Wow. I don’t even know where to begin to talk about these three days. Uluru was one of the top things I wanted to see coming to Australia, but it really is out in the middle of nowhere so it’s not easy to get to. Alex and I tried to look at every option on how to get to the rock and see it, and we finally concluded that going with a tour is just as cheap if not cheaper than renting a car or getting there on our own some other way. We opted to go with The Rock Tour. It’s a three day tour that covers King’s Canyon, Kata Tjuta, and Uluru.
Day 1:
Our tour guide Darren picked us up at 5:30 am at our hostle in Alice Springs. We were with a colorful group of 13 other people ranging from 18 to 80 years old! I knew it was going to be a good trip when Darren passed out wipe off markers for us to color on the windows!
Our first stop was at a camel farm where we had the option to ride a camel. I think it should be pretty obvious if you know me whether I took that option.
Our next stop was for the King’s Canyon hike. It was a beautiful hike, and also our longest of the tour (about 6km). The walk started with a climb up Heart Attack Hill – approximately 1000 natural steps to the top of the canyon. The rest of the walk around the rim was much more tame, but still tiring as we didn’t get there until the afternoon and the sun was blazing.
My favorite part of the walk was when we went down into the Garden of Eden. Since the word paradise comes from an Iranian word modified by the Greeks to mean “enclosed park” it was quite literally paradise.
After the hike we had a surprise stop at a rest area with a much welcomed pool! Not only that but there was a puppy there who kept trying to eat my boots who was apparently half dingo! I didn’t find that out until after, or I would have made sure to get a picture.
A bit of driving later, we stopped to gather firewood from the side of the road for our camp fire that night. We got a little extra adventure when it turned out we’d stopped in some very soft sand and we were bogged down! Darren wasn’t happy, though I think the rest of us found it pretty entertaining. We got out in the end through a combination of digging and being towed by some nice people in a Subaru type car.
When we finally arrived at camp we lit a big fire and started cooking dinner over it. I got the job of preparing the damper – a camp bread made from just flour, sugar, and beer!
I was really looking forward to watching the Orionid meteor shower that night – we were miles from the nearest building in one of the most darkest skies in the world. The meteors weren’t as spectacular as we’d hoped; apparently it’s a slow year. The stars themselves though were amazing! And since we were sleeping in Swags – basically a canvas sack with a built in little matress that you slide your sleeping bag into – we could look up at the stars all night long without anything in our way.
Despite the view, we were tired from our big day and fell asleep right away. Next post I’ll be pausing on the story of our trip to give you a little history lesson. Don’t worry though, I’ll tell you all about hiking Kata Tjuta after that!
Alex and Romo's Big Ausventure! 