Into the Outback

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Day 23: Living Next Door to Alice

Following an early flight from Melbourne, I arrived in the sweltering temperatures of Alice Springs, a town and popular backpacker base in the Northern Territories. A short minibus ride later, and I was at the hostel in a residential area a little way out of town. Being ill-equipped for advenutures in the outback, I braved the heat and headed straight into town to buy some essentials for the upcoming three day tour of the desert.

Getting into Alice Springs town centre requires crossing the almost-always-dry Todd River. The river is well-renowned as the site of the only annual boat regatta that has to be cancelled if the river is wet or it has been raining. With Flintstones-type boats used (there's a big hole in the bottom of each boat for competitors feet), participants have to lift the boat around them and then run downstream! On a day-to-day basis, crossing the river doesn't really require the available bridges and you can just walk on straight across (although this isn't really recommended at night, when the area acts as a drinking venue and meeting point, and is renowned for not being very safe)

Alice Springs, described by one of the locals as the 'Wild West of Australia', is certainly different to Melbourne. There's a small Western-style mall and shopping area, where I managed to buy a few outback necessities (shorts, hat, new flipflops), as well as the usual bars, hostels and restaurants. Noteably, there is a definite lack of integration between the whitefellas (as we are known) and the blackfellas (commonly used to refer to the aborigines). Whilst white people walk around town, visiting shops and bars, the aboriginal population by-and-large remain gathered in groups at the side of paths and in parks, with little communication between the two groups. It did feel very representetive of the general transposition of the indigenous people into a Western environment (invariably built on what had originally been aboriginal land), which isn't entirely suited to their way-of-life.

Back at the hostel, I made friends with my dorm buddies for the night, a girl from South Korea and an Irish couple who had just come across from New Zealand and were suffering greatly from the heat. I also met Susan, a German girl staying at the hostel, and we ended up heading back into town for a few drinks. Retrospectively, I don't think it's very normal for women to go out for drinks in local bars in Alice Springs, it certainly wasn't in the bar we went to, a very rough and ready, spit and sawdust kind of place. It only took two pints and some unwanted attention before we realised we were probably better off having drinks back at the hostel, and without any taxis around, it was a brisk walk across the bridge and back home!


Day 24: Uluru

As luck would have it, it turned out that Susan and I had booked with the same company, and so we met again bright and early and waited for our transport to arrive. We were picked up in a 14 seater 4-wheel drive minibus, driven by Mark (our guide). In total, the tour group consisted of four dutch, three germans, three americans, two swiss, one finn and me. Overall, it was a good bunch of people and I got on with most of the group (I am getting more tolerant with age...).

We had been on the road for less than an hour, when we were introduced to 'Willy Willy's'. Nothing to do with the Sexpo the week before, Willy Willy's are mini tornado-type phenomena in which the superheated ground causes air currents to twist up into a mini-whirlwind. Identified as sparse circulating dust and sand rising up several metres from the ground, it's good not to miss them when driving or being driven, since apparently they can take a steering wheel from a drivers hands (...a bit like HGV tyres on the M4). Fortunately, we didn't get to witness the effects of the Willy Willy, but we certainly saw enough of them.

After five hours and a few stops to visit a camel farm and view the scenery, we arrived at Uluru (Ayers Rock). There followed a blissful hour in the heavily air-conditioned cultural centre. As well as cooling off a little, there were videos and visual exhibits relating some of the history of Uluru, the eviction of indigenous people, and information regarding local aboriginal laws and religion. There was also a 'Sorry Book' which contained letters from those who had previously taken a piece of the rock or sand from around the site and were returning it. Since Uluru rock is considered sacred by the aborigines, there is a widely held belief that misfortune will befall anyone who takes a bit of it. This was certainly suggested by some of the letters from travellers around the world who had taken a bit of the Rock home as a souvenir, with stories of illness, death and general bad luck. The largest piece of rock returned to the site apparently weighed 17kg - that's almost as big as my backpack!

Back into the heat again, we made our way over to the Rock itself. Red from iron oxides and with a variety of interesting rock formations over it's surface, Uluru was very impressive. Mark gave us a guided tour around part of the rock, filling us in on aboriginal stories about how the rock was formed and particular ceremonies that would have been conducted at different points. Since the temperature had now hit 40 degrees, the climb up Uluru itself was closed and we were instead given the option of completing the 9km 'base walk' around the rock's circumference, else heading back to the relative cool of the minibus and getting an early tea! Since I wasn't going to be coming back to the outback in a hurry, I went for the former option and armed with my not-so-trendy sunhat and a big bottle of water, made it round the base of the rock with a few others of the group who were also up for the challenge. Despite the temperatures, it was still a great walk (especially when we reached the stretch shaded by Uluru).

Back in the minibus, we drove to our first camping site not far from Uluru. Once there, armed with champagne and nibbles, we climbed to a viewing point to watch the sunset on the horizon. Due to increasing cloud, there were no classic picture postcard views of red hues as the sunlight hit the rock, but it was pleasant nonetheless. In the distance, we could also see the Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), another rock formation and our destination for the following day.

Returning to camp, we all chipped in to help prepare a dinner of pasta and vegetables (and beef for the carnivores), which went down very well with multiple cans of weak lager, icy cold from the 'Esky'. Whilst other tour groups at the site had tents, we had apparently opted for the true outback experience and were sleeping in 'Swags' in a secluded area away from everyone else. Although warm enough, the swags (big canvas sleeping bags) didn't offer much protection from the sandstorm that started that evening and continued throughout the night! It was a difficult compromise between burying your head in the swag and feeling suffocated or having your head out of your bedding thereby getting sand over your face/hair/mouth. Any chance of a good night's rest was further hampered by the excesses of lager earlier in the evening, with night time loo trips requiring one to traipse off into pitch blackness, in the middle of the sandstorm looking for toilets, hoping not to run into snakes/dingos/people! Probably the scariest loo trip I've had to do for a while!


