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Published: November 28th 2006
It’s going to be difficult but I'm going to try to summarize the past six days into one entry so bear with me. My trip from Alice Springs to Adelaide was a whirlwind experience but well worth it because I now feel as though I have completed my Australian adventure. There are so many people who visit this country and spend all their time on the east coast for a tropical holiday. Australia is like Canada; seeing the east coast would be like coming to Ontario and saying you've seen Canada which just isn't the case.
We started our journey at 5am and the temperature was already in the mid 30's. Our guide, Boom, introduced himself and then we each took turns with the microphone sharing our names, nationality, shoe size, favorite color, famous person we would like to meet, first kiss and last kiss. Following introductions we quickly learned that Boom had a knack for playing appropriate music at just the right time. As we pulled out of the parking lot he raised his fist into the air and yelled "off to the rock" just as the theme to Indiana Jones began to play.
Our first stop was
Kings Canyon where we did a 2km hike around and up 100m high rock walls and along a rocky dry creek bed through the canyon. It was here that we really got a taste for what we were in for over the next few days. The thermometer showed 45C in the shade which meant it was anywhere from 55-60C in the sun. For those of you at home who like to complain about the snow, stop right now and be thankful we don't get weather like this in Canada. In the outback you are told to drink at least 1 liter of water every hour. The only problem with this is that after 2 days you are so sick of water you never want to see or taste it again, especially since the water you are drinking is always hot, not luke warm, HOT! Even the water coming out of the cold water tap is hot, no cold showers allowed. Yesterday I put my finger in water coming out of a water fountain to test the temperature for my water bottle. If I held it there for more than 5 seconds it started to burn my hand. Needless to say
I have never spent so much money on Powerade and Gatorade in my life. The outback makes a killing on this stuff by selling it for $3-4 per bottle. It was also hot enough that there was little hope of seeing any other signs of life, the only ones that are stupid and stubborn enough to be out in that heat are humans and even we were scarce. Anyways, the heat quickly became part of the adventure and something to say we survived.
After Kings Canyon we were on yet another drive through the outback to Ayers Rock. I was really surprised at the amount of vegetation, not much really but a lot considering it rains maybe five times a year and has gone as long as 18 months without rain. Some trees (which are really more like bushes) have roots that descend 20 meters into the earth for water.
We arrived just in time to join a tour of middle aged adults, who enlightened us with their singing abilities, as we watched the sun set on the rock. My first impression of Ayers Rock was that although it is extremely impressive, it is also obvious that it's
a major tourist destination and money maker. This is unfortunate considering it's such a spiritual place and sacred to Australia's aboriginals. I suppose it's difficult to keep such a monstrous and colorful rock that rises out of sandy scrubland a secret. It seems to me that the aboriginals have, to a certain extent, sacrificed the rock (Uluru) so that tourism concentrates on it instead of the equally impressive Olgas (Kata Tjuta) next door.
That night we slept in swags (canvas sleeping bags with a built in mattress) under the spectacular stars and rose early to watch the sun rise on the rock. Sunrise is meant to be a huge event for everyone visiting the rock because the color changes with the rising of the sun. Unfortunately our guide decided to take us to the side of the rock where the sun rises behind the rock to avoid the crowds; I was a little disappointed I missed the color changes.
After sunrise we drove to the Olgas and did a 7.5km hike and then returned to Ayers once again in the afternoon. Our guide was very good at stopping throughout every hike to tell us an aboriginal story relating
to the area (such as an ancient birthing cave) or pointing out various plants with special smells (i.e. chocolate!) or uses. We walked half of the 10km base walk around Ayers and observed various aboriginal paintings. There is one part where you can climb the rock (my parents did it 30 years ago before it was regulated) but it is discouraged and closed 270 days a year due to temperatures above 36C. It's extremely steep and around 50 people have died climbing it. Personally I don't see the need to climb it. It's a beautiful rock to look at from the base and there's no need to climb it just to say you did. There are also many places around the rock where you aren't allowed to take any pictures because they are sacred cultural places. If you are caught doing so you will be fined anywhere from one to five thousand dollars and your film will be taken out of your camera or pictures deleted. There is a very strict list of fines within the park, including jail time up to 7 years for challenging a ranger.
