NT - Alice Springs

The flight to Alice Springs was filled with scenery of the Red Centre. It was the first time that I realized they don't call it the Red Centre for nothing.

I got off the plane in Alice Springs and was instantly hit by the heat. The weather I left behind in Melbourne was gross and cold compared to this. Luckily I wore shorts under my pants so I could change quickly before getting off the plane.

Top Weather - Melbourne. Bottom Weather - Alice Springs

From the minute you're off the plane it's very obvious that you aren't near the big cities anymore. The vegetation is different and very dry. The ground is different - red sand instead of dirt. The birds are different. And even the people are a bit different. Alice Springs airport is the smallest airport I have ever seen in my life. You walk in one door and directly in front of you past the only luggage carousel is the door to go out. There are no shops or food. Just in, bags, out.

The shuttle took me to my hostel and it was then that I continued to notice the massive differences between here and the big cities. They name their round abouts or traffic circles and there was a speed limit sign that said "Speed Limit: Walking Pace". There was also an American flag flying randomly at one place. I'm not hating on Alice Springs, but there was seriously nothing to do, nowhere to go, nothing to see. Just Google "Alice Springs, NT, Australia" and look at the map of the area. Make sure you zoom out to get an idea of why it's called the Red Centre. I upgraded my hostel to a 4 Bed (8 people in one room is just too many for me), got settled, and went out to Subway to get lunch and dinner. I ate outside under the blue sky and sunshine while reading my book. Afterwards I did some thinking and writing - just trying to wrap my head around where I was, what I was doing, and the fact that this was my life. As the sun retreated for the evening so did I. I laid everything out for the morning and went to bed quite early because tomorrow was an early early start (before the sun) and the first day of Northern Territory tour!!!

There were heaps of backpackers waiting in the lobby in the morning to be picked up by their tours. Big groups left 1 at a time until there were only 3 of us left. It felt quite peculiar and I thought maybe I had messed something up with the planning or scheduling... A tour guide named Jen came in and read off the three of our names - Nikki, Vincent (Netherlands), and Kieran (Ireland). On the way to the bus she informed us that it was just the 3 of us until later this afternoon and then it would go back to just the 3 of us the next afternoon. We couldn't believe that we had this whole 24 seater mini bus to ourselves!!

Our first stop on the drive was a camel farm that offered short, cheap camel rides. We figured why not give it a go since we'll probably never have this opportunity again. Riding a camel feels a lot like riding a horse (a little less smooth) except for the getting up and sitting down part. When the camel stands or sits you feel like you are just going to topple over yourself and slide down his neck and off the tip of his nose. Before we went on Jen said to us, "Just hold on when he runs". I thought she was kidding... She wasn't... And you do need to hold on!! It's pretty fast and bumpy.

My facial expression explains the strangeness that was the camel standing up/sitting down.

On the way to our second stop Jen decided to share some of her best Irish jokes with us since we had an Irish guy on board. They're pretty great so I'll share them with you: "Why can you never borrow money from a leprechaun? They're always a little short." and "What is Irish, outside, and can withstand all weather conditions? Patty-O Furniture." Jen's humor and fun attitude shows up quite a bit during this trip.

Our next stop was a lookout towards Mt. Connor and a dried up salt lake. It was at this stop that I realized the red (what I thought was dirt) was actually red sand and felt just like beach sand. This is where I collected some of the red sand as a souvenir. Our next stop would be our campsite so on the way Jen filled us in a little about the rest of the itinerary for the day: "We are going to watch the sunset at Uluru and have beautiful sparkling wine out of magnificent plastic coffee mugs because it is all style when you're with Jen. Tomorrow we will wake up at stupid-o-clock for the sunrise." More of Jen's awesome humor to make the ridiculously long drive not so awful. It's a 6 hour drive from Alice Springs to Yulara (where our campsite was) and that's without stops. Oh, and there is only 1 left turn the whole way, so you better believe we all took video, pictures, and cheered when that happened. Also on the way to the campsite we stopped to collect firewood from the side of the road for that night's campfire. At one of our other stops you would have thought we had learned an adaptation of some random cultural dance with the way we were slinging our arms around to get the flies away. They guys had at least 15-20 flies on the backs of their shirts. The flies were numerous, stubborn, pesky, and annoying. The Aussie salute is another name for the fact that people are always shooing flies away from in front of their faces. Or the running joke is, "Everyone thinks Aussies are so friendly and wave to people all the time, when really they are just shooing the flies away." The other thing you'll see a lot of in the NT is people wearing fly nets on their heads, usually over a hat. They look ridiculous, but it's worth it to not have to deal with flies in your face.

