Northern Territory Road Trip: Darwin to Alice Springs and Uluru.

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I was picked up outside my hostel at 7am in Darwin which would be my last lie in for a while. There was a mix of nationalities on our bus, Japanese, Australian, Russian, Dutch, Korean, Indonesian, French and also a Welsh couple. (Yay!) Our driver/guide, 23 year old Ross, explained to us that as there was going to be a total distance of 1,500 kms (nearly 950 miles) to cover in the two days down to Alice Springs and so to make it more interesting and fun for us all we were to play games and competitions. Of course, everyone's ears pricked up when he mentioned alcohol as the prize when we arrived in Alice. We set about putting ourselves into teams and chose names, mottos and theme tunes. I went into a group with two great Dutch girls, Elise and Maaike who were friends travelling together and who I'd sparked up a friendship with straight away. We had to do things like work out riddles (not my forte), ask riddles (not really my forte) and shout out when we saw an abandoned car on the roadside etc (also not really my forte...the Dutch girls must have been delighted that they chose me to be in their team eh!)



We stopped off at a spot on the Adelaide River called Edith Falls where we could have a swim by some waterfalls. We were assured they were monitored for crocodiles regularly so we all had a dip in the cool water there and got to know each other a bit better. After more driving and a lunch stop, we arrived at Katherine Gorge where we climbed in the heat up to the viewing platform to see the gorge from above. (It was so hot at this point that you couldn't touch the metal handrail that they had in parts as it scorched your hand.) It was a fantastic view, we all admired it as we spluttered, coughed and panted at the top and took a multitude of photos while we were there. Back down and back in the bus, we were told by Ross that if we were quick enough we could possibly make it to another swimming spot at some thermal pools in Mataranka called Bitter Springs. We all liked this idea and were happy to have a particularly quick toilet stop so we could have another dip before the day was out. We had a great time swimming and floating with the current along the river, laughing and joking and trying our best not to collide with tree trunks and the green floating moss at the edges of the water. The water was warm and we had time to dry off a bit as we walked back to the bus, ready for our last leg of the day's journey. By sundown, we arrived in Daly Waters; population 8 (and that includes the two backpackers working in the one and only pub there.) The pub/restaurant and campsite were all in one and was really quirky with a flip flop (sorry: thong as the Aussies say) memorial type area, car number plates and T-shirts stapled all over the walls in the bar. We had been asking Ross a few times by this point about the time we were to be up and in the bus in the morning, knowing it would be early as we still had a lot of ground to cover to get us to Alice Springs. He wouldn't answer, telling us we needed to have an alcoholic beverage before he revealed the unearthly time we needed to be awake. This prompted some of us to make bet on what that time would be...no-one won as nobody thought we'd have to be up, packed and on the bus by 4:45am. This meant my alarm was going off at just gone 4am and it would pretty much be that way for the rest of the week. I can't tell you what Daly Waters looks like as we arrived and left in pitch darkness...athe up was good though! The sun doesn't rise until at least 6am and so we all had a couple of hours sleep in the dark on the bus while Ross drove with his headphones blasting music to keep him awake. It was during this portion of the journey that I had a dream that he slammed on the breaks to avoid a kangaroo (there are so many jumping across the road at dawn and dusk) and I got my big toe stuck in the seat in front of me and had it ripped off as I was thrown to the other side of the bus...and I hadn't eaten cheese the night before!



We travelled on and after lunch we stopped at Devil's Marbles located in the desert. It's Aboriginal name is Karlu Karlu and they are 393 kms (244 miles) north of Alice. The Devils Marbles are large granitic boulders that form the exposed top layer of an extensive and mostly underground granite formation. The natural processes of weathering and erosion have created the various shapes of the boulders. Some of the boulders are naturally but precariously balanced atop one another or on larger rock formations, while others have been split cleanly down the middle by natural forces. The boulders are situated in a wide and shallow desert valley, and are found in scattered groups mainly in the western side of the reserve. Apparently they are named so as when John Ross, on the Australian Overland Telegraph Line expedition in 1870 saw the huge boulders he said "This is the Devil’s country; he’s even emptied his bag of marbles around the place!"

