the outback

I arrived in Alice Springs on the 19th and checked into my hostel for the night then wandered into town for groceries for lunch and supper. The next morning the bus picked me up at 6am for our tour.

Day 1:

We walked through Kata Tjuta and the Valley of the Winds, watched an amazing sun set over Uluru then had supper which included Kangaroo Steaks and Camel Sausage yumm! We slept in swags that night, which are like little outdoor sleeping cocoons. The temperature probably got down to around 5 degrees C - not the weather you'd expect of Australia, but it is winter.

Day 2:

We woke up bright and early and drove to a viewing point where we had a clear view of the outback and the sun rising over Uluru. We then drove to the rock, had some time to walk around, then took a guided tour with an Aboriginal. We then drove to our next camping destination by King's Canyon. Slept outside in swags again, seriously google them, I want to buy my own and camp out under the stars every night.

Day 3:

Woke up, again, very early - which I personally love but most people weren't quite fans of. We then did a 6km hike through/around King's Canyon and the Garden of Eden, had lunch then drove the 5 hours back to Alice Springs. That night a bunch of us went out for food and beer and managed to get two free pitchers of beer, a lovely way to cap off a great three days if I do say so myself.

A little side note about our Aboriginal walking tour, the significance of Uluru, and Australia's history and present. What do you know about Australia's history? If you google it, the common information you get is the British history of the island, the convicts being sent here etc. Are you aware that Australia has an aboriginal population and their history bears an uncanny resemblance to ours in Canada? It's actually quite unsettling. I'd encourage you to read about it, I won't try to butcher their story here. 

Uluru (the giant rock) is a very significant place to the Aboriginals' traditions. There are points around the rock that it is requested that people don't photograph as they are sacred and meant to be viewed only in person. Is it also requested that people don't climb on the rock. Requested being the operative word. At one point, when the 'white man' was encouraging tourism to the rock, people were also encouraged to conquer and climb the rock (of course ignoring the wishes of the aboriginals). Now the traditional land owners and the Australian government care for the rock and its tourism together, but they still haven't officially closed the climb. They of course are worried it will hurt tourism. 

Here's the kicker: despite the signs and the wishes of the aboriginals sooo many people continue to climb the rock!! It's terrible! It disgusts me (obviously)! I don't care if you think someone else's religion is joke, it's a matter of respect to others of the human race. Anyways, I could go on for days, but that's enough for now. 

I then spent the next day in Alice Springs trying to find a way to get out of Alice Springs and north to Darwin (about 1800km I believe). I didn't want to fly and it's expensive and I wanted to see things along the way. I also didn't want to take the greyhound because it's a straight drive with no stopping except for fuel, and a train was really expensive. I was looking for a ride share with other backpackers or a vehicle relocation, an luckily stumbled upon the tour I am currently on. A two day express to Darwin, stopping at Devil's Marbles, staying the night at Daly Waters Pub, and Mataranka Hot Springs. 

I feel this post is getting long winded..

Devil's Marbles are a bunch of granite stones in the middle of nowhere (outback), scattered about and precariously stacked upon one another. Daly Waters Pub is the oldest pub in Australia and has quite the bit of county charm. Mataranka Hot Springs was a lovely ride down a warm river on a noodle and a swim back against the current so we could stay in the water longer!

I'm signing off now. I fly from Darwin to Manilla, Philippines on the 27th, stay overnight, fly to LA on the 28th, stay overnight, then fly to good old Fargo, ND on the 29th! If anyone has any friends in LA that want to party with a tall, brown Canadian girl (me) - let me know!

- Sabrina, Sab, Bina, Wood

*written on 25/6, published when I have wifi

apparently people read this

So, I guess I've kind of let the blogging fall by the wayside in favour of everything else. I feel like I should write a day by day update of what's happened since the last blog post, but that was more then a month a go and if I'm being honest, I don't want to. 

Currently I am 'alone' in Australia as Mardee flew back to the homeland on the 18th of June. On the 12th of June I flew to Melbourne by myself and spend the week there. Melbourne was an amazing city. Mardee kept telling me I would love it, but I didn't have any expectations upon arrival. The art in the city is thrown in your face, it just feels alive. I spent a week wandering through museums, exhibits, through lane-ways, and to monuments. For the week I stayed in a hostel named Home at the Mansion, which also made my time in the  city that much better. Google it. The building was an old Salvation Army building with a lot of the original architectural detail, and the crowd there was more my speed. Not a bunch of 18 year old backpackers drunk on cheap boxed wine, but more long-stayers that were a little older, a little more educated, and working in the city.

The pictures posted on here backwards, but a couple of things I did/visited in the city:

- Museum of Melbourne

- ACMI Museum and Costume Exhibit

- Hunted for amazing graffiti

- Shrine of Remembrance

- Federation Square

- Danced all Night at a club with some Brits

- Had various beers at various pubs

- Wandered the shops on Brunswick Street in the Fitzroy District

- Made friends with a bunch of Frenchies and regretted my extremely limited language skills

From Melbourne I flew to Alice Springs on Wednesday the 19th and that's a whole other post and pictures in itself. 

I'll elaborate in the next post, but I went on a 3 day/ 2 night tour of Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kata Tjuta (The Ulgas), and Kings Canyon. I'm now on a bus headed north through the outback, stopping to see things on the way with my final detonation being Darwin. 

- Sabrina, Sab, Bina, Wood

*written on 24/6, published when I have wifi