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Well folks you may have only just got through that last 'little' update but we are back once again for the next installment of the Wolfe/Thompson Australia extravaganza. Apologies now for the length but it has been a pretty action packed week...
So we only spent a day in Adelaide and didn't really get up to much other than taking the little yellow beast to the carwash (highlight of trip obviously) and then returning her in one piece to the hire place - hurrah rah rah! Next morning, if you can even call that ridiculous time morning, we were picked up from our hostel at 5am - aarhrghhhhh - and set off on a 6 day tour up to Alice Springs. Upon boarding the bus, which was about the size of a bicycle, we checked out the folks we were to spend the the next week with and realised that we may have accidently boarded the Saga Tours bus as the average of people looked to be about 60 - hurray. Too shattered to think about whether we should dye our hair grey just to fit in however we snoozed off and headed on the long drive into the outback.
Passing through the Clare Valley and into the Flinders Ranges we first stopped at Yourambulla Caves to see some Aboriginal cave paintings. After unfolding ourselves from our contortionist type positions on the midget bus (story about the naming of the bus to follow) we stepped out into the baking dry heat and headed to the caves. The landscape was unlike anything we had seen in Australia so far, bright red sand, rock and mountains and just a huge expanse of nothingness every direction you looked. Within seconds the dreaded flies were upon us and we started perfecting the famous Australian wave trying to get the b*****s out of our eyes, noses and mouths - lovely. The cave paintings were nothing too special so after a few snaps we all just wanted to get back on the bus to escape the heat.
After driving through the mountain ranges we arrived at our first stop - Parachilna. Now this place was completely bizarre, an outback 'town' about 200kms from any kind of civilisation with a population of 7, yes 7!! Our accommodation was actually pretty nice dorm rooms and we cracked on with a barbie for our first outback meal consisting of camel sausages, emu burgers and kangaroo steak - absolutely awesome. Then it was off to the town pub (yes a town of 7 always needs a pub in Oz) to sample a few beers. After establishing that not all our group were in fact Saga members we decided to crack on with some drinking games to get to know eachother a bit better. And obviously me and Grant being the King c*** and Queen Hen of drinking based entertainment ruled the roost with a game of Chickens. Now the crowning glory of the game these days is that we now have the amazing chicken hat that the loser has to wear, so we cracked on with this and egged everyone on to get involved, with feathers flying as everyone fought to get a hold of the AMAZING hat - clucking good fun. At around 11pm we all then stepped over to the town station to see the worlds longest train roar by. It is 2.5 kms long and carries coal from the north to the south of Australia - pretty impressive although after about 5 mins of watching it we kind of got the idea then headed off to bed.
Next day was a driving bonanza with around 700 kms to cover so it was up at a respectable 7am and off on the fun bus. We stopped lots on the journey a) to pee b) so Scooter our tour guide could smoke 50 cigarettes in 10 minutes and c) because there is amazing wildlife to be seen all over the Flinders Ranges. Highlights were wild kangaroos, wallabys and Emus. After a spot of lunch it was off on a 'walk' at Wilpena Pound. There was an easy option, then one which was a bit harder we were told and pretty much all uphill. Now, obv Grant was keen on the uphill extravaganza which meant that I couldn't exactly wimp out and go fo the easy option with the Saga members, so it was up the hill we went in the lunchtime sun. The 'hill' was actually called Mount Ohlssen Bagge and it ended up being one of the hardest things I have ever done! There was literally no shade and with temperatures at around 40 degrees it was completely exhausting. The climb up took around 2 hours in the end and with much encouragement from Thompson G we finally made it to the summit and looked out over amazing views of Wilpena Pound and the Flinders Ranges - breathtaking. The climb down was pretty taxing too, with the sun shining in our faces and no water left, but we finally made it down to the bus and heded off for the second night staying at Rawnsley Park Sheep Station. Unfortunately we didn't manage to get up close and personal with any sheep (I am well keen to do some sheep shearing) but we did have wild kangaroos where we were staying which was cool. After dinner and a few beers we hit the hay pretty early and looked forward to another day on the fun bus heading through the outback to Coober Pedy.
Now Coober Pedy is a very wierd place and literally in the middle of nowhere. It has around 5000 inhabitants and 80% of these live underground due to the ridiculously high temperatures. Pretty much the only reason to live there is for the opal mining which covers a huge area around the town. We were shown a video about the mining which was actually really interesting and were then taken down to see an underground house - so bizarre, but mainly because the houses are actually so normal, just with no windows! You basically buy a plot of land and then just dig down to make your house, but obv as you are not too sure where you are digging you sometimes dig into someone else's living room by mistake - doh. We headed to an undergound bar that night and with our little group of me, Grant, Vishy, Kieran, Christina (Jim-Bob) and Caity formed we got the beers in and started a game of 'I've Never'. Scooter our guide then joined us and after a few rounds plucked up the courage to ask us if any of us have 'ever done it with a midget?!?' After cracking up for about 5 minutes we said a firm no and asked if he had... much stumbling over his words ensued and he said that he hadn't but we were all pretty sure there's a story there...
