WAy outback

Firstly, I've changed the name again. The mercurial sojourn is good when you get to the meaning of the words but is wayyyy too complicated and posh sounding. So to keep it plain and simple, plus Travelin' Man is the name of an old song that seems apropo...

On the work front, my last day will most likely be June 30, after which I will fly to London for a cricket tour involving people from our office in Sydney to play against our office in the UK. Hopefully by then I will know were I am going to go for work next.

So anyway, last week I went to Perth in Western Australia (WA) for a few days for work. Perth is about 5 hours flight from Sydney and only has about 1.2 million people. The area is nouveau riche due to the recent mining boom. We didn't do much but work but it was a good change.

On Wednesday I caught a flight over to Alice Springs to begin my last little mini holiday. I had booked a three day tour of Uluru (Ayer's Rock), Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) and Kings Canyon. Little did I know how far apart these places really are. Alice is in the Northern Territory but is near the geographic center of Australia. It was about a 3.5 hr flight over from Perth. near the end of the flight, you can actually see Uluru from the plane.

I landed and checked into my hostel (still in my work clothes w/ laptop...) and chilled out for the evening. The local pub had a local aboriginal man, Tommy Crow http://www.redcentre.com.au/news/tommycrow.htm, playing the didgeridoo, telling stories, selling art and whatnot. It was a sedate, calm evening, good thing as I had to catch my tour bus at 5:45 the next morning. Just a little FYI, the weather out in that area ranges from about 20C to 4C or about 72F to 39F. Welcome to winter in Australia.

So Thursday started early driving around Alice Springs (pop approx. 30,000) to the various hostels and picking up the other 21 backpackers. We had tons of Germans (there are Germans everywhere in Australia backpacking, its kind of weird), a couple Danes, Swiss, Japanese, Hong Kong.. er people, a Brit, a Swede, an Aussie and me.

After clearing town it was off to our first stop of the several hour trip to Yulara, the camp grounds at the Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park, the Camel Farm. Yes they have camels in Australia. They were brought in years ago because they are more suited to the desert. We stopped to stretch our legs, grab a drink and maybe a camel ride. I didn't do it thought, as it was just a little ride around an enclosure.

Everything in this part of Australia is several hours apart. There isn't much around other than cattle stations, aborignial communities and the odd tourist attraction. So things at the cattle station roadhouses are really expensive - $60 for a 30 pack of beer...

So then we continued on the road. I did actually see a wild camel, lots of birds of prey and a few kangaroos from the bus. We actually saw a lot of kangaroos but most were already roadkill. After what seemed like a never ending road, a quick stop to collect fire wood, we finally made it to Yulara for lunch and a hike in Kata Tjuta (the Olgas).

We hiked about 5 kilometers in the Olgas, not too strenuous but a fair amount up and down hills. It was really nice, some great views.

After finishing the hike and getting to know the others

on the tour a bit more, we were off to drive back over to Uluru (about 45 minutes). We were going back over to the sunset viewing point. At the viewing point there were quite a few people and other tours there. As the sunset, you could really see the colors in the background of Uluru. My pictures didn't turn out the best but dome of the other people's did. I'll post those once I get them via email.

We had some champagne at sunset and then back to camp for dinner and a few beers around the camp fire. To elaborate, we were sleeping outside with sleeping bags inside swags (a thick canvas bivouac to help keep you warm. It was really cool and the views of the stars and Milkyway were awesome. There were quite a few shooting stars too.

Morning came at about 5:30 (I got up at 5 so that I would have hot water in the showers) and off to go see the sunrise at Uluru. Sunrise was a bit harsh as it was really cold. I preferred the sunset but it was still cool. Afterwards we could have climbed the mount, except that it was closed due to strong winds (and the aboriginals don't like you to climb it since it is a sacred site to them but it is allowed). Instead we did a 9km walk around the base. It took a couple of hours and was really cool. The rock is a big bigger and more too it than I would have thought. Plus the sand and rocks in the area all tend to be red, there appareantly it has a high iron content and the sand is actually more like rust, hence the red.

After a lunch and cleanup of the campsite, it was off to Kings Canyon. Another several hours of driving with a few little stops at roadhouses for fuel, snacks and sanity check.

After a few scenic stops we made it to the camp grounds and setup for dinner. The one thing about this campsite were the dingos. Once it was dark, you could hear 5 or 6 of them baying at the moon. If you barked enough, they would even answer you. In the morning we found tracks through our camp and around the buildings. And yes we slept outside by the fire again. The dingos won't mess with you as long as you don't have food in your bag, or you don't leave your shoes outside.

Another late night of hang out by the fire and then a 5 am start for a 7km or so hike into Kings Canyon. Unfortunately the first 1km is straight up the side of a hill. It was a really nice walk up the canyon and around the rim. It looked like what I would imagine out west in the US does. Most of the area is semi-arid, lots of small bushes and scrub trees. About noon it was down to the bus for a quick lunch and the 6hr trip back to Alice.

Back in Alice our tour dispersed and met up later on for dinner and a few drinks. The next day I went to the markets, bought a few pieces of aboriginal art and then caught the flight back to cold, rainy Sydney.