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Ang's Oz & Kiwi Adventure!
Feb 26th
Gday from Alice Springs in the middle of Oz where its over 40degrees!! Had a really great few days travelling down from Cairns on the desert venturer, so much to see in the middle of nowhere surprisingly! Heres a rundown of what i did ....
Day 1: Cairns - Hughenden
We left Cairns on a our big comfy bus through the green grass and rainforests of the atherton tablelands, through the great dividing range and into eucaplytus country. Did u know theres over 850 diff types of euc trees and koalas only eat 30 of them - fussy b*****s! It was really cloudy as we climbed higher up and ended up driving through the misty clouds!
Millstream Falls Widest single stream waterfall in Oz, set in a eucalypyus forest where they have ironbark trees cos the barks are as strong as iron! Was really nice to see a flowing waterfall in the middle of nowhere - and one with some actual water in it too!
Oasis Roadhouse Here we had lunch at Australia's smallest bar set in the middle of nowhere, god knows how they actually make a living here! The bar is 54cm wide and 103cm long! They had a resident cockatoo who joined us for lunch, while we were there we saw no other people or vehicles at all!
Porcupine Gorge After hours of driving thru nothingness on a red dirt track with nothing either side but straggly trees and the odd cow (actually we were driving thru cattle stations bigger than most european countries!) we got to Porcupine Gorge, Oz's mini grand canyon! We hiked down through the rocks down to the bottom of the sandstone gorge and it was amazing, so deep and so many diff colours in the diff sand layers. The canyon seemed never ending both ways and had only a small stream running thru it. Our guide Dan was really pleased it was only 35degrees, in all his time doing this tour he's never known it be so COLD - the lowest temp its been before was 46degrees - to the 25 of us tho it was a scorcher!
Hughenden We spent the night at the Western Hotel in Hughenden, a small town in the desert with a giant random dinosaur statue cos they found its skeleton here once? After our early start and long long day it was early to bed!
Day 2: Hughenden - Boulia
Winton After hours driving thru nothing but barren flat black soil planes, we got to the first town we had seen since Hughenden and stopped there to try and get back to civilisation but there was noone around anyway! Winton is a little famous town with just err one road, first place ever that 'Waltzing Matilda' was played (famous oz anthem) DAn told us what the song was about and trasnslated the ozzy slang - basically about a bush man who stole a sheep to eat and instead of facing the death punishment decided to drown himself in a billabong hmmm nice...?? Winton is also famous as the birthplace of Qantas (Queensland and Northen Territory Aerial Service) the oldest airplane company in the world! Also the place where the 'Flying Doctors' first came into practice. Our BBq lunch in 42degrees was a bit of a challenge with flies absolutley everywhere, had to invest in a famous ozzy outback fly veil - not very attractive but absolutely essential! Winton also held the record for longest road train - 34 trailers towed by 1 truck! Record now is 64! From here in in all the water comes directly from underground so even the cold water is hot ha ha!
Middleton Another couple of hours in as the soil turned to sand and trees disappeared we were in middleton which is the most random place Ive ever been to, if u can even call it a place!? Built in 1876 it has a population of 6 - including 2 dogs and a 5yr old girl!!! There's a hotel there (or at least its called Middleton Hotel) ran by a guy called Lester who apparently looks like the guy out of 'Wolf Creek'! They even have a makes*** footy stadium here, unfortunately the goal posts were recently knocked down by a herd of camels! Lester is typical ozzy outback guy, a little strange but hey I think we'd all go a bit nuts living somewhere like that, he loved it tho! I promise I will never say Rothwell is in the middle of nowhere ever again now I have been to this place!! Back on bus and after hr of driving the landscape changed rapidly to red desert and huge rock formations, Dan stopped at a lookout for us, so colourful filled with reds and yellows. Then in the 46degree heat Dan gave us a lesson on whip cracking!
Boulia Small town used for toilet stop - had to stop where we could, and theres not many places at all! Dan was surprised it was so green here - usually just red or brown dirt. They have a gold course here but cos its usually just dirt they have small squares of pretend grass that you take round with u each time u wanna take a shot, fun eh!
Wirrelyerna Station We spent the night at this authentic working cattle station with nothing for miles either side of us but desert! Love these places, so out of the real world! They have camels, geese, pigs, cockatoo, chickens, resident and very friendly roo called Mary and loadsa BUGS! After a warm welcome we walked to the waterhole and were invited in for a swim but I chose to play with the Roo instead, so cool! We watched the sunset over the desert and then gathered round the camp fire for dinner, storytelling and didgeridoo playing (or attempts at playing!) Later we wandered into the pitch black to go stargazing, saw orions belt and the southern cross, no shooting stars tho! Had a really great time here, these places are so relaxed and friendly, a true outback experience!
Day 3: Boulia - Alice Springs
Up at 5am for brekkie and on the bus before the sun had even rose, meant there were no flies around tho! Today was mostly driving on unsealed roads - so dirt tracks then! We drove through the Simpson Desert, the largest in Oz and bigger than England!!!! It was surprisingly green, theyve had 6inches of rain here in last 3 months - more than the last 3yrs put together! For a real feeling of remoteness Dan decided to chuck us off the bus and drive off leaving us in the absolute middle of nowhere with nothing either side of us for as far as we could see and nothing but an old dirt track to walk on, how nice of him!
Northern Territory Change time to go half an hour back - why oh why!!? This is one of only a few places in world with silly half hr time difference! Apparently people in this state are strange and little slow - when you see the state sign you'll see why - unless you do spell it 'TERRRITORY' - how did no-one notice before they put up the state border sign as that???!! Also they have a bird on the sign to represent the state that is actually the emblem of Queensland - doh!
Tobermorey Station Another welcome ice cream stop, love these little random places stocked up with ice cream! half an hr before our lunch stop the bus started whirring and beeping before stopping (or err breaking down!) yes in mid nowhere!! We were right next to a 5.1m termite mound tho which was pretty cool! Dan managed to get the bus going again and it was onto Jervois Station for our lunch stop - we all basically have to help make sarnices n stuff! Nothing here at all really (again!) there is an air raid shelter here somewhere used when they used to test bombs but thats it! Now 5 hrs to go with no stops other than bushes for toilets! Good job the DVD player is working!
Alice Springs Made it YAY!!! Yes in the middle of the desert hidden away is Alice Springs! Such a relief to get to my hostel (which is lovely by the way) and actually see other people and cars and just well normal things again!!! We all had dinner together at the bar - kangaroo curry mmmm!! And then bed, bloomin knackered after 3 days of doing not alot in nowhere! SO good to have a lie in today - or i think 8am is a lie in now!! Not gunna last long now tho - tomorrow I get picked up at 5AM for the beginning of my 6 day trip to Adelaide - tomorrow its Kings Canyon and then onto Ayers Rock / Uluru, interested to see my reaction to that place, some people say its amazing but others (usually guys) just say its a big rock so we'll see!!
Ang xx
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