Red Center

Due to a series of unfortunate events I am a bit behind on my blogging. I sort of had this completely written before I went to Adelaide, but then it got deleted. Sad day, I know. Let’s try round two, second verse same as the first...only better?

Alice Springs was fantastic, to say the least. Hot as hell, but fantastic. I think my trip to Uluru may be one of my favorite. I did a two night, three day tour from Alice Springs. Fun fact, they call it “The Alice” there, isn’t that adorable?!

Our first stop was a camel farm, and I got to ride one! It was just around the yard, but it was ridiculously fun. It was more bouncy than a horse, and man did those camels not want to behave. It took the trainer quite a bit of time to get the camel to stand up and sit down, probably around a minute and a half each. Silly rebellious camel!

Any who, after that we drove to Kata Tjuta, also known as The Olgas. There are two trails which you can walk on, a short and a long one. The long one was closed because it was far too hot, so we did a short hour and a half walk.

I should probably mention the heat. It was pretty disgusting. It got up to 45 C (113 F) during the day, and we were hiking around in it. It was so hot that 30 C (86 F) felt chilly at night. The sun could be physically felt beating down on you. I managed to avoid sunburn though! Through careful application of sunscreen and a hat and sunglasses, however I do now have a nice golden glow. I’m flippin tan!

After lunch we were promised a dip in a pool, however it was closed. We contemplated jumping the fence or starting a riot, most just settled for a fully clothed shower.

That night we went and watched the sunset on Ayer’s Rock. I was actually a little disappointed with it. The rock itself was beautiful, a fantastic glowing red that really did change colors as the sun set. The problem was the crowd gathered to watch said color change. There was a ton of people gathered, some sipping wine eating hors d'oeuvres, others talking loudly and not appreciating what they were standing in front of.

That night we slept outside in swags. Swags are like little mattresses that you put your sleeping bag on top of and it makes it more comfortable, actually quite comfortable. It was hot enough that we didn’t need our sleeping bags, so most people just slept on top of the sleeping bag as well.

I’ve never slept outside where there is no light pollution. The first night we slept in a camp site where there were a few street lamps, and some people in cabins nearby, but other than that there was nothing. The second night was the middle of nowhere, we were the only ones around so once our lamp went out it was like someone turned on the sky. It was spectacular, breathtaking. If you haven’t seen the stars with no light pollution, you haven’t seen the stars. They go on forever, tiny flecks of light spreading out across the sky.

I was also there around the peak of the Leonid meteor shower, so I saw quite a few shooting stars. I never realized they were so fast, you blink and they’re gone. I didn’t even have time to make a wish, although I didn’t really have one prepared in advance.

The next morning (and I use the word morning loosely) we had to be up at 4 (still night in my book) because we were headed to watch the sunrise over Uluru (AKA Ayer’s Rock). The sunrise was much better than the sunset, as significantly fewer people made it up in time to see it. The color changes were really quite lovely.

After the sun had risen, while it was still marginally cool (as in not midday), we did a base walk around the rock. It took around two hours to get all the way around it. The textures on the rock were really interesting, and I took way too many pictures. Huge chunks are missing where erosion has eaten away at the rock. There were some aboriginal paintings in sections, and sacred sites dotted the base. There were signs indicating that no pictures could be taken at those places.

I saw some dingoes running around the rock as well. They just trotted by on the path, a few feet from the people walking around, totally nonchalant about it. Way to go dingoes.

Climbing up the rock was closed that day. In case you didn’t know, it is still legal to climb Ayer’s Rock, but it is extremely discouraged. The traditional owners view it as a very sacred site and take full responsibility every time someone is hurt on the climb. They see it as their fault, as it is their land. Efforts are being made to make it completely illegal; as it stands it is just extremely frowned upon. Quite often it is closed due to temperatures or winds, anyway. I had no intention of climbing it, even if I could have. I think it’s important to respect the Aboriginal people’s beliefs, even if I don’t share them, and I respect their acceptances of everyone as being important, rather than just their own people as so many other cultures do.

Most of the rest of the day was spent driving to get to King’s Canyon, our next stop. The next morning we were up early again (this time at 4:30, whoo sleeping in!) to get there. The night before our guide, B, gave us a talk over dinner. To climb King’s Canyon you must first scale a bit called “Heart Attack Hill”. The walk is 3-4 hours long depending on the pace (I think we did it in 4 because we had a decent sized group) and almost entirely in the sun. To do it B required a certain amount of water and checked to make sure each person had it before allowing us to even try.

The first section certainly lived up to its name. I’m glad it was at the beginning, the day was still warming up from the night before so it wasn’t as hot as the end, and the knowledge that it was the hardest bit of the walk added an incentive to reach the top.

I’m elated to say that I did it, made it to the top and managed to not get shipped to a hospital for dehydration. The views more than made up for the wheezing to the top. It was like we were standing on the top of the world. I think it was my second favorite thing we did on the tour, the first being falling asleep and waking up to the stars ablaze.

It’s hard to describe how breathtaking Kings Canyon is. It would take a better versed writer than I to do it, and I don’t want to insult the emotions associated by attempting to do so. Just know that people have been known to cry upon reaching the top, and I feel honored to have experienced it.

After Kings Canyon we went to a rest stop camp ground setup with a pool and lots of bathrooms and jumped into the pool, several of us (including me) fully clothed. Bathing suits is for pansies!

Never has a pool felt so good in my life. I can still feel the cool water against my skin after the hike in the sun all day. I’m trying to think of an artistic metaphor, but all I can think of is jumping into a cool pool on a hot day. Close enough?

I’m certain this post was longer the first time I wrote it, but I’m exhausted and don’t care to try and remember what I said then. More to come in the next day or so, I have two more posts planned before leaving for New Zealand. Until then, stay classy kittens!