Adelaide to Uluru

After we spent an amazing few days in Cape Trib it was back to Cairns for one night, then on to Adelaide, or more specifically Glenelg. When we got there it was Sunday night, which is apparently the big party night for them. Our hostel was right by the beach, and the main drag, and it was totally packed. Every restaurant was full, there were huge lines to get into clubs, and there were people everywhere. We had dinner on a patio, and watched all the people go by. Our hostel was nice too, like a big old house.

The next day we headed to a car rental place, because the real point (for Nerida and Linda anyway) was to see wine country. So I agreed if they fed me for two days, I would drive them around so they could get hammered, because really there wasn't anything that interested me in Adelaide.

The first day we drove our to Barossa Valley, and the first winery that we went to was Jacob's Creek. I had never heard of any of the places we went, but apparently this was a famous one. We also went to Wolf Blass, and a bunch of others. The next day we went to McLaren Vale.

So after two days of heavy drinking (for them), we got on a plane to head to the Red Centre, the desert, the middle of nowhere. It is very red, but I was surprised at how green it was. It is the rainy season right now, and there was green bushes and small trees everywhere. The green and the red with the bright blue sky was amazing.

When we got to Alice Springs, our tour guide Kat picked us up to take us out camping for the next three nights. The first day was a lot of driving, and we got to our camp site in time to see the sun set on Uluru (Ayers Rock, although they don't like people to call it that any more). Then we set up our tents. I think that Linda was very shocked that it was real camping, but I was plesantly surprised. I was picturing just us and a tent in the middle of the desert, but we had a kitchen with a fridge and power, I was very excited. That night it did pour, and there was a small leak in our tent on my head, but it kept the heat down so I was grateful for it.

The next morning we got to sleep in, until 6:30am (that was the latest we got to sleep in the whole time). We ate breakfast and drove around Uluru, but then headed out to KataTjuta, otherwise known at the Olgas. Kata Tjuta means 'many heads', and it is rock like Uluru, but instead of one large monolith, it is many big ones together. It has to do with how they were pushed up out of the ground; Kata Tjuta was shoved up quickly and viloently, so the broke into many peices, while Uluru was slow and remained intact. We did a 7.5 km hike through Kata Tjuta, it was really beautiful. It was still raining, but it kept it cool and it was nice. That afternoon we did a short 2km walk at Uluru, and saw some drawings on the wall, as well as the area they used as a kitchen, and where women had to climb up to have their babies. That night we went to a different lookout point and watched the sunset on Uluru. We talked to some Japanese people on a tour, they thought my minimal Japanese was amazing, it was pretty funny.

The next day we got up at 4am, and went to watch the sunrise on Uluru. The reason that Uluru is red is because it is covered in rust, the iron in the rock mixing with the air and water creates rust. In places where the river runs off Uluru, you can see the true colour of the rock, which is a grey. The sun changes the colour of the rock and obviously the sky, so it is a big deal to see it as many times from as many angles as possible. After that we went for a walk around Uluru, which is just over 9km. The first half was ok, and it was all a flat walk, but once the sun came up it got pretty hot, even though we were done by 8:30am. It was pretty amazing, I took tons of pictures. There are some areas that they ask you don't take pictures of, because they are sacred. The also have a place where you can climb Uluru, it is really steep and there is a chain that you have to hold onto to pull yourself up and to get down. Even though you are allowed, the Anagu people who own the land ask that you don't, and our guide said that within the next ten years you probably will not be able to. I didn't want to, you can see how the path the people walk on is worn down from so many people, I think I got to enjoy it much more walking around the base. After the walk we went and packed up all of our camping gear, because we spent the last night at a different camp site.

That afternoon we went to the cultural centre. The land was given back to the Anagu people in 1985, on the condition that they lease it directly back to the governement for 99 years. So now they run the park together, and the people have bulit the culutral centre. There was some interesting vidoes, and really beautiful art. When we were done there, we drove to our new camp ground.

On the last day, we got up even earlier than the other two days, and headed to King's Canyon. I had never even heard of this place before we went there, and I actually thought it was the most beautiful place that we went. We climbed up it, and reached to top in time to see the sunrise. Then we went on a 7 or 8 km hike, and it was absolutely amazing. It was a huge canyon, all of red rock, and it went on forever. We walked down into it to a swim hole called the Garden of Eden, and then back up and around. This is a picture of me at the swim hole with three amazing French women I met, two from Quebec and one from southern France. I have been so forturnate on this trip to meet so many amazing people from all over the world, and from home.

That afternoon we got on a plane back to Sydney. I was really amazed by the Australian Outback, it was more beautiful than I could have imagined, but I was glad to be heading back to the city. We returned to the Steyne Hostel where I will be staying until January 1st. I was orignially going to fly to Perth for New Years, but I have decided I cannot miss the big fireworks display in the Sydney harbour. So for the next few days it is going to be all relaxing on the beach.