G’day G’day for the last time…
This is sadly our last big update for you all as we’re heading home in a day. But still have loads to tell you! We last wrote when we arrived in Alice Springs so I’ll kick start our news from there..
We explored Alice ‘town centre’ which is a few streets in the middle of the desert. Here we were faced with our first ‘real’ aborginals and what a real difference between them and the modern Australian community. As we walked through Alice, on the streets and in the ‘parks’ (which are giant rocks with shrubs) there were traditional aboriginals which actually look like our street tramps in Britain. They have homes so we are told but they look and smell like they dont. They were loads of them sitting in what looked like family groups drinking and laying about looking quite menacing.. We have learnt that the aborginals who now hang around the outback towns are in fact alcoholics who now cause trouble. One boy we met way back in Sydney even told us a story about him being chased for ages because they wanted his camera! I have no doubt that not all of the aboriginals out here are a pain in the butt but these guys we saw on this day seemed to be and they certainly fitted in with all the stories we had been told.
On this night we decided to splash out and go to an Indigenous Dinner Show in the Red Centre Dreaming. We got picked up and dropped out in the bush where our night under the stars awaited us. We had a champagne reception and were seated on tables (about 30 people altogether), there were kangaroos jumping around the place too. One of the tribe members spoke to us throughout dinner and taught us about the aboriginal culture – their beliefs, their artwork, their songs and dances and the way they survived in the harsh desert environment. The show began and there were 2 quite large men painted traditionally dancing and howling and playing the digeridoo. Our tribe member who was leading the night also led the show and was the chief singer, a baby boy was also on the dirt mound (stage) running about hitting some sticks together. They showed us dances which related mostly to hunting animals and the difference in men and women roles. We were priviledged to see the dances and meet these tribe members as only initiated tribemen are usually about to take part. Every story they told us about how the earth came to be in the form that it is, is truly believed like a religion so we had to almost play along and believe that snakes froze and emu poo froze to make rocks etc. This Dreaming ‘religion’ was totally new to us. Anyway as the show went on the more emotional we got. It really was so good and so surreal being out there with these amazing people (who are completely different to the drunk aboriginal’s in the town of Alice) especially remembering that the night before we were in Cairns hunting for some decent souvenirs. Basically we learnt A LOT and had a great time even though it was a bit chilly because of the storm the night before. Also on this night we got talking to a 75 year old lady who has just started to travel the world (lives in Sydney) – she really opened our eyes up and was great fun too. She fell over a rock and hit her face on the floor which was a bit eventful/sad but she carried on laughing and joking with us and as with all our other new friends, we promised to keep in touch!
At 6am the next day we got picked up for the first day of our 2 night 3 day Wayoutback Safari. Our truck looked like something from the army with massive giant wheels to get us through the sand, we clambered aboard and were a bit shocked to find our group of 15 aboard were not our usual rowdy lot! We had a mum and 2 teenage sons and some older Europeans, one young american dude and some people from Hong Kong. First stop was a camel farm which actually just appeared out of the red sandy rocky distance – naturally Claire forced me on a camel and I screamed my head off as it started running much to the delight of the onlookers – showtime, again. Our drive to Ayers Rock was going to take 6 hours and we were figety already on the boiling truck (air con was broken!). We carried on down Lassiter’s Highway and stopped occasionaly at wooden shacks including Curtin Springs cattle station for food and water. It was quite an amazing view. Brilliant blue sky and bright red desert for mile after mile. We even saw huge wedgetail eagles swooping around eating roadkill – the road by the way was tarmac at this point. Soon we hit a sand storm so it was difficult to see out but eventually we reached the Ayers Rock Resort. This was just an area of bush where people were allowed to camp because the base of the rock is too sacred to allow campers there. We had a huge lunch and moved onto Ayers Rock itself.
First we looked around the Aboriginal Cultural Centre and learnt more about the indigenous way of life then we drove onto to start our base walk. Ayers Rock had appeared in the distance some hours before which was pretty amazing as the landscape had been flat but as we approached it now our jaws dropped even further. It was absolutely humongous!! The base walk was 9.4km and it took us 2.5 hrs to walk around in our summer dresses and flipflops. Thank god it was flat and not too rocky. Some areas didnt allow us to take photos because it was too sacred and the aboriginals don’t want anyone touching or climbing the rock. However, the government has managed to secure one tiny area where people can climb it but it was unfortunately shut due to the storm. On the path round we saw a thorny devil which was a pretty amazing very spikey lizard too. Once we dragged ourselves back to the truck we drove up to a sunset view point.
