making up syllables: the red centre, part 1 of 2

so i went to the middle of nowhere, australia and now i have some pictures to share.

from my last australia post you may have gotten the idea that i was becoming a bit burnt out and that would have been the correct impression to pick up on. the thing about working in tourism is that there are never holidays and often there are not consecutive 2 day weekends and that people are horrible to be around constantly, so it had been months since i last had the chance to unwind a bit.

now going to the middle of the desert for a 3 day, 2 night camping trip isn't the most relaxing option in the world but it did have its therapeutic qualities. for one it brought back those old feelings of traveling again. i was experiencing something new, out in nature, meeting new people, etc. also, despite the arid flatness of everything it was surprisingly beautiful. much of australia's red centre is reminiscent of areas of the western states of america, particularly utah.

i arrived in alice springs, which if you're looking at a map is almost smack dab in the middle of the country, on tuesday morning and had the day to myself before the camping trip started up the following day. alice is not a huge town but there are a few deserty things to do including a desert park, a reptile farm, a museum about ghan trains, a hill...but having done a little prior research i felt the best use of my time would be a 16km bike path out to something called simpson's gap.

of course, 16km was only from the head of the trail, which was probably a good 10km outside of town to begin with and that was only going one way. why i thought cycling 40+km before going on a camping trip was a good idea well who knows but it was definitely worth it. the path itself was a fun, winding strip through australian bush. i had rented a little single speed from the hostel for $20 and it dutifully made it up what little hills there were. the hour long journey (just a guess) ended up at simpsons gap itself, which is, true to it's name, a gap in the rock face with a little watering hole at its base. it was a surprisingly serene spot to find at the end of the trip.

i rested a bit and then made my way back along the same route. the path originally left me with the impression that a majority of its uphill climbs were on the way to the gap and i was looking forward to the easy coast back to the hostel but i guess the heat played tricks on me because it was a good 3x harder on the return. speaking of the heat, i started the path around noon which i figured would be the hottest part of the day - and wasn't that hot - but the early afternoon return was definitely much hotter and exhaustion set in way easier. i had plenty of water and some nuts so i was fine, but it made me appreciate how easily you can get messed up out there. anyway, made it back to the hostel and had a beer at the bar and went to bed early. it was a 5am wakeup call and i didn't want to be completely knackered.

5am certainly came early but at least they provided us with breakfast. three separate tour groups were heading out that morning (and this is just from one company there) so there were probably about 60 of us milling about waiting for our guides. they came around 5:30 and we were separated into the groups we would have to get to know and love for the next 3 days. i was really hoping to get in the same van as this pretty german girl i had shared some moments with (an eye roll here, a knowing smile there, a polite gesture in the breakfast line, etc.) but unfortunately it was not to be so. and i felt an empty dread as we were pulling out for the first leg of our 5 hour journey into red centre when a welsh girl offered her ipod for the van music and 2 of the first 3 songs were a glee cover of some top 40 hit and that damn let it go song from frozen.

turns out they were okay people who just had horrible music taste. there were a few english folk, several young german girls (who are everywhere? i think it's a bit like china in germany except instead of just getting rid of the girls they raise them to the age of 18 and then force them out into the rest of the world), an older couple, some asians. your normal backpacker mix. there were some coming-together type activities to get us all more friendly than a mix of strangers normally would, but nothing quite does that more naturally than being crammed in a sardine can for hours upon hours a day.

our first stop and introduction into the australian outback was kings canyon, a natural gorge somewhere between uluru and alice springs. on every hike of our trip we were not so much as advised as forced to carry 3 liters of drinking water. apparently it was a heavily fined infraction if caught without. the mid afternoon heat eventually reached temperatures of about 40 C, over 100 F, and the climbs weren't sunday strolls so the water was probably a good idea anyway. but the hikes and the heat were nothing compared to the real horror of the outback: flies. if i thought melbourne was ever bad my god i had no idea. it was if the anus of hell opened and beezlebub spewed forth his entire army of minions into central australia (that may be too odd of a reference for everyone, sorry). i could last about 10 minutes during the day without the aid of a fly net over my face, otherwise i'd have to constantly flail my arms about in defense. the worst is the ears. they fly in and you can hear them and feel them and it's so incredibly invasive, like they are seeking entrance. and of course the real trick is to try and drink water with a fly net over your face and not let the flies inside because once that happened it was trapped in there and free to fly about your face until you took the whole thing off and tried in vain to redress without another getting in.

enough about the flies. the hike to the main canyon was about 2 hours one way. this part reminded me most of my trips out to colorado and utah. the terrain and rock formations were pretty similar aside from the odd prehistoric palm tree here and there. apparently in wetter periods there is a water hole that guests can choose to swim in (although it's discouraged as it is insensitive to the aboriginal people and culture) however we did not have the opportunity.

after kings canyon we rode out and were greeted with what we thought was our first look at uluru/ayers rock - a massive formation sitting alone in an expanse of nothing. our tour guide even played it up asking us if we knew the name of the landform we were observing. of course we said uluru and of course we were wrong. and in hindsight it's quite obvious as the two are nothing alike really, but the effect is so convincing the guides have taken to calling the formation fool-uru. its actual name is mt. connor and it is a flat topped mountain, much like you might see out west. and despite not being uluru it is still an impressive visual on its own, particularly at sunset.

after the tease we made our way to a cattle station where we picked up some beer/cider and made camp out in the airy open. we made a bonfire, setup camp, and started preparing dinner. food was a communal event on the rock tour and everyone had a hand in preparation/cleaning. my particular task was making a bread from flour, spices and beer. i don't remember it's name...tucker bread maybe? it was joined by a handmade chili and rice, all cooked over the fire. it was extremely satisfying after the long day. as night fell i was immediately taken with the night sky and how clear and expansive it was. it was one of those huge skies where you could clearly make out the milky way and the vast immensity of the cosmos (i'm caught up with the neil degrasse tyson series if there was any doubt). i rather lamely asked the tour guide if he ever tired looking at it and i think he was honest when he said it was one of his favorite things about the trip and something he would never forget.

our sleeping arrangements were quite simple. we had sleeping bags and placed those sleeping bags inside something called a swag. its basically a larger sleeping bag with a thin mattress inside meant to keep out the creepy crawlies. as we were laying things out to go to sleep the guides (we met up at this point with another of the groups traveling - the third does things in reverse order) asked if anyone was worried about snakes and spiders and things like that. i'm sure at least half the people raised their hands so helpfully they gave us some advise: for the snakes draw a circle around your swag with a stick, the broken ground will throw off their heat signatures and make them less likely to cross your path; for spiders and other insects lightly sprinkle the circle with salt as they will be more attracted to it than the salts of your skin; and for dingos put a light dusting of pepper so when they come sniffing it will throw off their senses.

this was, of course, complete nonsense. but peace of mind is better than nothing i suppose. sleep came easy anyways.

next post will be part two of the outback adventure and will focus mostly on getting up at 5 am every morning and also large rocks jutting out of the earth's surface i guess. photos below.