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Having waved off our second set of visitors it was only a couple of days before we flew out on a holiday ourselves. It was an early start on the Saturday for our flight to Alice Springs (via Adelaide on the way as it saved us a few dollars!). We arrived and the courtesy minibus dropped us at the very relaxed Alice Lodge hostel - chilled out music, hammocks, blue skies...I could have stayed forever! We were, however, already booked on a 3 day (2 night) tour to Kings Canyon, Uluru (Ayres Rock) and The Olgas so lounging about in a hammock for the whole week wasn't on the agenda!
An impossibly bubbly tour guide picked us up from the hostel at 5:40 on Monday morning and set about driving us (and a minibus full of fellow travellers) the 300+ miles to Kings Canyon. We were suprised to see the amount of vegetation in the desert - later we were informed that this part of central Australia isn't actually a desert but a 'semi-arid zone'...la-de-da! The group was an international mixture with representatives from Canada, England, Ireland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany and a token Aussie! It was great
fun, Kings Canyon was spectacular (see pics!) and by the time we had climbed up then walked around the top (via the water hole known as the Garden of Eden) there was just enough time to be served tea and cake before heading off to set up camp a good drive down the road (via an isolated bottle shop and a stop to collect firewood in the bush).
The very impressive/hyperactive guide cooked up a delicious meal of camel meat bolognese, after which we stayed up for a while chatting around the campfire. We had ‘swags’ to sleep in - like big outer sleeping bags which your sleeping bag goes inside…complete with built in matresses. Anyway, it was just a matter of rolling them out and climbing in before sleeping under the stars. I wish I had followed this advice rather than staying up far too late drinking red wine and chatting…I regretted it when we had the pre-dawn wake up call!
The next morning was our first chance to see Uluru - with an impressive sunrise behind it - before heading off to the Olgas. The walking here was great and the landscape even more breathtaking than
Uluru itself. After a couple of hours walking we jumped back in the van for a trip back to Uluru where we ate before completing part of the base walk. There were lots of interesting sites with great importance to the aboriginals - some related to childbirth, some to the initiation process of becoming a man and some to ceremonies with other tribes. For many of the rock features there were also creation (‘dreamtime’) stories about how they were formed though apparently many of these stories are kept by the communities as closely guarded secrets. We are considered as ‘children’ to the aboriginals as we haven’t been through initiations to become men or women. Since initiations seem to include very long walks, lots of patience and being able to go through intense physical pain (e.g being whipped / having your front teeth knocked out) without wincing…I think I’ll go without the stories thanks!
The day finished with another meal as we watched the sun set at Uluru…it would have lit the rock up beatifully if the clouds hadn’t rolled in! We couldn’t complain though - the clouds meant for another mild night.
The final day of the tour
started with a surprise opportunity to climb the rock (it had previously been closed due to a breath of wind). We took our chance and enjoyed clambering up the steep slope (with the aid of a handy rail). I won’t bore you with the arguments for/against climbing the rock but suffice to say we had considered them carefully before opting to go for it. There were amazing views across the ‘semi-arid zone’ from the windy top and it was well worth the initially steep climb. Having returned to the base, eaten breakfast and taken in the cultural centre it was time for the long trip back to our hostel in Alice. Having freshened up we then went back out to meet the group for goodbye drinks…which continued unitl late!
After a rest day we went on another tour - to the West Macdonell ranges. Just a day trip this time and we were kept amused by a very chatty guide who seemd to think his role was to fill any silences. The scenery was stunning and we packed lots of stops…though we were gald we weren’t booked into the day tour to Uluru the next day with the same
Alice Lodge - day 2
The first sighting of a cloud! guide…I’m not sure either of us could have coped with 10+ hours on the minibus with his constant commentary!...For balance I should say that about half of the stuff he said was very intersesting and informative!
We returned to Melbourne on Saturday and were pleased to find the car where we left it. Back to work now - got to earn some money to spend on the big road trip in a couple of months. (I've just read the entry John has written and I largely concur however he has failed to mention that it was only really back to work for me as he's been enjoying a second week of school hols - still at least my dinner has been on the table and I didn't have to wash all the red dust from all our belongings).
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hag
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steep climb
We thoought we had a hard time going up Glastonbury Tor, but we didn't have a chain! Lovely pictures, thanks.