Easter 2013 a much anticipated trip to the Red Centre. Early rise Friday morning for our flight to Alice Springs. Arrived just in time to stock up on some snacks for the tour and chill by the pool with a few beers.
“A dingo ate my baby”: Day 1 of our three day tour bleary eyed and ready for a snooze at 6Am we hopped on the bus greeted by our enthusiastic bright eyed and bushy tailed guide Jake and the rest of the tour crew from Denmark, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Kenya, Switzerland, England and best of all Ireland!! We waved goodbye to civilisation and headed for the outback. Leaving Alice Springs behind, we headed for Uluru (better known as Ayres Rock). We hit rain just before Ayres Rock which unfortunately didn’t let up while we were there so the climb was closed. Upside to the rain was an incredible chance to see rare waterfalls coming over the rock for a few hours that day and no flies – major plus!! We took a stroll around the Aboriginal Cultural Centre learning about the Anangu People, the traditional aboriginal owners of the land, followed by a guided walk around the base of the rock taking in beautiful sites such as the Mala Walk, Mutijulu Waterhole and Aboriginal Cave Paintings. In the midst of many tourists mucked to their eyeballs and soaking wet from the rain who did we run into but Gina Rinehart – Australia’s richest woman with a net worth of $19bn. I think it was the body guard in a full grey suit, white shirt and tie that gave her away. Didn’t look like your average backpacker on tour. After all that excitement we hopped back on the bus and made our way to watch a spectacular sunset over Uluru. Amazing!
Pitjantjatjara Dreamtime Legends: Day 2 another early start to take in a memorable Uluru sunrise over the world’s largest rock. There’s nothing like crunching a bowl of cornflakes watching the sunrise over Uluru. Now that’s an experience. From there we drove to Kata Tjuta meaning ‘many heads’ (better known as The Olga’s) for a guided walk learning about the many legends and geologic origin of the area as we walked through to the Valley of the Winds. Aptly named. After chomping down lunch we drove towards Kings Canyon collecting some firewood along the way to relax around the campfire curled up in our cozy swags under a million stars at Curtin Springs. The sky was magnificent.
“A cock in a frock on a rock”: Day 3 yet another early rise at 4.30am to capture sunrise with a 3hour hike through the sandstone domes of the Lost City at Kings Canyon. We crossed through Priscilla Gap, named after the filming of Priscilla Queen of the Desert there in 1994. Following the path into the canyon, we stepped down the wooden stairs and into the Garden of Eden, an oasis in complete contrast to its sparse surroundings. On the way home we stopped for a camel ride at the Camel Farm. I was all prepared for a slow relaxing camel ride, not so much a gallop down the paddock. You could hear the shrieks from me back at Uluru. Fun times. One last stop at the Alice Springs sign for a few snaps and back to civilisation for a hot shower and catch up with the crew at The Rock Bar for some good tucker and a few beers.
Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon I’ll be back in another 24 years!!