Mt. Connor

Dried Salt Lake

Once at our campsite we unloaded for the first of 8 million times and set up for lunch (cold cut sandwiches). The 3 of us had lunch while Jen went and picked up 6 other people from the airport in Yulara. After lunch and cleaning up, the three of us took a walk up to a lookout where we got our first glimpse at Uluru and Kata Tjuta. I took some time while up there to be amazed by the color and feel of the sand.

Uluru

Kata Tjuta

When Jen arrived back at the campsite we hopped in the bus, now 9 of us in the 24 seater. Jen introduced us all to each other, but when she got to the 4 people from Japan she couldn't pronounce their names and only one of them spoke any English so she just called them team Japan. Don't worry though, she then decided to just call us all Team and then whatever country we came from. We went to a lookout towards Kata Tjuta.

Next we did a walk through one of the valleys at Kata Tjuta. The sky was so blue, the trees were so green, and the rocks were so red. The combination of sharp colors was absolutely beautiful and once you walk along those walls of rock you instantly feel about as big as a pebble.

After Kata Tjuta we headed to Uluru for sunset. We got to see the sun set behind Kata Tjuta into a deep orange/red sky. It was too cloudy for the sky's colors to wrap around to Uluru. I would have loved to have been on the other side of that rock and had it silhouetted with the sun and color behind it, but that's one of the downsides of being on a tour - you can't always do what you want.

While dinner was being made I went for a shower and was pleasantly surprised with the quality and state of the bathrooms. Each shower had a door, a changing area, and then the actual shower. There were plenty of outlets (for hair dryers and straighteners), sinks, and toilets as well. For dinner we had kangaroo steak (didn't eat that), camel sausages (didn't eat that either), beef "steak" (more like a tiny thin patty thing), coleslaw, and then something else I don't remember because I didn't eat it. While Jen was cooking dinner the lid to the barbeque, which is flat, came down on her hand burning it real badly. She was bleeding quite a bit and the skin had come off. She was taking it like a champ but it looked like all she wanted to do was scream and cry. Kieran bandaged it up for her and Vincent finished cooking while she took a break and called her boss. Due to our remote location and the fact that it was the weekend there was no open medical center so she would just have to make do. Throughout the evening she tried so hard to seem like it wasn't bothering her, but we all knew it was, especially when she passed on eating dinner. While we were all around the campfire roasting marshmallows (this was a first time experience for the people from Japan) another tour guide that was at the campsite came and helped bathe Jen's hand, which she said hurt like crazy, and re-bandage it. At some point we all decided since we were getting up before the sun that we should probably head to bed... if you can call it that... Our beds for the night were swags, which are like canvas sleeping bags with a semi-thin mattress inside. You slide your sleeping bag inside between the mattress and the canvas top. I got all situated in my swag and took one look at the sky and was speechless. Never in my life have I ever seen stars like that. There were more than I had ever seen before and they were bright too. I didn't sleep well because it was pretty windy which kept making noise on the permanent tents at the site (we could have slept in here but it was like an oven and you miss out on the stars and the potential opportunity to be eaten by a dingo). I didn't mind though because every time I woke up I would just look up at the stars and stare in amazement until I fell asleep again. It was crazy because as the night went on the stars became more numerous and brighter - Jen said that is because the moon starts to go away as the night goes so there is less light.

