15/02/13 to 18/02/13 – A 150 km down ‘the track’ from Alice we took a short detour to the Henbury Meteorite Craters where 4000 years ago some meteorites had crashed into the desert. As we looked around we couldn’t hear any noise and realised that we were probably the only people within 30 km or more. We had a quick look (it was so hot we couldn’t stay out in the sun for long), and then got back on the highway for another 100 kilometres before turning off onto the main road to Uluru.
As we approached we noticed a change in the landscape again. The last patches of yellow dried up grass began to disappear and were replaced with red sand which resembled red/orange powder paint. The trees all had white trunks which had been charred black by fire and no leaves. In the dusty dunes there was the odd burnt out car here and there.
Finally, after another 300 km we reached Uluru in the late afternoon, just in time to get a good position for the sunset. From here we could see the colour of the rock and the desert around changing from light yellow/brown to dark orange/red and the sky from light to dark blue via some pink as the sun dropped.
The following morning we drove to Kata Tjuta (within the same national park as Uluru) and saw the sunrise … which was an amazing spectacle in itself, but add to this the amazing colours reflecting off the desert and the rocks of Kata Tjuta nearby, and the silhouette of Uluru in the distance, it was even better. Soon after the sun was up, we did the 3 hour ‘Valley of the Winds’ walk. We could quickly see why they named it this, as the wind blew strongly through and around the rocks from the desert. We didn’t complain about this as it felt nice and cool. As the sun rose the winds got warmer, and we had to complete the walk before it got dangerously hot (the walk was closed after 9am as there were a few people had to be rescued due to heatstroke). The walk was recommended to us, and we weren’t disappointed as it was very scenic and not busy at all.
Before moving on we had to take another look at Uluru. We drove around the rock, and stopped halfway round for a closer look. Up close the details of the rock are apparent, and it’s like looking at a completely different spectacle. We could see some amazing gulleys and interesting patterns on the rock. Yes, it is just a ‘big stone thing’, but seeing it here in person is really worth it.
It was now midday and the temperature was approaching 40C. In this heat there was nothing else to do but drive in order to try and stay cool (and keep the flies at bay). So we got back in the van, put the windows down and drove up to Kings Canyon. It was so hot and we were feeling exhausted from the heat, but still trying to concentrate on driving. Opening the windows only brought even warmer air into the van, and we were really ruing the lack of air-con and cursing the van company. We finally arrived at Kings Canyon Resort campsite where we jumped straight into the pool to cool off.
Again, due to the extreme heat, the walk at Kings Canyon had to be finished before 11am, so we woke up early to start the 3.5 hour Ridge walk. The Canyon was very different from previous gorges and rocks we’d seen and we loved the walk. Halfway round there was a waterhole and we had a swim there. The swim was such a treat and cooled us down (this was also the coolest water we had come across in 2 weeks). Nearby was the ‘Garden of Eden’, a section of forest millions of years old which had survived due to the shade of the canyon and fresh groundwater. It had some very old trees and plants, including some species that are now extinct in the rest of Australia.
We finished the walk, had another dip in the pool at the resort and then got back in the van for the last trip back to Alice Springs. We decided to take a short cut. There was an off-road track for 4x4 vehicles only. We engaged the 4 wheel drive and after a hairy 10km we realised which driving style to apply to which colour of sand and gravel and it was a really fun blast through the desert passing some amazing scenery and seeing only 3 other cars on the 100km back to the highway. We had to stop for some wild horses crossing at one point and we feared for the life of a really colourful green and blue lizard (chances are he didn’t make it).
We arrived back in Alice with a perfectly estimated empty tank of diesel and after a delicious and typical outback meal of Kangaroo fillet, Crocodile goujons, Camel sausages and Barramundi fish, we went for a well-deserved beer in the Saloon. Just one more night in the campervan before meeting our friend Kavi in Melbourne the next day. The next morning, we got woken up at 6am by the rangers as we were parked in the town centre in front of the van rental shop. The ranger who spoke to us was nice and told us it was forbidden to park there for the night and we had to move. He also suggested we should park in the MacDonalds car park and get ourselves a coffee and that’s exactly what we did. We also used the free internet and watched the news on the TV there. One of the news stories was about this backpacker guy who’d been lost in the outback for 3 days, lost 15kg and almost died. The thing that saved him was that he was drinking the fluid of his daily contact lenses (I looked at Dave, smiled and said “We would have been fine too then”. Soon afterwards we saw the rangers that we’d met earlier with Mcmuffins meals sitting at the table next to us. They recognised us, smiled and waved at us.
We dropped the van off and caught our bus to Santa Teresa airport bound for Melbourne. On the flight with Quantas, a video of the Aussie Cricket team and Ricky Ponting showed us how to fasten our seatbelts and what to do in an emergency.
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