Mid-Semester Break is officially over and its back to school for the last 3 weeks of the semester! Then final exams, and after.. who knows. This week it feels strange to be back in classes… drifting through the routine of every day life… the last 3 weeks of my life I just experienced the biggest adventure I’ve ever had.. and now I’m back here in Adelaide going to classes, writing papers, and having coffee at Aroma. Also strange is sleeping alone, eating alone, and showering alone! For the past 3 weeks I haven’t been alone for those 3 things ONCE. Now, it feels strange. How ironic that the things I considered comforts are now uncomfortable and odd-feeling…
So now I face the challenge of expressing in this blog all my experiences of the past 3 weeks… crossing the Outback… the continent of Australia from south to north… I will do my best. I will start out with a calendar of Mid-Semester Break:
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
Sept 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 Left @ 6am for Quorn! | 25 Hiked Flinders Ranges |
26 From Quorn to Coober Pedy | 27 Coober Pedy! | 28 Uluru! | 29 King’s Canyon! | 30 Drive to Alice Springs | Oct 1 Free day in A.S.! | 2 Tennant Creek |
3 Katherine Gorge | 4 K.G. to Darwin! | 5 Kakadu | 6 Kakadu | 7 Back to Darwin | 8 Darwin | 9 Darwin |
10 Darwin | 11 Back to Adelaide! | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
The bus picked us up the morning of September 24
th at 5:45am. The main thing I remember thinking on that first morning was that I had NO expectations of the trip. I had no idea what to expect and was just ready for anything. Jen, our tour guide from Adelaide to Alice Springs, picked us up. She was older, in her 50’s, but spunky and in shape. She was a tough little cookie and fiery if pissed off. She was VERY Australian and as the trip began we quickly learned of her great passion for her country. She was just full of knowledge about Australia and its history and she LOVED telling us stories. By the end of that week, we all had grown to love and appreciate her dearly.
Anyhow, Jen drove around to about 4 different spots in Adelaide to pick up parts of the group. It ended up being 23 of us plus Jen. I was with Caroline, Doris, Emma, and Marc, and the rest of the group was mostly made up of young adults like us from all over the world. Most of them were backpackers, traveling Australia alone or with a friend or family member… there was one older guy from Germany who we affectionately called Papa G’, but it was mostly people in their 20’s.
We drove all morning to our first stop, Quorn, a small Outback town, where we were staying in a hostel called The Mill for 2 nights. It was a nice hostel and we stayed in dorm-like rooms with 4 bunk beds, so 8 people in each room.
That afternoon we had an AMAZING hike up Dutchman’s Stern. It was a long hike, a couple hours up and a couple hours down, but the view was breath-taking. It was probably the best view of the whole trip. That night for dinner we BBQed.
It was my first time experiencing life in a hostel… where everything is shared, including tasks. Though I expected during the tour to be served meals, we were simply given the food and supplies most of the time and served ourselves as well as doing our dishes afterwards! Meals were done as a team, which was really cool and new to me.
The tour was actually broken up into 3 smaller tours.. 7 days from Adelaide to Alice Springs, 3 days from Alice Springs to Darwin, and 3 days exploring Kakadu then back to Darwin. That first day, the group stayed a little cliquey.. most people kept to themselves or the group they came with… it wasn’t until the following day that we really began getting to know each other. During the next 7 days the 23 of us really bonded and ended up feeling like one big family. It was a group of people I will never forget, though we will never be together again.
Day 2 we did some exploring in Flinder’s Ranges and went for a beautiful hike in the morning before heading to Arkaroo Rock in the afternoon for a short hike up to some Aboriginal paintings where Jen sat us down and told an old Aboriginal tale about the kangaroos and wallabies. That evening we had some time to relax around the hostel and hang out with the group, which was really nice.
Day 3 we left Quorn and began our drive into the depths of the Red Center! On our way to Coober Pedy we made several stops, including one of my favorite sites of the trip, the salt lake.
Entering the real, authentic Outback was really an amazing experience for me. It was like nothing I’d ever seen…. Like a different planet, almost surreal at times. I’ve never really felt so in the MIDDLE of NOWHERE before! The real world slowly faded away behind us and we headed into one of the most mysterious, deadly, beautiful countries in the world.
That evening we arrived in the small opal-mining town of Coober Pedy. Right off the bat, Jen told us we were FORBIDDEN to be out after dark. The Aboriginal community has a pretty serious alcohol problem and by night, things can get really dangerous. Jen told us Coober Pedy had one of the highest crime rates in the country of Australia! Pretty scary! There were a lot of Aboriginals out and about in the streets, yelling and stumbling around. It did seem like most of them were drunk, but no one was really doing anything about it. Throughout the trip, I was fascinated by the Aboriginal culture and the way Australia treats and talks about it.