A Swag

At stupid-o-clock while it was still dark and the stars were still out we all got up, had breakfast, packed our stuff, and packed all the food and stuff back into the mini bus. Jen's hand was starting to swell and bruise. She said she didn't sleep much because of the constant throbbing. She continued working anyway and we headed for the sunrise at Uluru. The sunrise was pretty, but again I would have loved to have been behind the rock and seen it silhouetted with the color behind it. During sunrise 5 of us took note of how many activities and things we were doing that revolved around this one rock, not that it isn't worth it, we just thought it was a little strange. We made plans to open up our own attraction centered around a rock as well and claim it is the biggest rock, it's just that the rest of it is underground (that's how they can claim Uluru is the largest monolith - apparently it goes 6ks underground).

The weather was absolutely perfect for the days activities. Most of us actually had on little jackets because there was a slight chill in the air. After sunrise we walked around half the base of Uluru (the air was still cool during this as well). It was crazy how different it looks up close. From far away it looks fairly smooth and uniformedish (pretty sure that's not a word), but close up there are all these crevices, divets, fallen boulders, curves, etc. Also from far away it looks big, but you don't really get a sense for how big until you stand next to it and then you can really get a perspective for just how small you are and how big it is. There is the option to climb the rock but the Aboriginal people see this as spiritually disrespectful, so we were encouraged not to. Only Kieran ended up climbing it. After our walk around the base Jen took us on a guided walk (by now... it was HOT) to see some Aboriginal rock art and hear a few of the Aboriginal people's stories about different places at the rock. It was so interesting how to a non Aboriginal it just looks like a really cool rock and rocks, but to an Aboriginal certain areas of the rock have deep cultural history and spiritual meaning. Part of the reason the tours choose to start the day so early is so you can do the strenuous activities during the coolest part of the day to make it more enjoyable, but also because that is the safest time of day to do these things. After our walking we went to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre where you can learn more about their culture and purchase their authentic art. I bought a small decorative pillow cover and a bookmark. I purchased the bookmark 1 - because I needed one and 2 - because I actually got the meet the artist.

Where Aboriginal women and children would spend hot days

In "cave" pictured above - Dog paw - There is an Aboriginal story that goes with this involving the picture below

Woman

When it rains waterfalls form over the sides of the rock

Another space where Aboriginal women and children would spend the hot days and store food

Once we were finished we said good-bye to Uluru and headed for the airport to drop off the people who joined us the day before.

Then it was back down to just the 3 of us for the 6 hour drive to Kings Canyon. Before that though we re-fueled the bus and ourselves with some lunch. Jen had spoken to her boss about her hand and they decided she would continue working and finish out the tour. To make this drive less awful Jen decided to sing to us in her loudest, most beautiful voice some typical Australian songs - Waltzing Matilda, Advance Australia Fair, Home Among the Gumtrees, Duncan, etc. Needless to say my new favorite song is Home Among the Gumtrees. She also chose to inform us that if we leave Australia with money in our wallets then they haven't done their jobs properly and that everyone always comes back to Australia.

Once we hit a certain point in driving to our campsite it got so bumpy and rough and the path was so windy that I was for sure our trailer was going to come unattached! No wonder no one else was at this campsite! Oh and about 1/4 of the way to Kings Canyon we lost any kind of cell phone service and we were without it until we returned to Alice Springs about 24 hours later. We got to our campsite we unloaded everything we all sat down to take a break, but the flies were so bad I decided to go shower just to get away from them. Kieran had at least 15 flies on his canned drink. If I covered my face they flew in my ears if I covered my ears they flew in my eyes or nose. I was glad there was no one else at our campsite because the showers were just a curtain and then the shower, which makes it hard to dress/undress without exposing yourself. The shower felt so good though!! To watch that red dust wash off your skin and dye the water a strange red on the floor of the shower as it went down the drain was quite incredible honestly. You don't realize the thin covering of red dust all over your skin (or clothes) until you are able to wash it off. Jen made dinner - Green curry with chicken and rice - YUM!!! and after dinner she took a break and had a shower and the three of us cleaned up. Shortly after we all got our swags out and got ready for sleep. The weather was absolutely perfect - not a single breeze and not too hot and not too cold. The last thing I remember before closing my eyes was millions upon millions of bright, twinkling lights overhead in a crystal clear pitch black sky that expanded as far as the eye could see in every direction.