Day 25: Rock On!

There was no hope of getting a lie in. Mark came round and cheerily woke us up at 4:15am. We then had forty minutes to pack up our swags and get into the minibus, with a twenty minute drive to the site where we could watch the sunrise over Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Although hot by day, it was bloody freezing at night and first thing in the morning, and we were all quite unamused as we stood there in a gale force sandstorm in the early hours of the morning shivering and waiting for the sun to come up so that we could defrost a little. Again, there were no impressive light effects on the rock, but it was still quite nice to watch the sun come up over the horizon (particularly since it offered a little much needed warmth).

With the sun well and truly risen, it was time for breakfast back at the minibus. I was most impressed and happy by the abundance of fresh coffee. I also got to try vegemite, which is I should add, nowhere near as nice as marmite, but still very edible. There followed a short drive to Kata Tjuta to start our next hike across the red mountain scenery. Setting off before 7am, it was cooler and therefore much easier than the previous day's trek. With only 7km to cover, the whole group made it round the circuit following mountain pathways. Again, it was a very enjoyable walk, with great views of scenery from the peaks and numerous interesting rock formations on the way.

Back at the bus, it was a good few kilometres across the desert to our site for lunch, where yours truly was in charge of the veggie barbecue (and it was all edible). Next stop was at some salt lakes, large expanses of water covered in a white layer of salt several inches thick. It was quite a bizarre sight in the middle of the red sandy desert. A couple of people chanced a stroll across the lake walking on the salt crust. One made it across without getting wet feet, but another hit a weak spot and ended up getting her leg covered in the rank-smelling mud beneath the salt. Yuck! (Well at least it wasn't me for once). We never did get to the bottom of the camel's leg that was sticking out of the centre of the lake. I'm not sure if it was a real camel under there, or if someone had just stuck the leg in for a laugh. It was a bit gruesome nonetheless.

Our route to our next campsite was via a stop at an overcrowded swimming pool, which even in the hot temperatures, was too packed out with other backpackers for it to be at all tempting. There was also a stop at a waterhole (too muddy for paddling), and then to get to the site itself, some offroad driving across the desert during which we came across a herd of wild camels (yes, they have wild camels here - released into the wild when cars and trains took over as a main form of transport)! Our home for the night was not far from King's Canyon, but felt like the middle of nowhere. This time, there no other groups around and facilities were limited to running water, and a 'dunny' with no door, affording landscape views across the outback. Dinner, again accompanied by plentiful weak beer (will I ever learn), was cooked on the campfire, and very tired (and with less wind through the night), it was a better night's sleep for all in our swags around the fire.


Day 26: Dizzy Height and Murky Pools

As well as a better nights sleep, we also got a lie in and were woken up at 5am with warm fresh bread cooked overnight on the campfire. All packed up, we drove to Watarrka (King's Canyon), arriving by 7am for a walk around the amazing cliffs forming the canyon. Annoyingly my camera battery had well and truly died by the time we started the walk and so I don't have any pictures of the views, but the scenery really was spectacular, with amazing steep rock faces and wavecut platforms. There was also a 'Garden of Eden', a large pool in the top of the mountains where you could swim to the waterfall at the source of the gorge. The majority were put off by the cold murky water, but it was definitely worth doing for the great views down the waterfall (obviously not flowing at the time of our visit due to lack of rainfall). It was only a 6km hike, but with stops to swim and lessons in bushtucker and geology, it took a good few hours. One of the highlights has to have been walking around some of the areas where Priscilla Queen of the Desert was filmed (what a great film)!

After an early lunch, it was a five hour trip back to Alice Springs. We had to stop en route to part with four of the group who had booked to go on the five day tour and were therefore continuing their trip. Although it was really great to get back for a hot shower, I'd had such a great time, I really wished I'd booked for the longer tour.

Returning back to the hostel at Alice Springs, it was a bit of a surprise to find the Irish couple still there and still not appreciating the weather! They had booked a one day trip to Uluru for the following day, but otherwise had just spent the last few days at the hostel sheltering from the baking heat and trying to acclimatise!

After a quick shower, I met up with the others from the group to go for a meal and drinks at a local bar 'Bojangles'. This bar was much less rough around the edges than the previous bar I'd been to in Alice Springs and catered much more for tourists. After a good feed, we had a few drinks, including some proper strength beer, tequila and sambuca (a delightful combination). It was only after buying the shots, that we found out that 'downing' drinks was banned in the northern territories to try to reduce binge drinking. There therefore followed the rather difficult task of sipping our way through shot glasses of drinks to avoid being thrown out. Yum! With most of the tour group leaving fairly early, it was me and the German girls left in the packed-out bar to enjoy the rest of the night until the early hours (with a guest appearance from a man with his pet python. It would appear that although you can't down drinks, you are still more than welcome to come to the bar with your pet snake....who makes these rules?!)

In sensible mode, I got a taxi back to the hostel. Although I hadn't actually met my fourth dorm buddy, I soon heard him, a champion snorer occupying the bunk below me. Fortunately, a combination of extreme tiredness and alcohol meant that I got off to sleep fairly quickly and didn't wake up for a good few hours!

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