We finally made it to the outback and it was here, by the middle of our trip, that things finally started playing out as we had originally planned. I should preface this next statement by saying we ended up rather enjoying the outback and most of our experiences there. But I gotta say, our first impression was not a positive one. We arrived in the morning at the tiniest airport I've ever flown into knowing we were set up to begin a camping safari that afternoon but knowing precious little else other than that. It took us a little while to find where we were supposed to go, but a little waiting, some Harry Potter (our typical form of entertainment anytime we had a lull in our regularly scheduled programming), some more waiting, and finally a connection with the right tour group and we were on our way.
Our 3-day ticket to enter the National Park
The first of our 'safari' was a tour through the Kata Tjuta rock formation as seen below. Now, before leaving, I had been warned by a dear friend of mine who has spent much time in Australia over the years, that the flies can be atrocious and that they sell these netted head coverings in the gift shops to keep them away (from your face at least). I apparently took this advice lightly and completely forgot about her words of wisdom before going. Turns out, she was quite right. We had taken a bus from the airport to the rocks about an hour or so away. The second we stepped off the bus, we practically walked into a swarm. I tried (and failed) to ignore them but I just couldn't help but swat every 5 seconds or so. They apparently really liked how we Americans smelled because I feel like we were a hotter target than our European friends who comprised the rest of our group. It was already hard leaving the beauty that was Cairns, especially after the such short period of time that we had there; but, stepping into less desirable conditions such as these, we looked at each other with some "what have we done" looks.
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| Kata Tjuta before sunset |
But fortunately, not all was lost. As the trip progressed we soon found ourselves adapting better and better to our surroundings and the outback way of life and by the time that portion of our trip was over, we were pleased with how we had chosen to spend it.
The schedule went a bit like this:
* Tour and walkabout Kata Tjuta
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| Cheesin it up |
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| Such a poser |
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| Most people take pictures of the rock ahead; I decided to turn around. |
* Sunset viewing and picnic at Ayer's Rock
* Candlelit(ish) dinner back at our campsite getting to know our fellow groupmates followed by campfire under the breathtaking array of stars (including seeing a huge chunk of the milky way and constellations I had never seen before from my side of the world) and camping in cabins for the night
* Early morning wake-up call for a sunrise tour and walkabout Ayer's Rock
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| An elementary classroom for boys where they learn from their grandfathers their role in life |
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| Vince's story drawn by symbols in the sand |
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| Aboriginal symbols and markings on the stone |
** Photo credit: Sarah-Jane Cruz and Travis Simnitt **
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