Outback and Beyond

I arrived in Alice Springs from hot and humid Cairns on Sunday night. We had a brutal 5am wake-up call and set off towards the iconic "Rock," also known as Uluru. Personally, I had never heard of it before and have met several other North Americans who hadn't either. Most people know it as the symbol of outback Australia and it was definitely worth seeing. Our guides name was "spinna" and he was a bit of a space kadet, in an endearing, charming fashion.

You are given a few hiking options around the Rock which include climbing it or doing the 9km base walk around it. 35 people have died on the climb and it was closed due to strong winds when we went. As we were driving away, a Japanese girl who barely spoke English made her way to the front of the bus and tried, however ineffectively, to indicate to Spinna that she was actually not on our bus. How this happens, I don't know, but Spinna kept speaking over her, assuring her that "yes, yes, the toilets are up ahead. How long? Oh, about a 5 minute drive. Just have a seat." Finally we shouted out that she was an extra passenger and had to be dropped off, and for the rest of the trip, various pot-shots were taken all in good fun regarding "do we have everyone? Do we have any extra people?!"

The next two days we hiked through various rock formations, including the Olgas and Kings Canyon. We completed our first 3-day tour (there were to be three, 3-day mini tours making up the ultimate Cloud 9 Tour) and set off for Darwin on Day 4. Three days, 1500km and 22 people. It became immediately apparent that it was MUCH warmer on this leg of the journey. We actually passed the Tropic of Capricorn and I could feel the temperature change over to our favour. It was an absolute thrill to camp out at night without every single item of clothing I own on. The last two days the only difference between my day and nighttime attire had been shoes.

Not much to do or see during these 1500kms so we slept- a lot. I could barely read a page of my book before my eyes felt droopy. Stage 2 and I was now officially 'resting my eyes.' Stage 3 I would wake up shocked that I had fallen asleep, again! It got to the point where I could barely go 2 hours without a bit of a nap. We joked on the bus that we were all part Koala, sleeping our days away.

Driving down the seemingly endless stretch of straight road we heard many classic tunes, including the Baywatch Theme Song. I'm reminded of myself in junior high school, during that slightly awkward stage when you could still get away with wearing sweatpants and haircuts courtesy of your Dad. Anyhow, I digress. I used to insist on my Mom taping Baywatch episodes for me, particularly for that impressive opening song. I insisted that no one speak during this time, lest they disrupt my listening pleasure. In my opinion, that song still holds up today.

Tomorrow we start the last 3 days which will take us into the Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks. It is boiling hot here and quite humid. It is absolutely shocking to think we nearly froze to death only a few days ago.

Hope all is well back home and Go Oilers Go!
PS: I will scan in a few photos when I find a machine that lets me!