Uluru – Kata Tjuta – Kings Canyon

Hello everyone! I apologize for the delay in posting lately, it’s been a busy couple of weeks! After mom left I did a tour through Welcome to Travel in Sydney. I was the only Canadian in the group, along with three Americans, two Germans, a lad from the Netherlands and one from Malaysia and then everyone else was from the UK. Everyone was really friendly and it was a great week of exploring the city, seeing dolphins, surf camp and wine tasting.

At the end of the tour we sat with an advisor from Welcome to Travel to help us plan our next adventures. I really had no idea what I wanted to do next. I just knew that I did not want to do the East Coast like most of the other people in my group. I got to see the East Coast with my momma 🙂 My advisor suggested heading to the Outback. It was one of the places on my list that I wanted to see, so I jumped on the opportunity. Three days later I was on a plane flying to Ayers Rock.

Day 1

The flight to Ayers Rock itself was cool. It felt pretty surreal flying all the way up north and seeing the massive salt lakes of the desert from the air. I was met at the airport by my guide from Mulgas Adventures, CJ. There were two other people on my flight that were also on the tour, so we hopped on the bus and then headed into town to grab the rest of the crew. Once everyone was on the bus, we made our way to Uluru! We did a walk through some cultural sites while CJ told us about the aboriginal history of the area. The temperature was a balmy 32C. After the walk, we headed to a lookout to have dinner. We had some champagne with our burritos while watching the sunset near Uluru. Once the sun had set, we headed out to our first camp. It was part of the Ayers Rock resort, but the camp itself was just a little dirt area surrounding a fire pit with a camel farm next door. We still had running water and a cooking area for breakfast/lunch the next day. We unloaded the bus and then set up our swags under the stars. For anyone who doesn’t know what a swag is, it is like a canvased sleeping bag. There is a cover that you can put over your face, but it is quite suffocating so we all just slept with our heads exposed. The night sky was stunning. I can see the stars pretty well at home and out at my parents place, but the night sky in the Outback is something else.

Day 2

We woke up at 3:45 AM!!!!!!!!!! CJ put on nice, gentle music to wake us up, and we had an hour from when the music started to have breakfast and get ready. Once we were ready we headed out to watch the sunrise beside Uluru. This was one of the most stunning sunrises I have ever seen and I am so thankful that I got to see it. After sunrise we headed to Kata Tjuta for our daily hike. It was going to get up to 34C, so we had to finish our hike by 11am or it would be too dangerous in the heat. Kata Tjuta has is sacred to the aboriginal peoples, so we were not allowed to take pictures on the hike. It was nice to be truly unplugged from everything. We learned about the rock formations and geographical history of the area, as well as all the plants and how they can be used. After the hike, we headed back to camp to make lunch and had a little bit of free time. We had camel burgers for lunch. I thought they tasted like beef. I had never actually seen a camel in person, so we went to the camel farm (the camels we ate were not from the camel farm). They are HUGE! And very goofy, but cool looking creatures. After lunch we hopped on the bus to head to our next camp at Kings Creek Station. About half way there, CJ pulled over in the middle of nowhere and told us we had to collect fire wood. In the desert. While it was 34C. We weren’t allowed to collect any twigs, so we literally had to pull dead trees up from the ground and haul them back to the bus. It was hard and infuriating haha! It was definitely a bonding experience for the entire group. After we were done collecting the wood, we loaded it onto the bus trailer and drove the rest of the way to camp. We watched the sun set over the valley, and I saw my first BIG spider. It was nasty and made me a little nervous to sleep in the swag, but CJ assured us that the spider wouldn’t come for us at night. After sunset we made dinner – kangaroo steaks. I also thought these tasted like beef. After cleaning up, we set up our swags and had marshmallows. By the time we went to bed, it was probably 10:30pm. CJ informed us that a family of dingos often come to say hi at night when everyone was sleeping, but they were totally harmless. One fellow in the group said that he woke up in the middle of the night and did in fact see a dingo watching over us.

Day 3

We got to sleep in until 4:15am. It was going to be 37C, so we had to get to Kings Canyon and start hiking ASAP so we could be off the mountain before the heat got too dangerous. The hike started with a 500 step incline to the ridge. It was hard, but doable and the views made it worth it. We hiked along the ridge of the mountain and rested at the Garden of Eden. It was shaded and a great spot to rest. The rest of the hike after the Garden of Eden was in direct sunlight and was so hot. I enjoyed the hike, but I have never been so happy to see an air conditioned bus in my life. After the hike we went back to camp for lunch – just bacon and egg wraps today. I had the coldest shower of my life after lunch. It was glorious and helped me feel human again. We packed up and hit the road to head to our final camp – Curtin Springs Cattle Station. We stopped to get firewood again on the way, but it wasn’t as bad today because we knew what to expect. It still wasn’t pleasant in the 37C weather. Another cold shower would have been lovely but our next camp was in the extreme outback with no running water or anything. CJ showed us our dunny (toilet) for the stay, which was literally a tin shack without a door. It was my groups turn to make dinner, so we made Spaghetti Bolognese over the fire. It turned out really good, but I was so HOT afterwards. Desert + Fire = Death. As we were all rolling out our swags, a spider came out from one of the guys swags. CJ informed us that it was a wolf spider. Apparently their bite won’t kill you, but it will make you really sick. She just picked it up with a shovel and released it back into the bushes beside camp. Between the spider and the extreme heat, I got zero sleep on our last night.

Day 4

We really got to sleep in on our last day and didn’t have to get up until 5:30am. CJ made us pancakes to munch on while we watched the sunrise, which was probably the most beautiful one yet. After sunrise, we headed back to our first camp so we could shower and repack our bags before catching our flights. We said goodbye to CJ, and caught our plane back to the city.

As rough as this whole experience sounds, I am so happy that I did it. It really took me out of my comfort zone and was probably one of the most challenging things I’ve done. I met some great people who I hope I can keep in contact with, and learned a lot about myself. I can check this one off the ol’ bucket list! As much as I enjoyed it (most of the time), I will not be doing it again. Ever. This one is a one and done type thing for me. Mulga’s Adventures and CJ were awesome, and truly gave us an authentic outback experience. If you are ever in Australia, in good physical shape and want to see the outback, I would 100% recommend giving this a go.