A warm hello to everyone reading back at home! The group just re-entered civilization after an awesome 5 day outback experience with WayOutback tours. Our guide, Tamara, took great care of us while we all got acclimated to the 40+ degree desert lifestyle. We left Alice Springs on December 1st bright and early in the morning so that we could get to camp in time to hike around the famous sandstone rock Uluru. As some of you may know, rain has a tendency to follow the Walkabout group wherever we go. This week, we used our magic powers to make it rain on Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Lightning is always awesome, but there were some pretty unique benefits this time around. Not only did the rain/thunder storms cool us down, but they formed waterfalls all over Uluru, something that even Tam had never seen before.
Life at camp normally involved cooking, cleaning and fire duty (Obviously the guys chose fire whenever possible). Dinner was always delicious, and Tam made sure our (steadily increasing) veggie population was always cared for. On Day 2, we woke up at the ungodly hour of 3:45 AM so we could beat the heat. We got to watch the day begin from a vantage point with Kata Tjuta to our left and the sunrise to our right. Soon after, we began our hike through the sacred sites of Kata Tjuta, which was even more spectacular than Uluru. However, I’m of the opinion that even Kata Tjuta couldn’t compare to our day in Kings Canyon National Park. From the layered cliff sides to the amazing Garden of Eden, practically everything we saw on our Day 3 hike was breathtaking.
Day 4 in the Outback started at the much more reasonable hour of 6 AM, and involved a good deal of Aboriginal teachings and culture. We stayed on the farm of a very kind woman named Loy, who showed us around her property. She told us stories of her family and took us to see Aboriginal petroglyphs/rock art from up to 5 thousand years ago. Moreover, Loy drove us to a hill where we found fossils that dated back 450 million years. Later that afternoon, we took a dip in a natural oasis with some awesome cliff diving. It was great to cool down in such a beautiful location, but it was short lived so that we could make a trip to the local Ochre deposit. Ochre is what Aboriginal people have used as sacred body paint for generations. The ~20 foot cliffs had incredible red, yellow and white layers of the pigment running through them. It took all the self restraint we had to not take any of the stones laying about the feet of the cliffs. We finished the day at by “Glamping” in Tam-speak. Our camp site had electricity and tents, although most of us elected to crash outside in our swags (which are like sleeping bags, just lighter and more sturdy).
Day 5 was bittersweet. On one hand, our hikes were incredible as usual, but on the other, none of us wanted our time in the bush to end. In the morning we hiked up the Ghost Gum walk and did some rock hopping, and in the afternoon we walked through the Fink Gorge, where we saw palm trees of all things. It took some serious off-roading to get there. Rebecca and I happened to be sitting in the front that day, and unfortunately for us, those seats tend to give their passengers some air on the big bumps. By the laughs coming from the back, I’m guessing it was entertaining for everyone when our heads made contact with the roof.
On December 5th, we arrived back in Alice Sprigs at 6pm that day and hugged Tam goodbye. Now it’s just two more days in the Outback before we fly off to our last destination of the Semester!
To my family back at home, I love you and I’ll see you soon!
You stay classy, USA.
Dylan