Part 3
Kata Tjuta, King's Canyon, Wallace Rockhole, Ellery Creek, and Orniston Gorgoe...
After Uluru we went to our campsite, which was part of a large camping compound, with running water and a big cement picnic area with lights. We showered, ate, played some cards and goon-bagged it for awhile before passing out relatively early. Everyone set up tents except for Johannes, Sarah, and I. We slept under the stars, again. I already miss the stars in the outback, I've never seen them so clear.
We woke up before the sun rose to catch its ascent over Ulur and Kata Tjuta. Gorgeous, of course, but I forgot my camera batteries. After a relatively short drive, we arrived at Kata Tjuta herself, and then proceeded to hike the Valley of the Winds. It was one of the best hikes I've ever been on, not too challenging but athletic, and a good variety of terrain. In fact, it was such a good hike that I didn't take any pictures.
After lunch we did another hike, up King's Canyon. The first 25 minutes were hell, but once we got to the top of the ridge it was pretty easy. In Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the rock that the cocks in frocks climb on is part of King's Canyon!
This plant species has been around since the dinosaurs.
At the top, waiting for another beautiful sunset...
After that, we went back to another over-indulgent "campsite" where we showered, ate, and played a few rounds of Mafia. Our 14km of hiking had exhausted us, though, so it was a relatively early night. It started raining a few hours after we'd laid down our tarp and sleeping bags, but luckily all we had to do was shuffle over to the picnic area and reassemble under the roof. It rained a lot during our trip, but in the outback even a lot is a little. We were lucky enough to see everything as green as it gets.
We left in the morning for Alice Springs, about 400km away, and arrived around lunchtime. We stocked up on groceries (and goon), then drove to the Wallace Rockhole Aboriginal community. An Aboriginal woman showed us some rock art that was over 1,000 years old, that showed different tribes travelling through the area to make use of the water hole there. After that we had a barbecue. Ken, one of the leaders of the community, brought us a cooler full of kangaroo tails. Now, I like kangaroo meat same as the next person, but the tail is just disgusting. Apparently it's an outback delicacy, baked in coals underground and then sprinkled with salt, but all I could taste were stringy fat things and... ew... I won't elaborate further.
That night, Sarah and I slept in our first tent, with Mi (one of my new favorite people in the world)!
In the morning, we toured the art centre, where I bought a journal, and got to watch an Aboriginal woman painting one of her people's stories.
Afterwards we drove to Ellery Creek (standing water, whoa!) for lunch.
Julien, Gad, and me, debating going for a swim.
Hai-Yang, me, and Paulina
After lunch we drove to Orniston Gorge for our overnight hike. We hiked through the gorge to our campsite on the Finke River (Australia's oldest river) before sunset. The hike wasn't very challenging, but I think we all appreciated that considering the weight of our packs.
I kept expecting some characters from Narnia to appear over the hills. Or some dinosaurs.
Veta and company on a lookout...
Flies everywhere!
Our campsite...
We didn't want to carry water to cook with, so that night we made pizzas in an underground oven.
Jens and his tinfoil masterpiece:
Well, I guess using frozen pizzas wasn't such a good idea, and our guide Andy should have known better than to tell us it was. The cheese melted, but nothing really cooked. Did Jorg like his? I don't think so.
After Uluru we went to our campsite, which was part of a large camping compound, with running water and a big cement picnic area with lights. We showered, ate, played some cards and goon-bagged it for awhile before passing out relatively early. Everyone set up tents except for Johannes, Sarah, and I. We slept under the stars, again. I already miss the stars in the outback, I've never seen them so clear.
We woke up before the sun rose to catch its ascent over Ulur and Kata Tjuta. Gorgeous, of course, but I forgot my camera batteries. After a relatively short drive, we arrived at Kata Tjuta herself, and then proceeded to hike the Valley of the Winds. It was one of the best hikes I've ever been on, not too challenging but athletic, and a good variety of terrain. In fact, it was such a good hike that I didn't take any pictures.
After lunch we did another hike, up King's Canyon. The first 25 minutes were hell, but once we got to the top of the ridge it was pretty easy. In Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the rock that the cocks in frocks climb on is part of King's Canyon!
This plant species has been around since the dinosaurs.
At the top, waiting for another beautiful sunset...
After that, we went back to another over-indulgent "campsite" where we showered, ate, and played a few rounds of Mafia. Our 14km of hiking had exhausted us, though, so it was a relatively early night. It started raining a few hours after we'd laid down our tarp and sleeping bags, but luckily all we had to do was shuffle over to the picnic area and reassemble under the roof. It rained a lot during our trip, but in the outback even a lot is a little. We were lucky enough to see everything as green as it gets.
We left in the morning for Alice Springs, about 400km away, and arrived around lunchtime. We stocked up on groceries (and goon), then drove to the Wallace Rockhole Aboriginal community. An Aboriginal woman showed us some rock art that was over 1,000 years old, that showed different tribes travelling through the area to make use of the water hole there. After that we had a barbecue. Ken, one of the leaders of the community, brought us a cooler full of kangaroo tails. Now, I like kangaroo meat same as the next person, but the tail is just disgusting. Apparently it's an outback delicacy, baked in coals underground and then sprinkled with salt, but all I could taste were stringy fat things and... ew... I won't elaborate further.
That night, Sarah and I slept in our first tent, with Mi (one of my new favorite people in the world)!
In the morning, we toured the art centre, where I bought a journal, and got to watch an Aboriginal woman painting one of her people's stories.
Afterwards we drove to Ellery Creek (standing water, whoa!) for lunch.
Julien, Gad, and me, debating going for a swim.
Hai-Yang, me, and Paulina
After lunch we drove to Orniston Gorge for our overnight hike. We hiked through the gorge to our campsite on the Finke River (Australia's oldest river) before sunset. The hike wasn't very challenging, but I think we all appreciated that considering the weight of our packs.
I kept expecting some characters from Narnia to appear over the hills. Or some dinosaurs.
Veta and company on a lookout...
Flies everywhere!
Our campsite...
We didn't want to carry water to cook with, so that night we made pizzas in an underground oven.
Jens and his tinfoil masterpiece:
Well, I guess using frozen pizzas wasn't such a good idea, and our guide Andy should have known better than to tell us it was. The cheese melted, but nothing really cooked. Did Jorg like his? I don't think so.