Where to begin... I decided to bring a journal with me, so that I would hopefully not forget anything, but I am sure that what I say here won't do this amazing trip any justice.
Kamron and I took a trip to the Outback (which is central Australia - all desert - I didn't know this haha) with two of his friends from Austria, Harry and Josef. We left for our flight to Alice Springs early Monday morning. We took a cab to a pretty cheap hostel, while our cab driver warned us about the natives in central Australia. The aborigines form gangs, and so it is not safe to be out at night unless you are in a large group.
After settling in to our hostel, we arranged for our pick up to begin our tour of the Outback - 6:10am Tuesday morning, off to an early start. We then made our way to the city, composing two streets haha. For lunch I had a kangaroo burger! YUM! It was tasty! It takes just like stake. Then we began our search for a cheap, but decent, pub. We found a western looking pub that was called Bojangles. Funny, huh?! Unfortunately we didn't stay there. It was far to expensive. After finding a decent pub (right next door, we didn't have to travel far), we started our rounds. After about six pitchers, I lost count. I never thought I would be a beer drinker, but it is soooo much cheaper! By the time it was starting to get dark, dinner was among us, so we were starting to get hungry. We ordered chicken schnitzel (which is kind of like fried chicken, but nothing like the south). Of course we had some more rounds with dinner, and I got a chance to play at the slot machines. We didn't win anything, which is a shame. We decided on our way back to the hostel that we should invest in some cases of beer, because it was probably going to be ridiculously expensive on the tour. Against the warnings, we ventured for some cases of beer and wandered back to the hostel had a couple of more beers and headed to bed by 11pm - definitely early for us!
Time to get up came way to early! Luckily we showered before bed, and we didn't have much to get together. The bus was packed and the roads were too rough to sleep. It was about a two and half hour drive to Ayers Rock where we were camping for the night. We made two stops along the way. The first stop was at a camel farm where I got to pet a dingo, and I saw my first kangaroo! Our second stop was at the geographical center of Australia, kind of cool! Then we made a quick stop for firewood. Of course, we had to pull the beers out along the way. Between our first and second stop (8:15ish am), we pulled out our first round at the back of the bus. Vollgas - which translates to "all the way" in German - also known as "go big or go home!" Nothing like being the bad kids, sitting at the back of the bus drinking beer. We arrived at the campsite in time for lunch and then headed to Kata Tjuta for a short hike. Next we went to see the sunset on Uluru (which gave us another excuse for a beer). When you watch the sunset on Uluru, the rocks seem to change color, and the sky changes color beautifully. We got some great pictures of both Kata Tjuta and the sunset at Uluru (and of the rest of the trip), but I probably won't be able to post them on the shutterfly website until I am back state side (which will be a few days from now).
Anyways, after the sunset, we made our way back to camp for dinner. We had kangaroo steaks and camel sausage. The camel sausage was shockingly delicious. They don't taste that much different from pork sausage. After cleaning up we sat around the campfire for awhile, attempting to keep warm. If you are unfamiliar with the weather here in Australia, more particularly central Australia, I will fill you in. The days are wonderful, perfect for hiking. The sun is shinning constantly! Now the evenings are freezing! In central Australia the nights can get below freezing during winter. We were camping outside on our tour with no tents. Just a swag and a sleeping bag. Kamron and I shared a swag, managing to squeeze two sleeping bags inside. The stars were stunning, the weather not so much. Before bed we were also given the chance to play the didgeridoo, which is a long tube looking instrument particular to the aborigines. I wasn't all that successful in playing it (but I made noise haha). Kamron was able to get a few notes out :)
On Wednesday, we woke up before the sun and travelled to see the sunrise against Uluru. Similarly to the sunset, the colors were awesome. In an attempt to keep from getting dehydrated (from drinking beverages other than water...), Kamron and I made sure we had a number of water bottles before we started our hike for the day. We hiked up Uluru after the sunrise. We had the option to do a walk around the base or climb up it. Naturally I was gung-ho, until I learned about the hike. The aborigines ask each tour to ask the tourists not to climb. Thirty-five people have died climbing Uluru, and the aborigines feel like it is their duty to keep people safe on their land. Did I decide to hike up Uluru... well, yeah. Despite all of the warnings, a small group of us from the tour (including but not limited to Kamron, Harry, Josef, an Australian named Michael, and myself). The only thing to get you up the side of this mountain was a chain. There were no steps. Being the goober I am, I didn't pack my hiking boots, so I wore tennis shoes. No worries, I made it alive!! YAY! It was totally worth it! I was a bit worried of how I was going to get down, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, and the view from the top was phenominal. Nothing beats it. When we got to the top of the chain, there is a bit more of a path, but it is only marked by a white dotted line. After we got to the end of the trail (to the sacred part of the mountain for the aborigines) Kamron and Harry decided to venture to see the stone people!
