First day my plans got ruined cos of the delayed flight. I explored the simple city of Alice Springs. Had a scrumptous lunch - I know I should have chosen the grilled camel but ended up choosing chorizo melt with wedges. A well deserved one knowing that I got all too exhausted from the waiting and the airport sickness. There whilst eating I was planning my journey and things that I will still be needing - believe me the list never gets complete no matter how well you planned.
I decided to take a rest before and cancel my visit to the Reptile Centre. I also missed the wallaby feeding. I then went to the Red Dreaming Show - an aboriginal musical exhibit with both traditional and contemporary dances while playing Digeridoo. It was amazing cos you'll hear stories and traditions of aborigines.
Next day was a bit wasted cos the tour guide was sick. Fortunately, we had Nick as our tour guide. He's really cool and amazing! We started to write our names using violet and silver markers on the bus windows. Great way to know each other from the tour. Eventually I was able to memorise all 23 names (2 Swedish, 1 Dutch, 1 Hollander, 3 Americans, 3 English, 2 Irish, 1 Korean and the rest are Germans) and learn their own little journey stories. In the morning, we were able to enjoy a short camel ride. It was way too bumpy but still I immensely loved it.
Since the swags (our sleeping saviour) were all left in the campsite in Uluru. Nick decided to reverse the itinerary. He told us to throw it away. We went to Uluru first. Initially I am having doubts climbing Uluru for two reasons. One, I want to respect the aboriginal belief that the rock is sacred. Second, the brochure handed to us mentioned that about 35 people died during the climb. Eventually, I said what the hell. I am only here once and I want to make my journey as memorable as possible. A lot of my tour mates attempted but gave up. The only 'survivors' were me, two english girls, three american girls and one korean guy. I gave up twice but Maddy and Nancy (Brit Girls) were able to give me motivation. In short, I made it. But I have to tell you that its the toughest climb I ever did. The rock was slippery and steep and on the first parts there were no railings. But I did! I did. I jumped with joy and enthusiasm. Now you can see it in my FB profile. I am damn proud!
The other thing with Ayer's Rock is that temperature can rise up to 36 degrees and can drop as low as 4 degrees! It was so extreme. When the sun is at its highest - flies population multiplied! They all seem to race to anything black and stick to your face. It was soo annoying. Look closely on pic below. You'll see a fly sitting in my nose. Aaargh...
Then we went off to the sunset spot. Had some beer. Fruit cake. Cheese and biscuits. The view was so spectacular. Ayer's Rock seems to change its color depending on the reflections of the sun.
After the sun has set at quarter past six we headed off to the camp site. It was a convenient site knowing that there were clean toilets and nice and warm showers. It also has some vending machines in it - what more can u ask for. The previous camping at Kakadu - we just had a filthy toilet hole which smells shitty.
Next day - Kata Tjuta. It was one exhausting journey! 10km's walk around the 36 stones. It was magnificently fashioned by nature and every few steps you seem to see it better and clearer. I played around in the middle of the journey and piled stones from biggest to smallest. Along the journey, I got hungry and needed to pee during the hike. I peed when no one was looking. :P For my hunger, good thing I brought a bag of peanuts to eat during the journey.
We head out to King's Creek, which was a short distance to King's Canyon (the next day's destination). I was exhausted but I am happy at the same time. We deserved a nice meal. We had thai chicken curry and nice stir fried noodles with veggies. Camp was amazing but I got annoyed with two germans who started chatting. Its midnight for crying out loud. And to make it worse. They stayed in the quiet spot. If I have known I should have slept near the fire camp. Thank God for the miracle of music.
King's Canyon was a 6km's walk. It involved an extensive hike to the peak of the mountain. The challenge was to hike and together with the group. I was able to stick with them. But I was the last to arrive. My heart was raising and sweat started to flow profusely. I got multiple palpitation but all is good. It was an indication how my health is. I have to give credit to my spirit walks in Sydney. I was able to recover and drink lots of liquid. The next parts were easy. The view was awesome and all hard work was reaped and well-earned. Got gazillion pictures. We passed by the Lost City. The King's Canyon itself. Garden of Eden. Priscilla's Crack (I know its strange!!).
After nearly 3 hours of hiking. We decided to head back to our campsite. Eat lunch. BBQ was delicious. I even discovered a nice toast combining melted cheese with chocolate spread! The swedish people seemed to appreciate it. :)
During our last night, our group had a celebration dinner. Damn those three american girls who are soo impatient. They demanded the meal list to be ordered when they know some of us haven't ordered yet. Anyway, it was amazing cos we learned different things about each other cultures. We all then went to some local pub in the city. Music and drinks are the best tool to enjoy the night. I ended up finishing up at 1:00 am. I realised I have exhausted all my dance moves. LOL!
Overall, the tour was magnificent. More than words can describe. It was an important experience for me as this was my first time backpacking and traveling alone and I reckon I chose the best place to travel - right in the heart of the Australian Outback. Met a lot of new friends. Learned to socialise with people from various background.
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Click the pics below to see my Multiply album:
ULURU
KATA TJUTA
KING'S CANYON
VARIOUS ALICE SPRINGS PICS
Below are some helpful links:
2 comments:
hey hey ive been so outdated with blog life - i bumped into niko last weekend in myers who did mention to me that you went to uluru... instinct told me to visit your blog... and i can say, i am so damn proud of you!!! and also, that i am jealous!!! i will go there one day - ah, please give me your itinerary! =)
:P its nice. u should definitely do it!
anyway, skydive was fun and i will do it again :P
hope to see u in the next few days...
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