It was then our guide cracked open the champagne and nibbles and there we were watching the stunning sunlight go down on Uluru. Wow what a moment – time stood still. Every ten minutes the rock changed colour and at that moment we really were awestruck.
Once we got back to camp our guide cooked up a big pasta and we sat around the fire drinking our beloved goon and swaping english insults for aussie insults with the young kids on our trip. Then we stuck our sleeping bags into our swags and looked up. My god. The stars were incrediable. The kids showed us the Southern Cross and shooting stars were going over our heads. At that moment it dawned on us, we were in the middle of absolute nowhere, hours and hours from any kind of civilisation, under a blanket of stars with nothing but a fire and a few random people next to us. Sleeping in the desert in the night sky was definitely a highlight of our adventure for both of us.
Up at 6am the next morning and quickly walked up to a hilltop nearby still in our pyjamas, to watch the sun rise over Ayers Rock from a distance, it was, in a word, fabulous!! Back down to have breakfast by campfire, packed up our swags and hit the road again to another top National Park called ‘Valley of the Winds’. Many large rocks and walking paths, so we trekked off for a 6km walk. After 3 hours of suffering and lots of bush wees, we recovered by having lunch (at about 11am!) at a picnic site right by the hike. After a few energising sandwiches we drove on past another huge desert rock called Mt. Connor – looks very like Uluru, stopped at a huge dried up saltwater lake – Amadeus, for a lookout, and then arrived at our stop for the night, Kings Creek Cattle Station (not like our first experience at a cattle station!) There was a shop, and a pool!! oh what a relief! we stripped down to our bikinis and got a good last hour in the sun and dipped in the water before driving just a few miles in to literally the middle of nowhere to set up camp. As the sun gradually went down we sat around the campfire and made dinner again, drank some more goon, and low and behold, our guide pulled out a surprise! A dead kangaroo tail – for us to eat!! ahhhhhhhhh! it still was furry at first, she cooked it, and buried it under the campfire sand as though it was in an oven, for a good hour, then made us try some – uuuuuurrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhh, it was foul! but least we can say we’ve tried it! Then we toasted lots of marshmallows over the fire, set up our swags and told ghost stories (about british backpackers mainly – thanks) while we settled under the stars again for another amazing night! WOW!
Oh my god, we were woken up the next day at 4.30am!!! what a joke!! we were not impressed, but there was a reason behind it all. the weather was getting so so hot it was ridiculous, even at 8am, so an early start for our next hike meant we missed the crazy heat, and hopefully got most of the park to ourselves. So we had a quick breakfast and packed up, headed straight to Kings Canyon, an amazing place, part of the George Gill Mountain Ranges, had an exhuasting hike up to the top of all the mountain rocks and walked the entire rim walk, over 3 hours again, totally worth every minute even though the two of us were dying at every step! every corner produced a new view, a new rock formation, a cliff dropping side, a beautiful garden of plants, a waterhole, it was just stunning. After catching our breath back and slapping on a load more sun cream, we finished around 8.30am! missed all the school kids thank god, and drove back to the cattle station for another quick sunbake and pool dip. Lunch was a massive bbq to top the trip off. Tired as we were, we jumped back in to the truck, and were driven through red sand dunes and dirt track bumpy roads all the way back to Alice Springs!! Dropped back off to our hostel and just practically passed out before having another bbq ourselves for dinner – cooked our own shrimps on the barbie!!! bed early from our early start.
So today we woke, and yes, realised this was it. We had a final day to spare in Alice Springs, so we chose to lay by the pool and just relive the memories of the last 9 weeks. What a holiday. We were transported back to the airport and after a quick, sleepy flight, we’re now back safely in Cairns. Our last night - what can we do but rummage around in the souvenir shops buying more crap that we won’t want when we return, and our last meal, a bloody chinese takeaway!!! (George’s request).
And so this is it, we are moping about the hostel not knowing what to do with ourselves, and wondering why we haven’t got to book our next tour, get on our next bus, make our next load of friends, this it it, but blimey what a trip this has been.
I really hope you have all enjoyed reading our update emails, i know some have been so long you’ve needed to take days off to read them, but we truely are writing from our hearts everything we have done and felt, wanting you all to realise how great it was for us and wanting to include you all.
If we could recommend anywhere in the world for you all to go – Australia it is. What a place!
Hope you are all well, cannot wait to see every one of you, even though we don’t want to come home!!!
Lots of love to all, for the last time from Oz,
C & G xxx
P.S One of our friends got delayed going back to London for 3 whole days so you never know what could happen on the trip back.. Darwin, Singapore, London then Pompey – here we come!