After successfully making it down Uluru (and taking a number of pictures), the entire tour group did a short section of the base together. It was called the Mala walk. There are a number of sacred places along the walk where only the aborigines are allowed to go, and we were not allowed to take pictures.
After the walk we had lunch and made our way towards our next campsite, which was right outside Kings Canyon. Our tour guide offered to drop us off at a pub right before we made it to the site, because we didn't have anything planned for when we got to camp. Of course our posy took him up on the offer! We had a few pitchers of beer, and that was all she wrote. By the time he came back to pick us up, we all had had a bit to drink. Dinner was delicious, which could have been because everything tastes good after you've had a good amount to drink. Thankfully it didn't seem as cold as the night before, which could have been because of our drunken stooper. After being calmed down from our biligerent selves, we managaed to listen to a star gazing shpeel from our guide. It was cool being able to see an entire new set of stars from at home. I got to see the Milky Way (Dr. Schmidt would be proud - I even knew some of the random facts that our guide was sharing. I did learn something!).
Sleeping outside wasn't too bad because of the warm fuzzy feeling I had acquired from my drinks. The boys spent their time before bed playing with the mice on site. There were millions running all over the place. You can see some pictures on the shutterfly page.
After being sung to sleep by our lullaby of choice, dingo howling, we got up to start our hike of Kings Canyon. Kings Canyon is supposedly similar to the Grand Canyon, except it is smaller and was created in a slightly different way. It was a gorgeous hike. It started out a bit chilly, but as the sun began to rise the weather became perfect! The hike took a few hours, including our many stops for pictures. After we finished up, we headed back to Alice Springs - stopping for some lunch along the way.
When we got back to Alice Springs we checked back into our hostel for the night, showered, and made our way to dinner. Our tour guide was able to get a cheap meal for anyone on our tour if we went to this restaurant in walking distance. Of course, we were game. Instead of having to spend money on an expensive meal, we bought pitchers of beer. How many... well I'm not sure. We spent most of the night hanging out with people from our tour and our tour guide. Our tour guide, Jimmy, was awesome, and he was super smart. Like many Australians he decided not to go straight to college right out of high school. He spent most of his time working and traveling, while he figured out what he would want to study when he actually went to college. Come to find out many countries other than America encourage their students to take time to figure out what they want to do with their lives before entering college. I thought that was pretty neat. Australia also pays for their students to attend college, much like many other countries. Jimmy told Kamron and me that they are in dire need for nurses and teachers before we even told him what we were studying at home. Maybe we will go there for a few years! :) The sky is the limit!!!
We did eventually make it back to the hostel, and we were all ready to crash. We got up early on Friday to catch our flight back to Melbourne. After grabbing a bite to eat for lunch on our way back to Kamron's, we planned our Grampians and Adelaide trip!
Oh my, this post is getting rather long, and I still have a day trip to the Grampians and my trip to Adeliade to cover, so I will hold off until another time. I will right again soon! I send my love and lots of hugs! I will be there in person soon :)
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