3 day tour to Australia’s Red Center including a visit to Kings Canyon, Kata Tjuta and Ayers Rock and a lot of insights into the history of these locations.
I just came back from the amazing The Rock Tour! I think it was one of my mega highlights in Australia, if not even THE highlight.
The group was great, the guide Sam was awesome (he knew everything about history, geology and Aboriginal stories), the food was good and we were actually really lucky with the weather!
Since it had been raining so much lately, everything was really nice and green, there were many puddles of water and little streams. Very unusual.
Day 1 
18 February 2011
We were picked up at 6am after we checked out and ate 2 slices of toast (phew I was afraid the food would always be so sparse).
Before that, I had already had a mega shock, because I had locked myself in the toilet (the door is stuck, that happens to about every girl here -.-) and luckily a guy heard me screaming at half past five in the morning 😀
After we had to check in at the “The Rock Tour” reception, I got my next shock: I still had to pay $35 (parking fees and sleeping bag), but only took $20 with me (I was very optimistic :/). Luckily Leonie lent me money, which she later did again because I was completely broke by then. (Thanks <3)
Then it started anyway, I think we were 20 participants. Everyone wrote their names on the car window next to them and then there was a short round of introductions.
At half past one we finally arrived at Kings Canyon and went for a hike there. The most strenuous thing was getting up there in the first place (sucks!), then it was off. It was very sunny and very hot. Everyone had to take 3 liters of water with them.
There were some fossils, such as jellyfish (very rare!), ripples (which you usually see in the sand in the water) and seaweed or something.
We walked to a water point (Garden of Eden), where we all hopped in. What a paradise.
We continued to the Rock Domes and Kuninga Men.
From up there, we could see down to where we were swimming – There is a waterfall that usually is not there – as I said, it had rained so much.
Back at the bus we went on. We stopped at Kings Creek Station, a gas station with a motel, I think, in the middle of the desert. We were there at half past five.
The next stop was to get wood , we stopped at the roadside and knocked over dead trees and took the thick branches with us.
When it got dark, we went to another station to get some beer and snacks. Then we went to our camp site, two places that are only for “The Rock Tour”, with a huge fireplace, a small roof and a homemade toilet. No shower, no running water, no electricity, the toilet can only be used by very tall people (meaning: bush toilet for normal people;) )
Sam then cooked food on the fire (or charcoal) with the help of me and 3 others . There was rice with various delicious vegetables and chili con carne. fire above, pot covered with charcoal below. After the delicious meal we chatted and then we went to sleep . We all had a swag and most had a sleeping bag. But it was so hot that I just lay down on the swag and only covered myself with the sleeping bag so that I wouldn’t get bitten all over. Such a beautiful night sky – we had a full moon and that’s why it was relatively bright. But I was in the shade of the bus 😉
I actually slept relatively well, only a mosquito whirring next to my ear woke me up from time to time. That’s why I just slept on with my Mozzie net at some point.
Day 2
19 February 2011
We were woken up at 5:20 in the morning, we had a delicious breakfast (wheat bix, cornflakes, fruit, coffee, tea, kaba, toast with jam or Vegemite, fruit bread), then we went to the national park. Before that, we took a short 20-minute break at the Ayers Rock Resort, and then I took a shower incredibly quickly… that was really needed.
You had to “check in” at the national park first to get tickets.
We drove to the Olgas / Kata Tjuta and wandered around.
Kata Tjuta means: many heads
Sam explained the geological formation of the Olgas, Uluru and Mt Conner: The Olgas are mainly made up of conglomerate.
Sam showed us how the Aborigines made colors out of different ocher stones. But he had to wash off all traces, a ranger had already spotted him with “painting” and he had to pay $200 oO
We continued our hike through fantastic rock formations.
Because part of the group ran back a different way, we then waited at a stream and caught tadpoles 😉
When the others came, it turned out that the American, who was hyperactively running and jumping all the time, sprained or broken hisfoot. He couldn’t go on any of the remaining hikes and his foot got really fat and blue.
We got some wraps for lunch and continued our drive to Ayers Rock!!! Finally!! First we stopped by the Cultural Center, which had a small museum and information.
Then we turned the Mala Walk to a waterhole. It’s a short walk, but Sam taught us sooo much about Aboriginal culture that it took us quite a while. There is a story to every cave, every stone of Ayers Rock, there are children’s stories for everyone to hear and stories only the grown-up Aborigines know.
The name Uluru is actually a misunderstanding, when the white people came and asked what the “stone” is called, they just pointed to Ayers Rock, but there right on a cave and the Aborigine told them the name of the cave – Uluru. Ayers Rock is named after the then Prime Minister of South Australia, Henry Ayers.
Sam explained to us the meaning of the various symbols in Aboriginal drawings.
The stone is so red because the stone contains a lot of rusted iron. Inside (this can be seen in caves, for example) the stone is grey.
The Uluru rock was huge! Much taller than I thought.
The story behind Uluru: Once upon a time there were two giant children who were on their way home and then built a mud cake. To do this, they picked out the large stones from the mud cake and put them aside (pile of stones = Olgas, sand cake = Ayers Rock). Then they kept walking and the little brother ate a few berries, but they hit his stomach. The big brother then built him a bed (Mount Conner) and went in search of help. But when he came back his little brother had already died and his big brother was crying (salt lake near Mt Conner). He then buried his little brother in his tears (small, green island in the salt lake – such a green island in the salt is very unusual!)
In the evening we went to see the sunset at Uluru.
Afterwards, we had an amazing dinner in front of the rock. At night we slept in the Ayers Rock Resort, with showers, toilet, electricity and water. Since it then started to rain, a few of us (including me) slept in the laundry room, others outside under a little roof. The night was sooo pleasant, a bit cooler due to the rain, just enough that you could sleep perfectly without a blanket!
Day 3
20 February 2011
We were woken up at 4:40, had 25 minutes to get ready and pack, then went to the same place where we had watched the sunset, had breakfast, a short rain shower and a beautiful sunrise!
After the beautiful sunrise we walked around Ayers Rock. We had 2 hours, but we German girls were almost too late because we took so many photos 😀 You are not allowed to photograph about 6 spots on the rock because they are sacred sites for the Aborigines.
The flies were particularly rebellious this morning!!
We then drove back towards Alice, dropped Ami and Vicky off at the airport, 3 Slovaks in the resort.
Sam saw a Thorny Devil on the road:
Then we went to a view over Mt Conner and a salt lake, where we also had lunch. Then we went to a camel farm. There you could ride for $6. And since they were racing camels, we rode fast 😛
Incidentally, the camels were imported to Australia to help with road construction in the Northern Territory, for example. The climate of the desert here is the same as in Afghanistan, which is why the animals feel really comfortable here. When the camels were no longer needed, they were actually supposed to be killed (return transport was too expensive), but the workers grew so fond of the animals that they released them. Now the only free-roaming camels on earth live here and they are even imported into the Middle East.
On the way we went bowling in the bus. With water bottles and football – I even won!lo? The last station before heading back to the hostel was the entrance sign 🙂
At half past five we arrived at the hostel, at half past seven we met, ate and talked in The Rocks Bar. But we were all pretty tired 😉
To get back to the hostel we had to take a taxi, the outback security in front of the bar said that someone had been beaten up just last Friday. You can’t walk around here alone at night, the Aborigines are so dangerous.
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