What an experience this trip was. There were millions of flies, it was always in the 40's and luckily for us two girls got the wrong dates and missed the tour so we were down to 8 of us. It was bliss as the troopy was quite cramped inside and I couldnt imagine it with 10 at all. We covered 5000km on this trip. There was plenty of driving each day with regular stops to see some sights. We were on a dirt track and desert the whole way. You would see a passing car every two hours or maybe not all day. We slept outside in swags which to start with was a bit scary after seeing so many ants - which may I add bite! there are around 600 different kind of ants too, Centipedes and mosquitos surprisingly enough I never got bitten but I have come to the conclusion thats because I have the rarest blood group, they must just not like the taste. Everyone else had a fair few bites. So in someways I feel blessed about that : )
Our guide was an ex chef so we ate very well and had something different every day. It was fantastic and all healthy too. Its not easy to eat when there are flies all over your face though, so I devised my own way to combat the problem by walking up and down pretty quickly taking each spoonful of breakfast in at an alarming rate. I actually started a trend! It did get to you at times especially you wake up and straight away the flies are in your face buzzing away! Going to the loo in the bush was also annoying you just wasnted to tell them to at least leave your bum alone while you pee! I never even thought about the toilet situation - how silly am I?!....dont say a word ; )
So I was surprised to see a shovel attached to the front of the troopy to aid us in digging our own hole. I did however turn into a 5 year old and laugh uncontrolably.
On my trip there was Jess 19, Martia 19 friends from Holland. Jannie 23 and Meta 18 sisters from Holland. Leonie 27 also from Holland. Ryan 23 from Canada and Frog 34 from Birmingham - we met through my school friend Paula.
Me and Leonie clicked straight away she has the same silly sense of humour that I have so you can imagine, we laughed hard all through the trip. The most outstanding funny of Leonie for me was when she was wearing a bikini, fly net covering her head with a shovel in one hand and toilet roll in the other, telling me that this was the most degrading thing she has ever been through and she felt so embarrassed. As you can imagine I responded with so much laughter. We got to know each other pretty well! We were lucky enough to stop of at places which had toilets so most of us held out until we reached these places!
The group got along really well which was ace as it made the trip really fun.Our guide was really knowledgeable on Aborigionals and bush tucker, which we tried various things. I have eaten Kangaroo which tastes a bit like beef to me. The trip had highs and lows. The worst thing to happen was on day 5 of the trip Marita checked her emails and found out her mom was in intensive care and she had to go home immediately! what do you say it was awful and we were in the middle of nowhere. After a couple of hours trying to sort things out we had to drive 3 hours back on ourselves to take them to get a bus back to Adelaide which was to take 12 hours! Then a flight back to Holland the poor poor girl. Her frind Jess went with her rightly so and so our tour was down to 6 exl the guide Derek. He was 46. On the 3rd day I saw a cattle truck accident and they were all over the place in pain with two guys going round shooting them in the head to put them out of there misery - I cried A Lot. We nearly ran into a Kangaroo that day too so it was pretty full on.
Iga Warta - An Aborigional retreat. We stayed the night here having our faces painted with Ochra. Representing man and women. Lines and Spots. Red for land, yellow for sun and black for the people. In very basic terms but there is much more to it than that! We heard many 'dreamtime' stories which they live by and had 'Damper' which is bread cooked in the campfire. We had it with cream and a jam made from some sort of bush. It tasted like scones with jam and cream, very nice. It was interesting.
Talc Alf - an eccentric Dutch man living here as an artist. Has his own language and is self sufficient. His place is a tip litteraly! He wasnt in when we went to see him but we had a nose around anyway.
William Creek - Is meant to be the smallest 'Town' in Australia as it has a pub and a convenient store - thats about it! We stayed in the pub for a few and as with tradition of the place, we signed our names and where we were from on Frogs hat to put it upon the wall along with many other previous travellers belongings. There were even id cards up and bank cards!
Coward Springs - The smallest spring ever. It is 3 million years old! We were so grateful to get into that water after driving for hours in the heat. We tried to see how many we could fit into it and it was 19!
The Dog Fence - 9600km of fence runs from Surfurs Paradise QLD to Bright in WA. Dingoes are found in the north in cattle country. Protected sheep country is to the south. We camped here one night. It was dark when we arrived and sooooo windy, the sand whipping our bare skin. We managed to cook and eat in the back of the troopy! then we got out our swags huddled up to get some sleep. It was pretty windy(like gale force)I was worried that I was going to get blown away! We woke up the next morning surrounded by nothing just a big empty space. Its a mad feeling.
