Uluru & Kings Canyon
Uluru and Kings Canyon were completely different from anything else I did while I was in Aus. The red rock, the vast desert landscapes, and the blistering heat. Not to mention the waterfalls we ended up in by the end of the trip.
We started off by arriving for an early BBQ and the heading to Kata Tjuta. Which was the most beautiful spot. The shapes carved out of the rocks is insane, there's no other word for it, I could of stared at them for so much longer.
After Kata Tjuta the evening wasn't over, we headed to Uluru for sunset. Even though the viewing point was super busy it was still so peaceful as everyone watched in awe as the sun went down.
The next day we were up before dawn and headed back to Uluru to walk the base at sunrise. We were even lucky enough to see a rainbow over the rock! As we walked we heard the indigenous stories of how the world came to be, the rainbow snake and many more. We also learnt about some their traditions and how the tribes have lived off the land for so long.
That night it absolutely tipped it down. We all woke up to soggy tents and soggy sleeping bags but that didn't put us off. We arrived at a very rainy Kings Canyon with bin bags as coats and set off up what is know as "heart attack hill", which is a load of rocky steps up to the top. When we got to the top and recovered our breaths the view was amazing. Our tour guide had never seen waterfalls at the canyon and it was awesome.
We continued onwards through ankle deep water and came to another waterfall, which was blocking our way down into the canyon. Our rather tall tour guide went through first and it was knee deep on him, which meant thigh deep on us normal sized people. But we were already soaked and decided as group we wanted to carry on. We went through two waterfalls and got half way round the canyon when we got a radio call from the rangers. We cannot continue as the canyon has flooded with the heavy rainfall and we have to turn around and go back. However before we did we were allowed to climb the steps to the top on the canyon for another look.
The waterfall you can see in the photo above is one we had to walk through, which meant walking through it again to get back. It may look small in the photo but that was not the case, and the water was fast. But that just made it more of an adventure.
We headed back to the coach only to realise most of our spare clothes were also soaking, and the only road to get back to Alice Springs was flooded. This meant a 3 hour wait for the rain to stop and road to drain. In soggy clothes, with no shoes. But the chilly toes were worth it for the waterfalls.
It is unfortunate that we only got halfway and a shame we didn't get to see the rest of the canyon, but what we did see was amazing.
This was also the start of me being officially on my own, I was unbelievably lucky that my hostel in Alice Springs was full of such lovely people, who leant me bags, sleeping bags and helped my to plan the rest of my journey through Aus.
Uluru and Kata Tjuta were both such spiritual places and the colours were so intense I was so glad my friends housemate suggested I go. And Kings Canyon was amazing. So if an Aussie ever tells you to "go see some red fucking dirt", do it. It will be unlike anything else you see.