Posing at King’s Canyon (June 11, 2019)
Red dirt, hot glaring sun and millions of flies riding on your back, shared bathrooms, fitful sleeps under the stars with apprehensions of a possible dingo attack and near 10-km walks each day. That was my first trip of 2019.
It may sound like I am complaining, but I am not. It was the “great Aussie experience” that I had always wanted and what better place to soak it in than the sleepy outback itself? Would I do this trip again if given a chance? Certainly, albeit with better preparation.
Uluru as seen during sunset on June 9, 2019
Couple of months back when Jetstar ran one of its sales we randomly bought return tickets for Ayers Rock as central Australia had been on our bucket list for its cultural history and geological marvels for a while now. Closer to date, we booked a 3days/4nights camping tour with Mulga Adventures which promised “fun outback Uluru tours in Central Australia.” Here’s what I liked and disliked the most about this trip...
The best:
1. Uluru or Ayers Rock, a UNESCO world heritage site, is the most marketed geological feature of central Australia but for me King’s Canyon - about 4-hours drive north of Yulara town- was a big favourite. It was a bonus really for I hadn’t seen any photos of the canyon before and for that matter I didn’t even know there existed one. We did a 3.5-hour hike around the canyon, including climbing 450 uneven steps in what is famously known as the heart-attack hill (I had sore calve muscles that night). Everything about King’s Canyon was mesmerising - the rock formation, fossilised seabed, a little oasis of stagnant water and the views of the vast unending desert.
The majestic King’s Canyon (June 11,2019)
King’s canyon in golden light (June 11, 2019)
The second favourite was Kata-Tjuta, which literally translates to ‘heads many’ or ‘many heads’ in English with its ochre-red lumps quite a spectacle. This too involved about 3-hours of walking and climbing uneven surfaces but was totally worth our time. The place is rich in culture, involving stories about the Pitjantjatjara Anangu people who inhabited the place long before the British colonised Australia in the 1700s.
And now for the flagship selling point. Standing 348 metres tall, Uluru is a lot more than just a large sandstone rock. It is home to waterholes, springs, caves, fascinating rock formations as well as ancient aboriginal rock paintings. We visited Uluru on our first day, did a short 10-15 mins walk around the periphery followed by another 20-25 mins of ‘culture walk’. Uluru is deeply rooted in Aboriginal culture and so the Pitjantjatjara Anangu people strongly discourage climbing the rock as it is disrespectful to their beliefs. Increasingly, people are opting not to and as a result climbing will officially be permanently banned later this year - a great result for first Australians who have been fighting for their rightful place in the country and its history for decades now.
Uluru as seen during sunrise on Jun 10,2019
2. Mulgas: Our tour guide Jesse, a South Australian shipbuilder, was great company. He was a stickler for time which meant we were always on schedule. He woke us with happy calls each morning and made sure we were well-fed throughout the day.
Jesse posing at King’s Canyon
At the sunset point on day-1 where we took photos of the changing moods of Uluru, Jesse popped a few bottles of champagne and laid out chips and dips for us to snack on. On other days there were apples, muesli bars and ANZAC biscuits.
We also took turns to help Jesse in the kitchen with chopping and later cleaning as in his own words “Jesse is not a superman, guys!”
We had 5 am starts on two of the four days so Jesse had dinner ready for the 21 of us by 7-730 pm which meant we were snuggled in our swag bags aka beds well before 9. The 4-day program was perfect too - leisurely pace while also ensuring we covered all ground.
Jesse posing at King’s Canyon
3. The outback experience: I have slept under the stars several times before, back in India. I have also spent a few days in places without electricity, internet and even concrete toilets. So, I was not completely repulsed by the idea of doing the same in Australia.
On the way to King’s Creek Station
The first two nights - one at Ayers Rock Resort camping grounds and the other at King’s Creek station - handily beat my expectations. For starters, we had proper concrete bathrooms with seamless hot and cold water supply and toilet rolls. Then, there was some semblance of a kitchen with barbecues, gas stove and other utilities while the sleeping bags were more comfortable than I had expected.
Camp shelter
Swag bags around camp fire at Ayers Rock Resort camping ground
There were no mosquitoes - a major nuisance in India - and the disgusting desert flies had disappeared with the sun. The overall outback experience with a bunch of 20-somethings (Prashant and I were the elderly in the group!) was reasonably enjoyable. There were moments of self-doubt though, where we questioned our sanity and our judgment to even consider this trip, specially on the very last night which was a complete bush experience we hadn’t signed up for.
THE WORST:
1. Flies: I saw a postcard at one of the gas station stores the other day which described Central Australia perfectly - 1 big rock, 1 Canyon, 1 railway and 10 billion flies. We have flies in India too but the sheer amount here was a shocker. We had read about them and bought fly-nets for our hats from a Sydney airport pharmacy before taking off. The variety is far better in Uluru but never mind the fly-nets the flies would still hover around you!
Prashant and I posing with our fly-nets
Fly-nets are no deterrent to these annoying flies
2. Food: I accept it, I am a fussy eater. I don’t like processed and frozen foods and I avoid junk and sugar laden stuff as much as I can. Sadly, camping food was everything I despise about eating out. The very first meal of veggie sandwiches with beetroots and pineapple won my acceptance. But it was only downhill from there. Burrito, which wasn’t bad, followed by burgers of tasteless, frozen patties and schnitzels. The final meal of pasta and garlic bread deserves a mention though. Breakfasts every single day was toasts (which I generally avoid) with an array of spreads from butter to jams, peanut butter and Nutella. So that meant I was starving most mornings.
Veggie sandwiches on the go
3. Cost: Regular coffee for A$5 in Yulara town. Go any further the price escalates to A$8! Thongs, or slippers, for A$25, a kilo of grapes for almost A$10 and a small bottle of fruit juice for A$7.
4. The final night of the trip was the real bush experience - we had a large open field of red dirt to ourselves in the middle of nowhere and with no concrete structures at all.
Still trying to have fun!
A large container, a tin shed and two chairs were all we had. If a dingo attack were to happen there would hardly be anywhere to hide.
Curtain Springs camping ground
Jesse had warned us dingos might come sniffing for food but he had also said they are reasonably harmless to humans. In fact, they are scared of us. But fear is often irrational and specially when you hear digos wail from all directions. That was the most fitful night spent in the trip.
I woke up several times that night, once to pee even but had no courage to leave the safety of my bare swag bag for the wilderness. I went back to sleep to wake up with a heavily bloated bladder the next morning!
