face. The rock boulders were made up of smaller rocks, making cube like structures that resembled a rice krispy treat. Through the middle, over a few small bridges, we arrived at the end where a platform had been placed. After a few photos of people holding the two rock faces apart, we headed down to the bus. With a quick stop at the scenic viewing area of Mt. Conner, some really cool red sand dunes, and a stop to gather firewood, we headed off to
Kings Canyon. Once at Kings Creek Station, we headed down a long dirt road, into the bush, and past some solar panels to our cabins. Again, cabins were optional, so a few of us decided to sleep outside in swags again. With firewood unloaded, Kevin and I attempted to start fires for tonights dinner. After my boyscout training, or spiders as they're called in Denmark, came back, our fires were up and roaring. After
Southern Cross - Crux
Another shot of the Southern Cross. I wish I could keep it open longer so you can see the Milky Way and the black hole below it. a nice chicken and vegetable dinner, finishing off the goon, and some stories around the fire, we headed off to our swags. During the night, I woke up a few times to a Dingo Howling and bats chirping. Not that this bothered me, but I did wonder to myself if I was going to be dragged away by a dingo at some point, allowing my mother to say,
dingo ate my baby." Our last day of the 6 day tour, we shuttled off to Kings Canyon. This amazing canyon had it all, heart attack hill, views from above, an amazing waterfall, Garden of Eden, and a Lost City. Horty even fooled us with a story about a Pygmy Koalas, unfortunately I don't have pictures of that. We learned about the flora and fauna. We saw overhangs and infinite mounds of rock. In the end, it was a great hike and a wonderful finish to a memorable trip. Thanks for everything Horty!! As we packed up and headed to our final destination, we started to get sad at the thoughts that it was all ending. We arrived in Alice Springs all too early to only get a photo on the sign and then check
Sarah, Alke, Kevin and I (Joe walking through)
Funny picture at night, Joe tried to jump in last minute into our hostels. We all agreed to meet at a local pub/restaurant called
BoJangles, which had a live video web feed. After a great dinner, a few drinks with our new friends, we finished the night off at a local hostel dance club called Melankas. A night of dancing and drinks went quickly into the night. To finish it all off, another English guy who was on the other Adventure tours bus, Marcus, got up on stage and proceeded to
">Beat box. I have a small video of it, but from this You Tube sample, you get the idea of what it sounded like. It was pretty amazing. Tot: 0.272s; Tpl: 0.02s; cc: 17; qc: 85; dbt: 0.1151s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
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Mike (Crusher)
non-member comment
The Grand Adventure
As always, your latest blog entry is fantastic. What an amazing adventure you are experiencing. The tour sounds perfect. Great sites, good friends and terrific memories. Your great pictures compliment a wonderful story and one certainly feels like they had a chance to experience the sunsets, sunrises, mountains and, ick, even the flies. I wish I could find the videos for this trip as I'm sure they are hilarious. Your stories are better than most travel books, as you provide great details, humor and nuances only related through experience. You should gather these up, package them and make a living at it. You've got talent. Keep having fun. Mike