Hello,
Hope all is well & dandy with you.
Wow, what a few days we've had. If you can't be bothered to read another epic post then here is a quick overview in numbers:
Miles driven: 869
Miles walked: 18.6
Litres of water drunk: 22
Litres of sweat lost: 32
Expletives uttered at flies: off the scale
Pictures taken: 264
Stunning views: too many to count
Pairs of sunglasses lost: 1
Hours listening to someone's life story: 5
Minutes spent checking our sleeping bags for bugs: 15
Kangaroos seen on trip: living 0, dead 3 (very disappointing)
We arrived in Alice Springs from Darwin on Thurs 5th Dec. We weren't sure if we were going to face delays as there was thunder & lightning when we arrived at the airport but luckily it cleared before the flight. Touch wood all flights have been on time so far. Gary wasn't happy as we were in the clouds for the whole flight so he couldn't see the ground (not sure exactly how that's going to prevent any problems but it makes him happier!)
We checked in to the YHA on arrival in Alice Springs. Pretty nice place. Good kitchen facilities so we made dinner there that night. Only slight downside was that there was a sofa outside our room, which made it the communal lounging area & there were a few people yibbing on until really late. The youth of today, no respect for their elders who need their sleep!!
The next morning is when the adventure began. We went & hired a car to drive down to Ayers Rock. We ended up with a ford estate rather than a hyundai, which Gary was pleased about (although he did get overtaken by a hyundai on our trip!). We callled the car skippy & he came fully loaded with camping gear. Yes that's right, Gary & I had decided to camp!
Skippy was an automatic, which I'd never driven before but given that it's 2 roads all the way to Ayers Rock, it wasn't too challenging although I did look to change gear whenever we slowed down. He also had cruise control, which is the greatest invention ever!
So off we went, rarely passing another car more frequently than every half hour on the way down. There are only a couple of gas stations on the way & they are proper outback. We also got to listen to some very interesting music on the local radio including a chipmunks song about Santa arriving in a pick up truck & an artist called Kimwat Diddy!
Our first stop was Kings Canyon. Stunning place. We did the full 6k hike there, which was a little sweaty in 34 degrees. You're supposed to walk it early but we did it at 2pm as we couldn't pick the car up any earlier than 8am & it's a 5 hour drive. The guide says that it's a challenging walk but I thought they were probably just being over cautious so that people didn't sue them but it turns out that it was pretty hard work. It starts with a really steep climb but luckily it does get easier after that & the good thing about climbing at the beginning is that you get to descend at the end. Unfortunately I realised at the bottom that I'd lost my sunglasses & we deduced that it was probably quite close to the end so we re-climbed the steep rock that we'd just walked down! Alas my sunglasses weren't to be found. Gary was actually very good about it & was up for walking back even further. Had the situation been reversed I would have had a proper rant & told him that he'd just have to burn his eyes & we weren't going back!
We then made our way to our first 'campsite', Curtain Springs, which is a cattle ranch with 1 million acres, yep 1 million - they do things big in Oz. I say campsite lightly as it was basically a field. However it was free so beggars can't be choosers. We didn't have a tent, but a swag which is basically a mattress in a tough waterproof bag that you sleep in, in sleeping bags. The beauty of this is that you get to see the stars & with no pollution or unnatural light, these were amazing. Our camping gear also included a gas stove so we had hot dogs for dinner. It was dark by the time we cooked these but luckily our gear included this ultra powerful light so that we could see what we were doing. The downside of this is that it attracted a lot of bugs, which are also bigger in Oz! We had a couple of moths fly into the gas flame who are sadly no longer with us! Several other weird things also died in the frying pan. The bugs would probably have normally bothered me more but I think I was just too tired to freak out (Gary had a few girly squeals though!)
We woke up pretty early as the sun was shining in our faces & the cockerel was making a proper racket (that's not a euphemism!) We headed off to Kata Tjuta (the Olga's) to do the valley of the winds walk there. This was over 7km & was described in the book as being more challenging than Kings Canyon. As it was earlier though it wasn't as unbearably hot. There is a lookout point there which has the most incredibly view, with huge rock either side & lush green forest in the middle. Well worth the hike.
That night we watched the sun set over Ayers Rock, or at least that's what we attempted to do but out of all the places we could have stood we picked a spot right next to the chattiest man in the world. I know I'm a talker but dear god, this guy spoke at us for hours. We could easily answer a q&a on his life story. Him & his wife then turned out to be staying in the place that we were going to have dinner so we enjoyed another few hours of his chat. In fairness he was harmless & he told Gary so much about Australia, which he was genuinely interested by. We also both got a free drink from him so guess that made it worthwhile!
The next morning we watched the sunrise at Ayers Rock, which was more impressive than sunset as the night before had been cloudy (and we'd been having our ears chewed off!) This did mean a 4.30am start for Gary on his birthday but he coped with it remarkably well. We followed this with the base walk around Uluru (Ayers Rock), which was fine but not a patch on the walks we'd done the previous 2 days (maybe we were just done with scenic walks though). We think Ayers Rock is something that is more impressive to look at from a distance. The walk around it is over 10k but as we were doing it super early the heat wasn't a problem. Later that day it topped 40 degrees & we both said we were glad we weren't walking it in that.
We then packed skippy up & headed back to Alice Springs. We were both shattered so had to battle to stay awake. Hilariously at the first gas station we bumped into our friend from the night before, so we had another chat!
As it was Gary's birthday we stayed in a hotel that night & had a room with its own bathroom & everything! That evening & the next day were pretty chilled as we waited for our flight to Cairns. We arrived in Cairns late last night & are going to head up to the rainforest in Cape Tribulation, check out Port Douglas & dive the Great Barrier Reef over the next few days so we'll fill you in on that in the next war & peace instalment!
Speak soon.
G & C x
P.S. For everyone that warned us about the flies at Ayers Rock, you really weren't joking. They are a nightmare. Thank god for our fly nets, the best £6 we've ever spent. We may have looked like idiots but without them I think we'd have developed a nervous tick by the end of it due to constantly swatting the flies away! For those of you planning to come here in the future, you have been warned!