Again, we woke before the sun, with the stars still twinkling over head. We had breakfast, got ready, loaded the minibus, cleaned up the camp site, and the four of us were on our way to hike Kings Canyon, but not before taking notice of the dingo foot prints in the sand around our campsite!! The morning air had quite a bit of chill in it to the point where we all had on light jackets. Just 5 minutes into hiking Kings Canyon I took it off, but I put it back on again later when we were spending a bit of time in the shade of the rocks. The beginning part of the climb is called Heart Attack hill because it is pretty much straight up steps carved into the side of the rock. We had to take breathing/drink breaks twice during that portion of the climb. All 4 of us made it though and it was well worth it. The rest of the hike was fairly easy. Kings Canyon is unlike anything I've ever seen. The canyon is made up of something they call Beehive Domes. The rocks are literally in the shape of beehives. Also, the rock is the same bright/deep red as the sand and Uluru. You can see though were new rock has recently been exposed because that rock is white. It will turn red though years from now as it goes through the oxidation process. All the sand/rock in this area has an extremely high iron content causing it to oxidize and turn red. One of my favorite parts of the hike was getting to see the Ripple Rock where you can tell there was water here at one point. It looks so unnatural to see that pattern in a rock. I also really like the North and South walls or as Jen calls them - the Chocolate Cake and Vanilla Caramel Cheesecake. We also saw several White Gum Trees and The Garden of Eden, which is like a hidden oasis in the canyon.

Heart Attack Hill - Goes to the top

Rock with half oxidized, half not

Ghost Gum Tree - Called this because of the white bark

"Chocolate Cake"

Ripple Rock

Garden of Eden

"Vanilla and Caramel Cheesecake"

Beehive Domes

As we were finishing our walk it was just starting to get hot and I was so thankful that we started early. It was crazy to see people just pulling up to begin their walk... It was about 11am and they would be hiking in the highest heat of the day, which I couldn't imagine doing this in that heat. Jen told us a story about another tour company that started their hike around 11 or so about a year ago in the summer and their passengers didn't have enough water and the tour guide had to carry one of the girls out because her entire body shut down (passed out and lost control of her bladder and bowels) and the Emergency people said the girl had less than 5 minutes or she would have been dead. Jen stressed over and over and over again that we were to have plenty of water with us on every walk and you weren't allowed to do the walks without water. She also had a water cooler on board so people could refill their bottles. And she told us that we were to sip the water constantly throughout the day because if you wait until you're thirsty, that means you're already dehydrated and your body is like a sponge so if you wait and drink it all at once your body can't absorb it properly. She also told us about how on a hot day the rocks can get dangerously hot to the point where they can burn you when touched (and if you have to touch these rocks to do the hike/walk). Being in the NT is amazing, but it can also be dangerous if you aren't smart about heat and hydration.

Before heading back to Alice Springs we stopped for some lunch - massive tacos - and got ice cream for the 6.5 hour drive back and that's without stops. Luckily, we had Jen's humor to keep us entertained, snacks, and a whole minibus to ourselves so we could sleep. Once back in Alice Springs we said good-bye to Jen   =[, wished her well with her hand, and took all of our stuff back into the hostel. Once again I changed my room to a 4 bedroom dorm, got settled, and then met up with Kieran and Vincent for dinner at the hostel. We also invited my roomate, Norm, to eat with us. After hanging out for as long as we could (Kieran and Vincent both had early calls in the morning and I was exhausted), we said our good-byes and went to our rooms. Laying in bed that night I couldn't help but think just how amazing these last 3 days had been - perfect weather, amazing scenery, sights, and activities, great company, - I seriously couldn't have wished or prayed for a better start to what I was hoping would continue to be a once in a life time adventure. I also couldn't believe it had only been 3 days. We packed in enough stuff to take up at least a week. I was exhausted, but as I looked up at the bottom of the bunk above me I couldn't help but think what a downgrade this felt like after sleeping under the Australian Outback stars for 2 nights and I would have given anything at that moment to go back to my night at Kings Canyon when I was just mesmerized by the twinkling lights above and with that thought my eyes were closed and I was fast asleep.

**SN: Running inside jokes between the 4 of us: 6 inches, came in with the tide, "shut up Kieran"**