I am currently high in the sky flying from Alice Springs to Perth after a short but wonderful trip to the Northern Territory.
The wonders of modern technology mean I can write this while I'm on the plan and then just up load it as soon as I touch down. Seems like a good use of time seeing as sleeping according to my brain, does not want to happen.
Anywho, what happened in Alice......
I arrived in Alice Springs on the morning of 9th January after a very small amount of sleep. Self inflicted lack of sleep but well worth it. Tehe.
Anyway, after hopping onto the shuttle bus I left my bags at the YHA and went out into Alice to explore a bit and buy some good for the day. I can't say I made the most of the free time before checking into the Hostel. I got a bit of a funny feeling from Alice. I just didn't feel overly comfortable. I guess I really am a bit of a city girl at heart. I like being a way from the city but not that far away, not in my own at least. After getting what I needed as stocking up on water for my big trip I headed back to send an email to family at home and to check in with the family here to let them know I had arrived safe as sound. Once checked in it was time to chill for the rest of the day. I caught up in a bit of reading, filed and reprinted me nails ad just relaxed. An early night after a chat to a very friendly Italian girl I was sharing a dorm with. Uluru awaited!
10th January saw a very early wake up. At about 4.30am the eventually dragged myself out of bed and got ready for what was possibly a once in a life time trip.
After being picked up, I joined the rest of the coach on the longish journey to Uluru. A few stops along the way allowed us to take pictures and stretch out legs.
Our first stop and wander when we got to the National Park was Kata Tjuta. This was a series of rocks formerly referred to as the Olgas. They're pretty impressive and we had a good 40min hike into the gorge between two of the peaks. At 40 odd degrees it was hard work but I enjoy a good walk and figured it didn't matter too much if I was hot and sweaty as it would inevitable happen at some point.
After Kata Tjuta we headed to the visitor centre to have a look at some aboriginal art and find out a bit more about the history and cultural significance of Uluru.
Then for our first guided walk. This took use round the base and even up on to part of the rock. There are caves that were made when the land level was higher. They're fantastic and have left some really interesting textures and patterns. We learnt about the significance of certain spots and we told of the dream time stories behind various marks & crevasses on the rock.
We hopped back on the bus to drive to the second of our guided walks. This was to a pool at the base of the rock. We also saw some old aboriginal rock drawings.
It's difficult to describe how amazing the place is. It's the atmosphere, the belief and faith behind it. The feeling you get when you're there. It's really something to be experienced first hand.
Our last stop was at the viewing point for sunset. Here we had a BBQ and a glass or two of bubbly and sat back to watch the sun go down over Uluru. It was beautiful and well worth the very long and pretty tiring day.
By the time we returned to Alice it was 1.30am and by the time I got to sleep (4.30am thanks to a rather inconsiderate person in the same dorm) it was almost not worth sleeping.
I had to get up at 6.30am to get showered and packed up to meet the shuttle to Alice Airport.