First off, throughout the whole trip we saw many ancient paintings and drawings by the Aboriginal people. We were told stories of the people’s past and the challenges they had to endure when Australia began to develop and white people began taking their land and children, and forcing their way of life out. Australia definitely feels a great guilt at this, and their respect for the Aboriginals and their freedom to keep their way of life alive today is great. The Aboriginal people have rights to a lot of the land in the Outback and to certain places that they view as sacred. The tour guides throughout the trip made us very aware to this fact, and many times we were not allowed to take photos of particular spots or climb on rocks in areas that were significant to the Aboriginal people.
And yet, even though there is a shared respect for the people and their past, there is also a very negative outlook on them, generally, as if they are a nuisance. It is true that they cause lots of trouble and crime in the towns and cities throughout the country.. I just don’t really understand why. The tour guides just said mainly that “they’re a troubled people”. They seem to not fit into our society’s rules and social norms… like, they don’t fit into “our lifestyle”. Its not as though they should have to.. but the culture clash that seems to occur between western society and them will only continue I think. Two very different cultures and peoples are trying to live in the same place at the same time and, though there are certain designated areas for strictly Aboriginal communities, there will always be conflicts between them. I don’t fully understand it or think I ever will. I think its an anthropologist’s dream here.
Anyhow, Day 4 we spent the morning exploring Coober Pedy and got a tour of the opal mines, which was amazing. The opals we see in so many shops around here suddenly had much more meaning. Also, most of the buildings in Coober Pedy are underground, including the hostel we stayed in! Its mainly because of the heat and the sun in the summertime, Jen told us. That afternoon after lunch we packed up and continued our drive up to Marla. In Marla, we camped out for the first time!
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| The underground hostel! |
Yes, we were a little spoiled.. the tents were in fact “permanent tents”, and had actual cots with mattresses on them. Even so, most of us decided to “swag it up” and sleep outside in authentic Australian swags.
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| The swags! |
Swags are basically big sleeping bags with a small mattress inside and you were able to fit your sleeping bag inside. It was pretty comfortable for sleeping outside! That evening we had a delightful dinner and campfire and afterwards set up our swags and fell asleep under the stars… under more stars than I’ve ever seen in my life. It was a pretty warm evening and the sky was perfectly clear… falling asleep like that, in the middle of the Outback, surrounded by friends, underneath the brightest stars in the world, was such a moment. Like a dream. I could never have imagined I’d be there, doing that, in a thousand years. I really have surprised myself…
It was all very romantic until about 1am that morning when we got hit by a dust storm. All of a sudden the wind picked up and began blowing like crazy. Some dust got stirred up and we all woke up and tried zipping up our swags… unfortunately, we weren’t fast enough and all at once the dust storm hit us, getting sand EVERYWHERE… in our faces, our mouths, our swags… it was crazy. I threw the hood of my swag over and was able to block the worst of it, but still found sand in places I didn’t know existed the next morning.
We were up at 5am the next morning (Day 5) to continue our drive up north… next stop, Uluru! We arrived at our next campsite in time for lunch, then headed to Valley of the Winds for a big hike with another amazing view at the end! The colors in the middle of the Outback were BEAUTIFUL! I’ve never seen a place with such vibrant coloring.
The bright red soil and rocks.. the intense green leaves on the trees.. and the deep blue, always cloudless, sky, left you breathless.
The Outback is a beautiful, surprising place.
After the hike at Valley of the Winds, it was nearing time for sunset. Jen drove us about 20 minutes and we had our first sight of Uluru!
We watched the colors of Uluru slowly change from tan, to brown, to dark red, to purple as the sun went down, and Jen provided us with some champagne, cheese, and crackers as we took heaps of photos and admired the sacred, haunting rock.
What did I think of Uluru? It was truly an amazing sight.. its really shocking to experience it… there is literally nothing around it but the flat outback prairie for miles… then out of nowhere it seems, there is all of a sudden a gigantic rock! Its as if it were dropped from the sky. It doesn’t actually seem right to call it a rock… even though that’s what she is. She is so much more than that… elegant in a way… proud. When you lay eyes on her, you can’t look away.. as though she enchants everyone around her. You can’t look at her and just see a rock… its like you know there is something more to her. Something you will never understand or have the capacity to see or feel. Yet another great mystery of the Outback…
For dinner that night we BBQed kangaroo and went to bed as early as we could because we had to be up at 4:30 the next morning to catch the sunrise at Uluru! Day 6.