They are one of the most visited sites in the Australian outback and we had loads of fun climbing the giant marbles and messing about taking photos in various poses and positions in the baking heat before moving on to our destination in Alice Springs. On the way, Ross told us about the famous flying doctor service in Australia which was operated by QANTAS back in the day. He has used the service himself as his mother had to be taken by plane to Port Headland to the main hospital there when she was in labour with Ross. He couldn't wait and made an appearance in mid-air over Western Australia. Quite a story eh! We also stopped off at the spot that marks the Tropic of Capricorn and had a group photo taken there, seemed like the thing to do. 😊



We eventually arrived in Alice Springs on the second night of our tour and most of us decided to go out for food and drinks together that night as most of us would be splitting up at this point and going our separate ways. I'd made particular friends with the two Dutch girls who were on my bus team (oh and incidentally, we lost...it was a narrow defeat though) and with Laura and Andrew the Welsh couple and I was really pleased that they were all on the same tour with me for the next leg which would take us to Uluru.



We were up again, early in the morning and before the sun and met our new guides Nick and Jen who I still maintain were two of the most Aussie Aussies I've ever met. Jen was a trainee and we were her last supervised group before she heads her own tours. You could tell this straight away as her enthusiasm was overwhelming at times but she was super nice in all fairness and knew her stuff. We were bundled on a new bus that was like an arctic lorry. The back of the bus that we, the passengers were in was sectioned off from the driver's section save for what I called the serving hatch where we could communicate to those in the front. It had a ladder going up the back and a storage container for our luggage. It was 4x4 of course, as it would need to be in the outback but was comfortable enough. We were joined on our trip here by Dave and Lisa, a lovely English couple and also a nice French couple who had little English unfortunately. (And my French is pretty shocking to say the least. I couldn't have a conversation about what I would like to buy and where the train station is for a few days so I didn't really get to know them all that well.)

We drove out of Alice Springs for around 5 hours with toilet stops as Uluru is a good 450 kms from Alice itself. I had to stop myself from shouting out 'car' when I saw an abandoned car on the side of the road as that competition had now ended but was unfortunately still imbedded in my brain! After our first comfort stop, we switched drivers from Nick to Jen and to say the change over was noticeable is a bit of an understatement. She couldn't find the gears or something and kept asking what gear she was in. Then she would change from something like 5th to 1st as we came to a junction so we bounced along the track at some points. We were just glad there were not many junctions and turn offs as it's mainly one road to the National Park. After a tasty BBQ lunch prepared for us by an Young English backpacker who was working with the tour company, we arrived safely at the park and started a trek through The Olgas.

Kata Tjuta also known as Mount Olga (or colloquially as The Olgas), are a group of large domed rock formations near Uluru and together they form the two major landmarks within the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. There are 36 domes and you can trek through these as we did for a few hours. We managed to actually see two kangaroos hopping up the side of the really steep rock, something we were assured was quite unusual so we felt lucky to have witnessed this ourselves.



Our next stop was at the viewing area to see the sunset over Uluru (or Ayers Rock as it is also known). Some facts about Uluru: it is 348 metres (1141 feet) high. It is 3.6km (2.2 miles) long and 1.9km (1.2miles) wide and extends for several km/miles underground, although we are not exactly sure how far. Uluru was named Ayers Rock by William Goose in 1873 after Sir Henry Ayers as he was trying to win the hand of Sir Henry's daughter and thought this would please her father. (By the time he returned to England however, she had married another man.)



We were treated to glasses of champagne and nibbles as we enjoyed the changing colours of the rock and as I roped yet another friend into filming the next instalment of The Cup Song video for me in front of the famous rock. Another tasty meal cooked for us back at camp and a chat around the campfire and it was time to turn in again for the night. It was another gravely early start the next day as we needed to be at the base of Uluru ready for sunrise. It was windy and really cold as we started the 10km walk around the base. The colours of the rock seemed different again in the morning and changed almost every 5 minutes or so. There are particular points around the rock where you can't take photos as it's of special significance to the Aboriginals and sometimes it's where they have ceremonies too so us white folk have to respect that and not take pictures there.





After our walk around the base of the rock, we had a fascinating talk by a local Aboriginal man who told us about some of the rituals, teachings sand stories of his people. It was at the tail end of this talk that I noticed I could only see out of one eye, which for me is a trigger to tell me a migraine is coming on. If I take tablets and catch it early enough I can avoid the migraine and just have a dull headache so I was given some painkillers and allowed to have a sleep at the back of the bus when the others went into the visitor centre. I woke up later due to the fact Jen was driving again and I nearly fell off the back seat. I sat up to realise that everyone had got off the bus at the campsite and I was now being taken to a petrol station so the bus could be re-fuelled. Jen only noticed me as she was putting the pump back and I was waving to her from inside the bus. I scared the bejesus out of her. She jumped on the bus and apologised profusely that she had kidnapped me. I wasn't too concerned; my head felt a hell of a lot better and I was looking forward to my lunch. When Jen got me back to camp the others were confused as to where I had been. They got off the bus for lunch and only realised I hadn't when the bus had pulled away. No harm done though, I enjoyed my camel burger and salad and was fighting fit by then.