That night we visited a different spot to watch the sunset
only to find that the rest of the world was there too! Up until then we hadn't seen a whole lot of people, probably due to the heat, but now there were coaches and tours everywhere. Right beside us there was an Asian tour group sipping champagne and snacks while we gulped sparkling wine from our plastic camping glasses and fought for crackers out of a box. Regardless of the fancy tours we were definitely having the most fun. This was clear as we made a loud exit with the windows open, music and horn blaring and every one of us standing on the seats and hanging out the windows dancing and singing.
After one last night sleeping under the stars we were up again at 5am to start our 700km drive through the outback to Coober Pedy. This drive was more boring than I could ever have imagined. There is literally NOTHING in the outback; no trees, no signs, not even a hill. We played a few games and I relieved some boredom by getting on the radio to talk to a few road train (transports with 3 tanks) drivers passing by. We were also amused by random
stops so our guide could drag road kill to the side of the road (kangaroos and massive birds called wedgies). Finally we started to see big piles of dirt and they weren't from massive gophers, we were nearing Coober Pedy the opal mining capital of the world.
Coober Pedy was voted the second ugliest town in Australia but I found it fascinating and full of character. It is literally a town made of piles of dirt because most people live underground. Even the churches, motels, and pubs are underground because it's so hot. These structures are basically dug into the side of a hill and down into the rock and have air pipes sticking up through the dirt pile. The average temperature inside them is a relieving 20-25C year round with no heating or cooling systems. People use their homes as personal opal mines so they are on constant expansion as they dig for their fortune. We were told that people often miscalculate and dig into their neighbors house. This is also probably the only town where you can buy dynamite at the local grocery store. In the past, instead of having Sunday family BBQ's they would sit around
A road train
They used to have 4 trailers but new regulations say they can only have 3. Once they get into the city they have to remove one.the table assembling explosives. There have also been various incidents where the police station, post office and the local roundabout have been blown up by angry citizens. After a tour of an opal mine and a visit to the underground bar (full of dirty old and young men) we retreated to our underground accommodation.
The next few days were basically spent filling time as we drove towards Adelaide. The scenery changed as we drove into a region with many salt lakes that looked so much like frozen lakes at home I had a sudden urge to go ice fishing. We reached Flinders Ranges (mountains!), took some hikes and slept at a sheep station (other life forms!). The next day we drove on some 4WD roads forbidden by the bus company due to the 2WD bus and our luggage trailer broke. After a makeshift repair we continued on to Parachilna a town with a population of 5, no joke. That night we had a traditional Aussie meal with each of the animals we had now seen in the wild; emu burgers, camel sausages and kangaroo steaks. The excitement in this town was to spend a night in the pub and
wait up to watch as the longest train (2km) to be pulled by a single front engine passed.
On our sixth and final day of the tour we went for a hike in a place called Alligator Gorge and then ate lunch while battling an insane amount of flies. Luckily these flies don't bit but they do like to land on your face and crawl into your eyes, nose and mouth (crunch!). Apparently what they do is land on you, spit up digestive juices and then licks it up along with protein from your face. Yummy! By this stage everyone was sick of the heat, lack of personal time and just ready to get back to civilization. Adelaide was welcomed with open arms.
Today I spend the day touring Adelaide (including a chocolate factory) with people from my tour and tonight we're getting together one more time before I leave on a tour of the Great Ocean Road ending 3 days from now in Melbourne.
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Steph
non-member comment
Mmm... crunchy flies.
Hi Heather! When you were talking about the long boring nothing-to-see-here-folks drive, all I could think of was Nevada. The scenery looks so much like it, it's crazy! Great pics of you!, and Coober Pedy looks like a crazy place. I love the dynamite story haha. Looking forward to hearing about Great Ocean Road (I'm a little obsessed with it). xoxo love you TONS! Steph PS - Boom is such a great nickname. You better come back with a good one too! :)