The Painted Desert - What a sight. The hills and surrounding ground looked like it was off a painting. It was beautiful to see and walk around all the colours of the different rocks.
The Centre Point of Australia - It wasnt easy to get to 12km off the dirt track, a single lane track running through the red sand and bush. It could only be accessed by a 4x4. It felt really special to get to this point as not many people get to see it. We got there at sunset and decided to camp there the night. Everyday was a surprise to where we would camp which made it such an adventure. We all six of us camped under the monument. I was facing WA!
Coober Pedy - Its the Opal capital of Australia. Half the population live in dug outs due to the extreme weather conditions. 50 degrees in the summer and freezing in the winter. Apart from the dugouts, there are over 250,000 mine shafts! It looks a bit like the end of the world, Mad Max was filmed here. There are plenty of stories about local politics and explosives which are very funny. We only stayed for the day and had a look around the museum learning about how it came to be there. We were able to shower, charge our batteries up for our cameras and sort our stuff out. It was all covered in dust. I bought myself a ring and mom some earrings. The second time we came back here was to drop the Dutch girls off to get them on the bus. We decided to stay there the night in the underground accommodation 'The Bunkhouse'. We got dressed up as we felt horrible after being in the same clothes for days. All the girlies out dresses on. We went to the local hotel and had a few beers, danced and hed a good laugh. The postie reminded us of Richard Hammond! he was hilarious. Then who should come in no other than the OC CHOPPERS!! Anyone into bikes will know. Mickey and Vinnie - filming in one of the remotest places in Australia. We had our pics taken with them and got chatting. We all ended up back at Mickeys hotel room drinking champers and beer. Was such a random night but a good one.
National Parks
Wilpena Pound - The largest natural basin is the best known feature of the ranges covering 80sqkm! We camped at the creek on our first night and I saw the most amazing shooting star. It was just like a big white firework with a really long trail after it, against a backdrop of the Milky Way. I will never forget that sight as long as I live.
The Flinders Ranges - The glowing red and purple folds of the majestic ranges are the most spectacular sight in SA. This ancient colossus rises from the northern end of Spencer Gulf and runs 400km north into the arid outback. Its a superb area for wildlife and unique geological formations of for simply appreciating the outstanding beauty of the bush. In the far north, the ranges are hemmed by sand ridges and barren salt lakes.
We also saw the Simpson Desert, Lake Eyre, Gosse Bluff, Mt Conner the MacDonnell Ranges - all such stunning formations of land. Gosse Bluff is a huge crater created by a huge meteor many years ago. The MacDonnell Ranges are green and are formed with big swooping curves along the top of the hills. Really rounded just like the big golden arches!
The NT has some of Australias wildest national parks. Both Kakadu and Uluru - Kata Tjuta have been listed on the Heritage list. These were stunning to walk around such huge formations nothing like I have ever experienced before. We got to see Uluru at sunrise which wasnt so great as it had been a stormy night the sky way very cloudy. It soon became clear skies once the sun came up and was amazing. Its a 9.5km base walk in 40 degree heat! Pretty hardcore walking in that heat. Kata Tjuta was gorgeous to but we went in the highest heat of the day and all felt a little weary once we reached to turning point to walk back. I had to pour over myself a lemon cordial drink whaich was grose once it dried out but I was so hot I nearly passed out with heat stroke. Everyone felt it this day so after that we went to an outdoor pool for a swim for a few hours. It was heaven.
In central Australia, Watarrka National Park has the outrageously picturesque Kings Canyon as its centre piece. It was a hard walk round here but we did get to go for a dip in The Garden Of Eden which is along the track. It is a stunning place. It was great being up on this amazing natural formation taking in the views and absorbing just being there.
This trip was out of this world. Everyday was a new day, new experience and the views will remain with me forever. My photos dont do any of it any justice but they are a reminder of what I have seen. This trip for me is Australia - the outback. I loved every minuite of the views. It was a hardcore trip. Not for the faint harted, it was camping in the middle of no where in the bush/desert anywhere you could. Making fires collecting fire wood. It was a team effort everyone had to pitch in to prepare dinner, wash up, put the swags away the boxes away. You are with people you dont know for 10 days 24/7 - im so lucky I had a great group of people on my tour it made the trip for me. Lots of memories from this trip. I loved it.
