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Published: February 24th 2009
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Flies. So with Sydney finished we were off to be Backpackers again, well flashpackers really. We had no problems with our flights and ended up in Darwin the following day. Flies. The HEAT!! It was nothing like we've felt before, getting up to over 40 degrees, like we have had some really hot days in Sydney, but the humidity was a killer! Darwin is tiny , with very little to do, which was good, flies, because we had to be up half five the fillowing day for our 2 days, 1 night camp out in Kakadu National Park.. We had a boring crew with us for tgis part if the trip, and the tour guide was a bit of a tool, so there wasn't much laughs on the bus, but we made our own fun. We did get to see lots of Aboriginal art work painted on cave walls from thoysands of years ago, which was pretty cool! And we got to see wild crocs and some amazing scenery, so all in all we had lots of fun, just not with anyone else on the trip!!
Our following trip had us up at 5am! Flies! This time it was on
a 3 day, 2 night trip to Alice Springs. We had much more fun on this tour (even though the guide tried to tell it was going to be the worst part because of all the driving)! We learned some real interesting stuff about the outback and the aboriginal culture, but more importantly, we saw the buffalo from Crocodile Dundee 2 ( stuffed in a pub ). ( just so were clear, I don't mean it was a really small pub with a huge buffalo packed inside, I mean like taxidermy)In total over the three days we'd be traveling a total of 1500klm; a long drive from Darwin to Alice Springs, in the baking heat, especially at the point the bus overheated which meant no air con!Flies.But along that drive we stopped off a few times , once for a 6klm walk through a valley and up to the top of Katerine Gorge! It was really amazing up there, but the icing on the cake had to be swimming in a beautiful pool by a water fall!
Another stop along the way was a pub called Daly Waters. A crazy little place in the middle of nowhere (the pub
Flies!!
Up close and personal! was the whole town), which has the funky little tradition of getting anyone who visits , flies, to leave something/anything to prove they were there! The place has Everything!! Things like country flags , flip flops , old coins and even the bar is covered in knickers and bras! Dave nailed his blood donor card to the bar , and Sarah found the plane ticket stub of our trip here to stick up! The other main highlight of this part of the trip is getting to see The Devils Marbels, which are pretty cool, especially the broken ones or ones that look dangerously perched ontop of another!
If you haven't realize by now, the flies are everywhere! It's like a trocaire ad! We ended up having to buy fly nets to wear the whole time, which can sometimes make the problem worse, of they manage to get inside and then can't get back out! Dave is partial to a bit if fly smushing with his eyelid, it's disgusting!
So finally we arrived in Alice Springs, but still no time to really rest, as for the final part of the trip were up at half four ( are you
noticing the trend )! This part involves travelling to Ayers rock, or Uluru to us more sensitive to the Aboes, Kings Canyon and the Olgas! First stop was Kings Canyon and there was another 6klm hike in store, our third at this stage! We were with a new group and a new guide at this stage, a much smaller group, with only 11 passengers, mostly in couples! The guide seemed like a bit of a douche, but we were excited to get into the gorge so we mustered on! "Bring plenty of water" our tour guide told us, so we did, but we had half of all of ours gone a 10th of the way into the walk! What the tour guide neglected to mention until we were at the top of Kings Canyon, that it was well over 50 degrees up there! What the hell were we doing a walk that even the guide books call 'a challange on a cloudy day' for we hear you ask...ask the douche!
Well we survived the walk (just about) and headed off for Ayers Rock for sunset, it was a good 300klm away but we were all eager to see it
so he put the foot down and off we went. All was going well, we were about 15 mins from cam (where there was a great lookout to the rock) and the sun was just getting low in the sky, we were gonna make it!! Until the car rolled to a stop and the guide announces he forgot to refuel and we're out of gas....say it with me now people... DOUCHE!! Luckily we were close to camp so another guide came up to us with some, and where we had rolled to a stop also had a perfect view of sunset over the Olgas, so our guide lived to tell another tale! That night we slept under the stars at camp, something Dave had been dying to do for ages, and that nobody ever thought Sarah would do, but as we were so far into the outback the sky was brighter then we've ever seen and the opportunity was impossible to pass up!
Next morning was another very early start, but with good reason; we were going to the Rock for sunrise! It was amazing, when the sin comes up it hits the Rock and creates some amazing colours!
The pics don't do it a bit of justice, but hopefully you enjoy them! Afterwards was time fir another walk, 7klm this time, but thankfully it was on flat land around the base of the Rock! Truely walked, and rocked out of it there was just enough time to check out the Olgas up close and then it was time to head back to Alice Springs for the night! Tomorrow (Daves birthday) we head to Adeliade for a few days to see Kangaroo Island, so check back soon!!
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