I got up at 5:30AM and it was raining--made me a little nervous for this full day trip. But I packed my bags for our journey and headed to the entrance of the hostel to get picked up. I grabbed some toast for breakfast and boarded the Emu buses at 6:10---at first we thought we missed the bus but soon found out there was a half hour time change between Cairns and Alice Springs so we had a spare half hour to sit around this morning. Once boarded we were given a pack breakfast with a juice box, yogurt/fruit bar, and cheese and crackers. I was starting to feel better with the toast in my system but didn't want to push it so I just napped on the bus. The bus ride was long- about 4-4.5 hours to our first stop, Kata Tjuta (means Heads Many). We had two guides for the trip--Warwick and Lyn who shared lots of stories and information.
We stopped 3x along the way--once at a gas station and once at a long-drop (basically a toilet above a huge hole). At the long drop stop, we also got to climb a small hill of red sand---we were allowed to collect some sand at this location only otherwise it was illegal once we got closer to Uluru---I am hoping I get it through customs. Also at this location, we could see a rock formation which looked just like Uluru but was smaller and for that reason was called Fooluru.
The third stop was at a resort which had a gift shop we walked through. This place told us the temperature was just over 100-degrees Fahrenheit. A high of 118 today!!! It was blazing thats for sure! We went back to the bus and got our sack lunches---veggie sandwich, granola bar, and chocolate mini bread loaf. I was starving by this point so I just inhaled it.
Then it was back to the coach and on to Kata Tjuta---this was a four rock family representing the four directions (N,S,E,W) where tribes come from in Australia. There was a path going in between two of them so we got to hike a bit. It was cool to see how massive these rocks were, but there were so many flies. They were everywhere and just stuck to every part of my body---yuk! We walked for about 40 minutes and then went back to the bus--thats was enough for me with all these flies---it was gross! The guides told us that there actually wasn't that many this time of year and what we were seeing now was nothing compared to what it was just like. Right when we got in the bus, it down poured. It rained for the next half hour or so but we would be indoors for the next stop which was lucky
Once we left Kata Tjuta we went to the Cultural Center which had a lot of Aborigine Art and even some Aborigines creating some in the gift shop. There were also stories and legends shared here about Uluru and the other rock formations.
Then we were off to see Uluru. Luckily the rain had stopped so we went up to the base of the rock. To be honest, it was just a rock. I am happy to say that I have been to the outback and saw Uluru but nothing too impressive. It was cool to know that the whole formation was only one rock (one monolith),but there were lots of crevices and unique pieces to it that no one would know unless they were there which was neat. Because it had rained, there were waterfalls coming down Uluru which is something rarely seen by people we were told so that was really cool. The flies were horrendous though. I kept swatting, moving my legs, brushing off Abby and she would brush me off--it was gross! We walked around for about 40 minutes then made it back to the bus to drive to the other side where we walked for another 20 minutes in fly-infested areas---I was so done with walking out here---they bugged the shit out of me! When we got back to the bus, we had some watermelon, apples, and cantaloupe.
We headed to the lookout spot where supposedly $21 million was spent--it was a couple roundabouts and toilets--thats it! But we took some shots and then got back on the bus to head to our sunset/BBQ spot. The BBQ was good--I had veggie dogs, salad, pineapple and took beautiful pics of Uluru with the sun setting. The sun setting was beautiful and I couldn't believe we had waterfalls, a sunset, and a full moon all in one day! That's a rare occurrence the guides told us! The tour guides even provided us with champagne and flutes and Abby, Colin, and I made toasts to making it here and ending our Spring break on a high note! The flies were horrible here too so I ate quickly, snapped the last few shots of Uluru and the bus was taking off.
The bus only stopped once on the way home at the same gas station and then we were back at Annie's at 1AM. What an adventure! All three of us were exhausted so bed was next in line. We were ready to head to Lennox in the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment