Poor K is attracting it all: in the morning she woke up with a stiff neck making it hard for her to move. Luckily our tour guide found a pot of tiger balm in his bag that he had brought back from Thailand some time ago. As I am writing this post (trying to catch up on my writing on the flight to Darwin) I can already give you the good news: With the tiger balm and wearing a scarf she recovered from the pain within two days.
But back to our day at Kata Tjuta (called “the Olgas” by the early settlers): Again we were getting up early for breakfast by the fire with toast roasted between two grids that you could hold over the flames. Sounds easy but believe me, it’s not! Not long enough and the toast is still soft, just a second too long and it is burned to coal. But we managed and I even dared to put Vegemite on it, an Australian spread. It tastes okay and if we’d had a slice of cheese I probably would have even enjoyed it. But to truly love it I guess you have to be Australian born and raised.
After breakfast we packed up, cleaned the camp site and headed for a near by dune to watch the sun rise illuminate Uluru and Kata Tjuta while the strong smell of “dessert heat myrtle” was waking up our senses. The bushes grow all around the area and because it had rained a few weeks ago were in full bloom.
As the world was bathed in light again we took off to Kata Tjuta, the infamous brother of Uluru for a hike through the mountains.
We learned that though it’s hard to believe it was glaciers that created Kata Tjuta and Uluru. While all the stones were dumped at the place that is now Kata Tjuta all the sand continued further on and built Uluru which is made of a soft sand stone.
Along our way our guide showed us edible plants and flowers (called “bush tucker” here in Australia). Amongst them were dessert plums that taste really bitter but supposedly are a rich source of vitamin C and a sweet, pink flower of a bush that you could suck the nectar out of, something our kids would continue doing for the next couple of days. Unfortunately I forgot the name of the bushes.
After quite some climbing at warm temperatures we reached the “Valley of the Winds”. As the name indicates it is quite a windy spot and the jumpers had to come on again. But the view was magnificent!
On our way back we encountered budgerigars (Wellensittiche) that were flying around merrily in the Acacia trees.
Back on the bus we were given oranges to snack on. It’s truly amazing how something as simple as an orange can taste extaordinary after an exhausting hike!
In any regard we did not come short on delicious eating. Lunch were tortillas fixed on a resting area along the road side. K, when asked about what she liked the best of the trip so far, even commented that it was the food that we got served during the entire tour starting with the cookies and apples our guide seemed to have plenty of to the meals cooked in camping pots above the fire.
On the way to the Kings Canyon campsite that would be our place for the night we stopped at a big cattle station with a mountain called Mt. Connor which looks similar to Uluru. But since it’s privately owned not too much is known about this mountain. It sits on a huge property that is home to about a 1000 cows and what seemed millions of flies. Also it contains a huge, dry salt lake called Lake Amadeus. Other than that there are a petrol station, a camp site and a shop that even sells liquor.
A bit further on we all got of the bus again in order to collect fire wood for tonight’s barn fire.
At Kings Canyon campsite we were greeted by a funny kakadu named Charly who we could pet. When I did he even offered me the soft spot under his wing to stroke. Big smiles on my side. A little thank you dance on hiis. He was such a clown enjoying the attention.
We then got settled in the tents. And then we ran for the showers. Some smart guy had built an outdoor heating system for a visit of Queen Elizabeth II in the outback. It consists of what looks like an old gas bottle with some valves and a cutout at the bottom where you burn wood. Apparently the Queen considered herself above auch construction and never used it. So the owner of the camp site bought it and installed it on his grounds. It heats two showers built of metal sheets facing the outback. What a sight! And warm water can be an absolute luxury!
Tonight’s dinner was Kangaroo. Do I need to mention that the kids opted for an vegetarian alternative?
This night more people in our group became daring enough to sleep in swags around the fire including F. Tonight it was not as cold but there were fewer stars due to clouds. B and I were really glad we had seized the opportunity the first night already! As our guide pointed out, you won’t remember the first time in a hotel but you will remember the first time in a swag!