We were taken to the main area of the camp where the facilities were that afternoon. There was a swimming pool, a bar, shop and restaurant. We all sat outside with the wind and the files having a drink and a good old chat. (I've NEVER seen so many flies as in the Northern Territory. They crawl all over you and like the moist parts of a human such as your ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Nice.) We had all discussed Jen's style of driving and were all hysterical as the bus then turned up to pick us up and hit a wooden bollard on the side of the road as it was parked. Nick only realised what we were laughing at as he watched me take a photo of the bollard split in two for prosperity. When we were all on the bus he told us he was wondering what we found so funny and then realised that he'd knocked down the bollard. HE had... this meant only one thing: neither of them could drive very well! We then went to our new campsite for our evening meal. We sat around the fire (I LOVE a good fire!) roasting marshmallows and watching the flames turn green and blue because of the special powder Laura had bought and put in the fire. Some of us opted to sleep outside that night instead of inside the house tents, sleeping in 'swags' which are really comfortable heavy duty sleeping bag type things with sponge on the underneath so the stones on the ground can't be felt. You then put your traditional sleeping bag inside and away you go. It was fantastic to sleep out under the stars as you could see so much of the Milky Way because there's not much light pollution there. I didn't think about the snakes and spiders that live in Australia (actually nobody has died from a spider bite in Australia since 1979) and just enjoyed laying by the fire, nice and cosy and drifted off to sleep as I gazed up at the star-lit sky.



I awoke early again the next morning in my swag to find that the others had been freezing during the night whereas I'd been pretty warm (as I usually am when I sleep) and I'd not actually zipped up my sleeping bag or swag as I knew I'd be too hot. They all found this funny as I was often forgetting to take my fleece off until well past midday but am really hot during the night...my body thermostat is broken I kept telling them. We were up before sunrise again as we were to visit King's Canyon, and start to climb to the top of the gorge as sun rises so it's not too hot. King's Canyon is Australia's answer to The Grand Canyon, it's walls are over 100 metres high with King's Creek at the bottom. You climb up to the top via what we were told is called 'Heart attack Hill' because it's steep, difficult to climb and a fair few people have had hear attacks after climbing it. It wasn't that bad if you ask me, I didn't need my asthma pump at all and got to the top in good time. Once at the top, you have a great view of the surrounding area as well as the creek itself at points. We walked/trekked along the ridge, looking down, deep into the canyon where we could. There is a route to follow as some parts are off limits because of spiritual significance to the Aboriginals but you get to see a lot. An English girl had fallen into the canyon and died two months previous. Apparently she was advised to drop down onto a small ledge off the ridge to get a photo as if she is hanging onto the canyon wall fir dear life, slipped, fell and lost her life a few hours later when she'd been air lifted to hospital. Poor girl, but if you see where she put herself just for a photo (and I say this as an avid armature photographer), it does beggars belief. Needless to say, none of us tried to capture that shot, being satisfied with the photos of us all on the ridge as oppose to hanging if it, or worse. We also went down to the water hole known as the Garden of Eden and enjoyed a cereal bar each as we were treated to the sound of Aussie teenagers giggle, shout and generally be loud as hell. The walk then takes you in a loop and back to the starting point a few hours later. It was a nice morning activity and we were more than ready for our last lunch in camp after that.



After lunch, we began our journey back to Alice Springs, stopping off at an Aboriginal art gallery on the way. And we also stopped to see a snake and a wild dingo on the side of the road. I say stop; we weren't meant to stop for so long but the driving wizards we had as our guides got our bus stuck in the sand and it took 20 minutes, some digging and the loss of all the air in our tyres to get out of the ditch and get going again. No harm done though and we reached our accommodation in Alice just as the sun went down. Maaike, Elise, Laura, Andy and I had decided to meet up again that night to have food together in town. We did and it was really quiet....really quiet...we were the ONLY people in the bar we had food in. We were all tired enough though and needed to be ready for our flights the next day anyway so an early night was probably a good idea. Alice Springs isn't that big anyway, it has a population of just over 28,500 but it still makes up 12.2% of the Northern Territory, which goes to show how sparsely populated the State is. So, I had done one of the things I had promised myself I would be back to do 7 years ago: I had seen the sunset over Uluru. I had a great trip, a tiring one but a trip full of laughs, fantastic sights and I made some great friends too.

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