The Australian outback adventure begins...

Since my last post, I've started a new job and have moved to Canberra. And in the midst of working hard for the money, I began planning my next trip as usual. Obviously nothing quite as long as my usual trips given my job, so it would have to be a domestic trip. The catalyst was Jetstar announcing sale fares to Uluru. Done. Decision made. I planned it so I could fly into Uluru, make my way up through the Northern Territory, and fly home from Darwin, all in eight days (18 to 26 October 2014). In the end I managed to get a few of my colleagues to come along as well.

****************************************

Day 1

Early start to the day given that were to take a 5am bus Sydney for our flight. A restless three or so hours later, we were in Sydney airport waiting for our 10:30am flight to Uluru. It was grey and dreary in Sydney. Felt so good to know that in three short hours I would be in sunny Northern Territory!

As we flew into the centre of Australia, I could see Uluru under the wing of the plane, against a backdrop of bright red. The doors to the plane opened and I was hit with a blast of hot desert air - I was officially in the Australian outback!! We picked up our two rental cars and drove ourselves to Yulara, the local town pretty much dedicated to Uluru tourism. Checked into our accommodation which was a cabin in the campground, with communal bathroom facilities, but at least we had air con. After that, it was relaxation time in the pool before our fancy Sounds of Silence dinner that night.

The Sounds of Silence dinner is one of Uluru's best tourist attractions (and most profitable at $200 per person). You get canapes and unlimited drinks at a great viewing point for sunset over Uluru, before moving onto a buffet dinner (still with unlimited drinks), complete with an indigenous dance performance and a stargazing component.  There were four busloads of people heading to the dinner - who knew there were so many people in Uluru at any one time.

The dinner was absolutely amazing. I tried everything on the bushtucker-inspired menu, including kangaroo steaks, barramundi, crocodile Caesar salad, quandong, and lemon myrtle, along with the usual staples such as lamb chops, potato salad, and others. After dinner, we enjoyed an indigenous performance set to a Dreamtime story, while we had our dessert (also strongly influenced with the natural flavours found in Australian plants). Once dinner was done, the lights were turned out and the night sky lit up. It's amazing just how much you can see without the light pollution we're so accustomed to in the city. That was definitely a highlight of the night for me being able to see constellations so clearly.

All in all, a great way to start the trip. Well worth the money to do the Sounds of Silence dinner if you're ever in Uluru.

****************************************

Day 2

After only a few hours of sleep, we were up (all except one) at 5am ready to go see the sunrise over Uluru. Unfortunately we couldn't make it in time to the sunrise viewing area, so we pulled over in our own area, which might have been even better. Despite us not having the typical front-on view of Uluru, we got the side view, and we were the only ones there. Quite a serene place. Plus being the only ones there meant we could do as many stupid photos as we wanted without being judged (I got in a few cartwheeling ones). As the sun rose higher in the sky, we eventually made our way to the viewing deck just as all the tour buses were leaving meaning that once again, we had our own private area which was great.

Obligatory photos done, we headed back to camp to pick up the sleeper, and headed off to do the short Mala walk at the base of Uluru. This was a pretty short walk and took only half an hour. It was then that I decided that I should do the entire Uluru 10km base walk. I was here - why not? I didn't want to regret it later. And it was at 10:45am that I, and two others, set off on the 10km hike, while the other three retreated to the car. As we began our walk, we could feel the temperature rising as we left the shade of the rock. There were signs recommending that walks be completed before 11am to avoid the intense heat of the day. Oh well, we had hats, sunscreen and water - we would be ok.

The hike turned out longer than expected. I was so glad there were regular rest-stops along the track which provided much-needed shade and water in the intense 40 degree heat. But I was so glad I did it. You get to go up close to Uluru and really see cool things like the Aboriginal rock paintings, as well as the (dry) waterholes and the details and erosion of the rock. At about 1pm, we saw the carpark again and knew that we had completed the walk - success! I can't even begin to describe the sense of relief I felt, mixed with a sense of accomplishment. After that, it was back to the campground for a well-deserved ice cream and a dip in the pool.

As sunset approached, we hopped into the cars again and drove out to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). This was quite a sight as well, but the sunset over it honestly wasn't as impressive as expected. It probably would have been better to see it set behind it, rather than just see the light disappear from it.  We had wanted to do the Valley of the Winds walk through Kata Tjuta but due to extreme heat, it was closed for the day. Sunset over, we headed back to camp for a BBQ dinner and an early night.

****************************************

Day 3

Checked out of the campgrounds and began the drive to 450km journey Alice Springs. The first pit stop along the way was Mount Connor, which is commonly mistaken by overseas tourists for Uluru. And I can kind of see why. It's a similar sort of shape, however it is much flatter across the top. Having checked it out thoroughly from the lookout point, we were about to leave when busloads of tourists showed up and headed across the road and up the hill. Clearly there was something over there worth seeing. Traversing that red sandy hill was a bit of a pain but once we reached the top, we saw bright white salt fields. We had stumbled upon the Lake Amadeus salt flats. It was quite an odd sight to see all that white counteracted by all the red, but it was beautiful nonetheless. See, sometimes it does pay to follow the crowd. 

Once back on the road again, our subsequent stops were at roadhouses rather than natural landmarks. Lunch was at Mt Ebenezer Roadhouse, which also housed an Aboriginal art gallery/shop that employed local Aboriginal people to create the artful masterpieces. We also stopped at Erldunda, which is at the intersection of the Lasseter and Stuart Highways. And our final stop before Alice Springs was Stuart Wells Roadhouse where there was a camel farm.

Alice Springs was certainly different from where we had been previously, including Yulara and the small towns along the way to Alice. It certainly didn't have the tourist feel of Yulara, and was more urbanised than the rural towns. We checked into our accommodation at Swagmans Rest Apartments which was a nice serviced apartment. What was a bit confronting for me though was the sense of danger that the guy at reception kept alluding to, and all the safety measures in place at the apartments such as the gates closing at 7pm with access solely through swipe card. Same with the door to the apartment having a sign ensuring that we remembered to have it locked at all times. I guess Alice is a pretty rough town as some preliminary research had already told me. We ended up just returning the rental cars and had a quiet night in watching movies and having a few drinks. After all, we were to be picked up for our bus tour up to Darwin the next day at 6:30am (and as the guy at reception warned, "make sure it's actually your tour guide before opening the gates"). Let's end it here for now - the next post will go through the three days while on tour.

HBL signing out from Alice Springs, NT.

Up next: From Alice to Darwin, and every disco I get in...