Alice Springs (Central Australia). click here for link to Uluru

I just got back from Alice Springs in Central Australia. I managed to survive 2 encounters with snakes (one of which was a deadly poisinous Brown Snake), huge beatles, a zillion flys buzzing into my ears, mouth and eyes, AND the heat. Most of the days averaged 40c and higher! I'm not complaining but seriously that was bloody hot!

Day 1

Up at 5am to grab breakfast and hop onto the bus. I took a good look around at the 24 people I'd be spending the next 3 days with. Korea came in first picking up 6 seats, Germany followed with 5 seats, Canada picked up 4 seats (including me), 3 guys from England, 2 girls from Australia (including our tour guide) and 1 seat each for Spain, Chile, Austria, Japan and Holland. The drive to our first location took most of the morning. We took a couple breaks to stretch our legs, go to the washroom, and pick up our swags(canvas sleeping bags with a foam mattress on the bottom). Lunch was 2 tuna or egg sandwiches on the bus. Big spenders.

At 2pm we arrived at our 1st location Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park where the entry fee for visiting aboriginal land was $25/person for 3 days. Uluru(Ayres Rock) is a monoleth meaning it's actualy one huge rock. It is made of sandstone and stands 1142 ft high. Most of the bulk is underground (kinda like an iceburg). It is 9.4km around and takes 3-4 hours to walk around the entire rock. All of us were up to the walk but our guide pulled the plug when we got there due to the extream heat. We ended up walking around the last part of it which took us an hour. You can read more on the Wikipedia site by clicking on the title of this blog.

We made our way to our first camp and set up our gear for the night. There was a pool at the camp so we all took a refreshing dip in the pool. After getting cleaned up we drove back to Uluru for sunset. Looking back on my photos you can see "the rock" change colours about 4 times. It was amazing! When the sun went down we drove back to our camp to make dinner and head to bed.

We slept under the stars in a swag. Now, you are probabably thinking that sleeping under the stars would be beautiful and peacefull but you couldn't be more wrong! ha ha. That night was the worst sleep of my life! ha ha. I had a thin sleeping bag tucked inside my swag but I was roasting in it. It was so hot but I was so scared of all the bugs, beatles, snakes, spiders and dingos that I stayed inside as long as I could. I think I might have slept about 2 hours that night worried about beatles landing on me and snakes slithering into my sleeping bag. :)

Day 2

I survived the night! Our tour guide Clarla woke us up at 4:30am. We brushed our teeth, rolled up our sleeping bags & swags, loaded them on our trailer and headed out to Kata Tjuta for sunrise. Once into the National Park we walked to the lookout area to view the sunrise. In the far distance you could see Uluru and directly behind us was Kata Tjuta. The sunrise was breathtaking.

After sunrise we walked back to the bus and Carla (our tour guide) had prepared breakfast for us (bread with jam, peanut butter, hazelnut spread, Weetabix, milk, tea and coffee). When we were all finished "breaky" as they call it, we drove to Kata Tjuta for a 2 hour hike. On the way back we saw a huge lizard but stayed just long enough to take some quick photos. Carla said that it must be protecting some eggs near by cause she didn't look too happy. Once we were back on the bus we drove most of the morning to get to our next camp. There was a pool at the camp so we all hung out there for the afternoon and had lunch. After the sun went down we started getting ready for bed. I was on my way to the bathroom when I saw something slither across my pathway. As I shone my flashlight over to my left I saw a snake! Yeah, I snake. It froze in the spotlight and then lifted it's head at me...I kept walking VERY QUICKLY toward the bathroom while keeping the flashlight on it. Holy cow, that was scary. I have to say snakes are my #1 fear next to heights! I had such a hard time sleeping that night be did eventually fall asleep. :)

Day 3

Carla woke us up at 3:45am and I was the first one out of my sleeping bag! We packed up the trailer and had a quick breakfast (mainly bread, with jam, peanut butter and hazelnut spread, peaches and yogurt). We drove to Kings Canyon and by the time we got there it was light enough to see where we were going but the sun was still hiding behind the horizon. We started on the pathway out of the parking lot and 2 mins into it my heart started racing. There were about 8 people in front of me and they all managed to pass a snake on the right side of the path without noticing. This one was brown and long! I yelled "oh my gosh....SNAKE" and turn back on myself running over the 4 people behind me. Carla was up ahead leading the group and couldn't believe she didn't see it when they walked past. She walked back toward the group and told us all to keep walking to the left side of the path towards her. My heart was pounding! She confirmed that it was Brown Snake and highly poisonous! Nice.

As we approached "Heart Attack Hill" Carla welcomed us to Kings Canyon. The 1st hill was very steep and rocky but the view at the top was beautiful. The sun was almost ready to peek over the canyon but we kept on walking around the ridge. We walked in the shade for about 15mins and then came around a corner to a wide open space. The sun had just popped over the ridge. What a sight! We continued walking around the ridge of the canyon until we reached "The Garden of Eden". We walked down the metal steps half way down the canyon. In front of us was the most beautiful "water hole" or small lake. Most of us hopped right in but I was a bit weary. One of the German guys asked if there were any water snakes. Carla said "no, but there are leeches." Nice.

I finally jumped in the water and it felt so good after walking around in the heat for the last hour. We stayed for a half hour and then continued our walk around the ridge of the canyon and back down to the parking lot. We headed back to camp to have brunch then boarded the bus for our long drive back to Alice Springs. Along the way we saw 3 wild camels walking near the road side. Did you know that in 1860 Camels were brought over to help build the railway in Australia? Who knew? How come no one ever talks about that? Closer to Alice Springs we saw some wild horses and 2 babies as well. So cool. No Kangaroos but there were lots of signs telling us to watch for them.

We reached Alice Springs around 4pm and let me tell ya it felt so good to take a shower and hang out in my air conditioned hostel for a while. I took a little nap and then got ready for dinner. Our whole group met at our hostel for dinner and drinks that night.

Over all my trip to Alice Springs was the best experience I've had so far. I've officially been in Australia for a month now and I'm wondering if anything will top my experience in the outback!

More photos to follow when I can but it might take awhile.

Until next time...