outback

lyds and i arrived in alice springs to leave the next day early in the morning, heading south down the stuart highway and into the expanse of the outback. in no time the sun was up, red like the sand. i felt like raoul duke traveling though the nevada desert. all i needed was the red shark and dr. gonzo at my side. we stopped a few hours into our journey to go for a ride on a camel called blacky. lyds laughed. i tried not to think of last night's lasagna. we both had a lot of fun and i resisted yelling out "no prisoners!" however, lyds did call me on humming the theme from arabian nights. note: there are over 500,000 wild camels in the outback. they were first intoduced to australia to help with the railway production. when the railway was completed they were ordered to be put down, however, the handlers released them into the wild. now they have thrived in the outback. i even saw one running wild in the distance. as we continued our journey we "forded" the world's 1st and 2nd oldest rivers. both were completely dry and have been for ages. we also passed by a cattle farm the size of belgium.

we eventually left the stuart highway to travel west. the barren, desolate landscape was as endless as the heat. lots of sand. little trees and shade. our first hike was at watarrka (king's canyon) national park with its 100m-high walls. the temperature was 42 degrees at the bottom of the canyon. checking the site literature, that put us in the "danger" zone for hiking. lyds took a picture of the warning. 42 degrees at the bottom meant that by the time we reached the top of the canyon the temperature was 10 degrees hotter. 52. degrees. we brought lots of water so we wouldn't get a free helicopter ride back to alice springs. we completed the 4 hour, 6km walk along the canyon's rim anyways. beautifully cut rocks stained by shadow and rain. natural ampitheaters used by the aboriginals. plants that could be used for super glue, appetite suppressants, and ecstacy. wood used by aboriginals for their spears as it causes the cns to breakdown. lizards. birds. and flies. tons of flies. constantly buzzing around your eyes, ears, nose and mouth. at the half way point we descended down into the "garden of eden" - a rock pool at the end of the gorge. it was very strange to see the pool of water. lyds spent the break feeding a pigeon with a spikey hairdo we named hawk. the last site in the canyon was the row upon row of massive, rock domes called "the lost city." everywhere you looked there was a picture. unfortunately, we missed the last picture of the day as our guide missed getting us to the lookout in time to see the sunset on watarrka. that night we slept out in tents. there were red-back spiders in the guy's washroom (they are the most dangerous spider in australia). that night we were woken up twice by dingos howling in the distance.

the next day we were up at 6am to head south to uluru-kata tjuta national park. this is the location of uluru (ayer's rock), and is a deeply important religious and cultural site for the aboriginal people. i wasn't very excited to see the rock as we travelled there. it was just something i knew you were supposed to see. but when i saw it everything changed. the rock is unbelievable - 3.6km long and 348m high. like an iceberg, a further 6km is under the ground. now on to the controversy: i climbed up the giant monolith (2nd largest in the world). the aboriginal people ask white people not to climb the rock as it is a part of their culture they say they cannot share with us. however, it is not banned. when lyds and i booked the tour with a travel agent in cairns we had asked if there were any reservations about climbing the rock. we were emphatically told that there were no cultural issues with climbing. once we got out there we were met with the guilt trip. however, the guide after trying to convince us not to climb finished by saying that if we would regret it we should climb. that was me. i would have regretted it. for me, it was meant to be climbed so i did, and in a respectful manner. lyds declined in light of the new information and hiked around the base. that being said the climb was a highlight of my time in australia. 1.6 km in length it was a challenging ascent that had already claimed the life of 32 touristas. the view at the top was one i doubt i will ever forget, and i known once i saw the rock that i couldn't have walked away without conquering it. i just have never been good at walking away. after the climb and descent the whole group (most didn't climb) we all drove to a lookout to see the sunset upon the rock. before our eyes it passed from orange to a deep red, and then to black. stunning.

the last morning we were up at 5am this time to see the sunrise on uluru. just as the sun came up lyds spotted a kangaroo bounding in the distance. then it was back on the road to kata-tjuta (the olgas) while i napped. meaning "many heads" the landscape here differed from uluru as instead of a monolith there is a collection of giant boulders made up of different rocks forced together. after a quick hike it was back to the bus for the 5.5hr return journey to alice springs. lyds and i spent the whole trip playing asshole, up the river and cheat with lisa, barnie and danny (our fellow hikers).

as we passed mt. connor i thought of my bro.