The sunrise was beautiful, but we were all freezing and tired. Afterwards, we drove over to the base of Uluru and had the choice to either take the 2 hour hike around her, or take the challenging steep trek up to the top. Seeing as it 7am, I opted for the long, but easy hike around her base. It was a relaxing walk.
That afternoon we had a short tour from an Aboriginal guide who (through an interpreter), told us some stories of the past and showed us some significant spots around and on Uluru. It was neat. We had lunch at the campsite, then packed up, and drove the 4 hours up to our next campsite at King’s Canyon.
Day 7 was my favorite hike of the trip, King’s Canyon! It was glorious.
The hike took over 3 hours and began with what was nicknamed “heart attack hill”, but Jen let us take our time and the laid back feeling made the hike a pleasurable one. We took heaps of photos of course, and really enjoyed ourselves. Amazing views.. amazing company… it couldn’t have been better!
At the end of the hike, around 10:30, it was blazing hot. Mid 30’s and the sun was intense! We had lunch at the campground and were able to swim in the campground pool for a bit before leaving for another 4 hour drive up to Alice Springs!
We were all very excited to get to Alice Springs… the first real town we had been in for a week! Jen dropped us off at our hostel there and the group of us went to the town to get some groceries and wine for the evening. We cooked dinner together that night at the hostel for our last dinner together with that tour group. Day 8 was a free day for us in Alice Springs, and we all enjoyed the day, simply relaxing, taking advantage of the internet access, and exploring the little town of Alice Springs. Saying goodbye to that tour group was really hard for all of us… only the 5 of us, Irja from Holland, Lizzy from England, and Audrey from France were continuing on up to Darwin. It felt like we were saying goodbye to very dear friends, even though we’d only known each other for a week.
Day 9 we were up early, at 5am, to meet our new tour guide, Luke (or Viking as he goes by) and to continue the northward drive, next stop Tennant Creek. Our new group was smaller than the first one.. only 13 people, and the next couple days we spent together were generally filled mostly with driving. There were a few interesting stops along the way, including Wycliffe Well the UFO Center of Australia, the Tropic of Capricorn, Daly Waters, and Devil’s Marbles.
The campsites were great and every night after making dinner together, we would always have a campfire and play campfire games or give each other riddles. Camping was probably one of my highlights of the entire tour… it was always peaceful and gave you a real sense of being in nature. Also, gave you a good chance to really bond with the other interesting, fun people on the tour.
Day 10 was more driving and that afternoon we arrived in Katherine Gorge, where we were going to be camping for the night. In Katherine Gorge we got our first opportunity to swim in the natural springs there! It was great! It had been years since I’d last swam and it felt so wonderful to do it again. As we got further and further up north it got warmer and warmer, so in the last part of the trip we ended up doing a LOT of swimming.
Day 11 we did a lot of driving because we had to make it all the way up to Darwin.
We arrived in Darwin just in time for sunset and got dropped off at our hostel. The four of us girls were thrilled because we ended up having a room to ourselves! We took showers and put on the cutest clothes that we had (which were VERY limited) and we met up with the rest of tour group and Viking at a favorite local pub called Monsoons, where we had a great dinner and wine. It was really nice to be in society again!
Were up at 5am the next day, Day 12, to meet up with our new tour guide, Rodger, who was taking us on a tour of Mary River and Kakadu National Park. We LOVED Rodger. He was young, energetic, and always had a very positive attitude. He made the last few days of our tour thoroughly enjoyable.
Up north was nothing like the desert of the Red Center… it was tropical up there. Literally, the heat and humidity was like nothing I’d ever experienced. Sure, in Indiana it gets pretty hot in the summer, but this was almost unbearable. The humidity really drained you during the day… and we truly NEVER stopped sweating in that week of being up north! Even just after getting out of the shower.. 5 minutes later you’d be just as sweaty as when you got in. therefore, those couple days of exploring Kakadu and Mary River, we did limited hiking and much more swimming in the beautiful natural water holes and falls.
Day 12 Rodger took us to see some giant termite mounds and then 2 different batches of falls for us to swim at. He let us take our time and told us there was no rush. His relaxed, laid back outlook was very Australian and put us all at ease to really enjoy ourselves.
We camped out that evening at Mary River and the following day, Day 13, Rodger took us on an awesome crocodile tour in the morning so we could see crocs in the wild, as opposed to in a zoo or wildlife park. After, we headed to Kakadu where we got a tour of some ancient Aboriginal paintings and did a short hike up to a really cool overlook.