We stayed in underground dorms that night which are built into the side of a mountain, like most of the other homes in Coober Pedy. This was quite a cool experience and we slept pretty well before being rudely awoken at 5am for the long drive up to Uluru.
This drive was one of the longest and most remote pieces of the outback we had been through yet. For about 500kms we rarely saw another vehicle on the road and were just greeted by sights of dusty red earth as far as the eye could see every time we looked out of the window. Now, not meaning to be mean but it was then on this journey that we came to realise that one of the Saga couples on the bus, a German couple, were actually from a town called Smellsville. Man, they absolutely reeked and we were stuck behind them on the hot, sweaty bus for 7 hours - lovely! Grant's anger at the Smellsville's almost boiled over at one point as he fought with himself about how rude it would actually be to tell someone they needed to wash!!
We arrived at Uluru at sunset and set off to see the famous rock that everyone kept talking about - that'll be Ayres Rock. As we approached it it really does take your breath away as it is so huge and the only thing in the middle of flat red desert. The history of how it was formed is fascinating but I won't go into it now as you may lose your concentration (if you haven't already!), maybe google it instead. We had a few bottles of champagne as the sun went down but due to the cloudy sky the sunset was not too good actually over the rock. However it was a cool experience and the sight of the huge full moon rising was pretty special. On the way back to the bus Scooter almost p!ssed himself as he spotted a king brown snake, one of the most poisonous in Oz, and jumped off into the bushes in a Steve Irwin moment to get a shot of it! A few minutes after this we had an emergency stop in the bus as a wild camel trottted into the road in front of us! There are actually thousands of wild camels around that area which we never realised existed in Oz but we were well chuffed to see one right in front of us.
Sleeping in swags was the accommodation for that night and after a few spots of rain (whaaat - in the outback desert?!?!) we settled down on the ground and looked up at the moon - so cool. It was actually too hot to even sleep in the swag so we just lay on top of them and left ourselves open to the elements and any curious snakes, camels, kangaroos or anything else that fancied a peek. It ended up being one of the best sleeps we have had months and even though we woke at 4.30am we felt pretty spritely and set off to see the sunrise at Ayres Rock.
Sunrise was pretty special and the whole place felt kind of eerie and spiritual. As the sun came up however so did the flies and before we knew it we were covered and reaching for the highly attractive face nets we had bought - an absolute godsend! We did the base walk which is 9.4 kms... however if you are Lindsey and Grant it is more like 15kms if you don't listen to the instructions of when to stop and carry on half way round again - doh. Was amazing to see it up close however and we learnt all about the areas of the rock that are spiritually significant and how parts of it were used to live in by the aboriginal people. For example, there is a 'women's area' of the rock which aboriginal men are lot allowed to go near or even look at, tourists are also not allowed to take photos of these parts.
We headed to The Olgas after which are another huge rock formation - 36 boulder shaped rocks all piled together. We did a walk over some of the rocks but were not allowed to go into some areas at the temperature between some of the rock faces had reached over 70 degrees c!!!! The temperature in the air for us was about 45 degrees anyway so we headed back to the love bus for some air con relief and made sure we stayed well clear of the Smellsville's.
Kings Canyon was our final destination on our way up to Alice Springs and we stayed overnight there in swags again. Grant got stuck right in when we arrived and made fire like man should and I got chopping veg like woman should. We then cooked food in the fire and passed round a didgeridoo to see who had the best musical skills. Grant scored quite highly on this so I'm pretty sure he could make it as an aboriginal bloke, and long as he stuck to the rules and didn't peek at any women's boulders he wasn't supposed to. The stars were out in full force as we settled down in our swags, along with a few wild dingos who came sniffing around the camp - cool!
So, Kings Canyon was the last place left on our hitlist and we headed off there for an early morning walk through The Lost City and down to the Garden of Eden. The walk was a real highlight of the trip as the Canyon was just amazing and completely fascinating to hear about the history of it. It started with a climb up Heart Attack Hill (does what it says on the tin) and after a few hours trekking we came to The Garden of Eden which is a beautiful lagoon in the middle of the Canyon. After stripping down to our swimmers we jumped in (or fell head first if you are Christina) and slothed around in the warm water before spending another few hours trekking over the ancient rocks in the 45 degree heat.
Leaving Kings Canyon we set off for Alice Springs through muchos desert outback once more and arrived early evening. Alice is a wierd place and as we sat in an internet cafe overheard a guy saying there had been 6 murders, 5 rapes and 7 stabbings in the town in the past month - lovely. There are problems there due to the Aboriginal people being basically pushed out of living there when Western settlers arrived. Every Bottle Shop has at least a few Aboriginal people hanging around and a large majority are alcoholics and living on the edge of society. However, as it was the end of our trip together we decided the only answer was to get drunk and that's just what we did! A few games of Ride the Bus ensued and before we knew it we were waking up fully clothed (in our hostel thank god) to the early morning sun, feeling slightly worse for wear and with a plane to catch to Cairns...eeek!
Linz x
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