We went swimming that afternoon then went to our campsite in Kakadu for our last night of the tour!
Day 14 we woke up early and went on a really fun 4-wheel drive through the bush. It was legit! We felt like we were on a 30-minute roller coaster! After that we went for a short, beautiful, HOT hike to Twin Falls, which was GORGEOUS. Then, another short drive, and another short hike to a water hole to do some more swimming before jumping back on the bus and heading back up to Darwin.
On this part of the tour I had an interesting experience that will stick with me for a long time I think. I don’t come across very many Americans here in Australia at all, and when I do, I usually don’t spend much time around them because I really not here to be around other Americans, you know? Well, on this last section of the tour there was an older couple that joined us from New Mexico. They were typical Americans.. or, what the rest of the world generalizes about Americans… and I can say that because of all the Europeans I am around all the time now! Anyhow, we spent 3 days with this couple and they were awful… loud, brash, lazy, impatient, ignorant… They were racist AND sexist, and complained a lot during the hiking and camping... The rest of the group was really annoyed by them and quickly labeled them as “The Americans”.
They were exactly what a lot of the rest of the world expects Americans to be like, and they made me feel ashamed. It was amazing to get to know this couple, who felt familiar to me because of their behaviors and way of talking, but to end up seeing them from a whole new perspective. I saw how they felt… entitled, proud, smart… and I saw myself, not as one of them, but as different than them…
And yet, at the same time, seeing this also made me realize that sometimes I’m not so different from them. I am more aware of my behaviors and actions, in a way, and I find that, without even realizing I’m doing it, I also have some very typically “American” characteristics. Being in such a diverse place, we are all very defined by our nationalities. Therefore, sometimes people refer to my actions or the things I say as very “American”. The main example on which I get called out on the most is that I’m loud. I laugh loud.. speak loud.. sing loud… Also, I’m blunt. Outgoing. And indiscrete, compared to most. My language more explicit than others, and I am more likely to take things a little too far. Also, I never have any idea about the news, politics, or governments of any other countries, making me look very ignorant.
Its these traits which I have that people see and say things like “you’re such an American”. It doesn’t offend me. I find it interesting, and I like being made aware of the fact that that’s how people see me sometimes. It opens my mind and helps provide me with a new perspective. These are characteristics that are mine… not my countries’… and yet, the blame is put there.. on my nationality. I guess that’s the definition of stereotypes, eh?
Anyhow, it was interesting having the experience of viewing the “Americans” not as one of them, but as one of the ones on the outside looking in at them.
The tour ended Day 14, that Friday, but we didn’t fly home to Adelaide till Monday night at 1am. Therefore, we had the weekend to explore Darwin and relax some. We spent a lot of time swimming, laying out by the beach, and exploring the small city of Darwin. I took advantage of the relaxation time to catch up on sleep and my journaling. After having such an amazing, adventurous 2 weeks, I really needed to organize my thoughts and feelings. I had a lot of writing to do, and plenty of time the next few days to get it all out. Was very cathartic, and it was really nice not having to rush back to Adelaide and back to school.
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| Darwin |
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| Our hostel in Darwin |
I wasn’t really looking forward to going back to Adelaide, and back to real life. I had been in a whole other world for the past 2 ½ weeks and had experienced so many amazing places and people… it was like a dream being there, and I didn’t want it to end. The main thing I loved about being out there in the middle of nowhere, camping and hiking, was the sense of simplicity. I left all life’s complications and responsibilities back in Adelaide, and out there in the Outback, it was only us, our limited amounts of supplies, and nature. No one really cared about looking nice or being clean… we were just there for the adventure… there just to experience LIFE. I can say that I felt more alive those 2 weeks than I’ve felt in a very long time.
Monday night we said our last, sad goodbyes, and got on our plane bound back home to Adelaide. We arrived Tuesday morning at 6am and I just crashed. I slept all of the morning and most of the afternoon, then got up and felt very alone. The five of us, Caroline, Doris, Emma, Marc, and I, had literally been together every moment of every day for almost 3 weeks. We had slept together, showered together, ate together… done EVERYTHING together… and all of a sudden, my room at the Village felt very cold and empty. I really miss the way of life in the Outback.
Now, I’m back here.. going to class, hanging out with my friends at Uni, and sipping coffee at my favorite little coffee/tea shop on Gouger St. I’m wearing make up again.. I’m clean.. NOT sweaty.. and once again have a thousand things to be doing/worrying about. Real life, you suck.
In just one month we will all be going our separate ways. In one month, we’ll all be saying goodbye to Adelaide. I don’t even want to think about it…
