well i’m on my way…

On the ride from Alice Springs to Coober Pedy was where I saw the outback I thought I would.  It is said that the landscape of the area around Coober Pedy is very similar to that of Mars.  I find this interesting because hundreds of thousands of years ago the middle of Australia was under water…

Coober Pedy produces 70-95% of the opals in the world.  I use that range because I read both those statistics in two different places.  The original settlers were looking for gold not far south from Coober Pedy and when none showed up, they started digging for water.  And opal was what they found. 

The hostel I stayed in used to be an opal mine-yes I slept about 20 feet underground!  It was nice not having to worry about the aircon working (which is a concern when one is living in hostels in the middle of summer).  It was obvious where and how the miners dug the rock out as they patters were still in the walls and ceilings.  Too cool. 

There wasn’t much to see in Coober Pedy except for some old mines and crazy art left over from some crazy space movies that were filmed there and of couse, opal shops.  I did a bit of shopping then went back to the hostel to read until my bus came to take me to Adelaide.

After a sleepless night on the Greyhound I arrived in Adelaide around 730.  I didn’t realize how much of a city girl I am until I found myself so happy to be around the hustle and bustle of people heading to work on a Monday morning.  I booked myself a train ticket to Perth for Sunday, so I’ll be here until then.  I’m going to take this city easy, since I’ve been told that a person only needs 2 or 3 days for Adelaide.  There are beaches nearby, so I’m sure I won’t have a hard time finding something to do, not to mention that the area is known for its wine…

What I thought the Outback would look like was entirely the opposite of what it actually was.  (There I go expecting things again!)  But I wasn’t let down.  It was still amazing. 

I thought that I would be looking out at a still nothingness surrounding the van as we drove along the Stuart Highway.  I thought the land would be barren and without vegetation.  Perhaps this is how the outback does look, but this year has broke their 7 or 8 year drought-with more rain in November than the last 2 years combined!  The land was checkerboarded with a few shades of unhealthy looking green tufts of longish prairie grass.  Most people would call the dirt/sand red, but I would call it a terra cotta color.  Ayers rock is really white underneath, as are most of the other rocks in the area, but from dust/sand storms, it’s all stained this terra cotta color.  It’s quite pretty. 

There were some trees, areas with more than others.  The trees looked like what you might expect to see in the Serengetti (sp?) except they were shorter and fatter.  And only part of it was alive-or appeared alive.  some of the outer branches were lying on the ground and looked black if you looked out at the outback as a whole.  When we drove perpindicular to the trees, they appeared silver. 

We didn’t see any wildlife besides cows and birds, but we sure saw a ton of kangaroo crossing signs.  The clouds were nonexistant, and the sky was such a pale blue.  All of the colors were crisp because of this.   

I was picked up from my hostel at 5 am Wednesday morning .  We stopped a few times on the way to the Olgas-another rock formation which means “many heads” in the local Aboriginal language-and each time, the flies were worse than the last.  I finally broke down, along with most of the other 23 people in my group and purchased a fly net.  A fly net is a very attractive net that goes over your head and is pulled tight with a drawstring at the neck. 

When we got the the Olgas, people were telling me that it was 50 degrees out.  I learned later that 50 C is over 110 F.  Yikes!  We walked a bit, learned some about the flora in the area and the importance of the rocks-it was used as a hunting area for the men.  Turns out that once the white men came in and tried to understand the Aboriginals ways, they somehow butchered the stories and meanings, so the Aboriginals refused to share any more information.  So a lot about the Aboriginals is shrouded in mystery.

We went out to Ayers Rock, the big monolith that’s practically located in the geographic center of the country.  It was amazing the first time I saw it, and the first time I watched it change color, but after a while, just like any excess of, well, anything, it began to loose its special-ness.  Watching the rock change from a terra-cotta color to a muted orange as the sun set was pretty cool.  A lot of us in the group had purchased alcoholic beverages to enjoy-since the real tourists have wine and cheese catered to them for the sunset.  One of the guys in my group noticed a lone table full of champagne glasses and overflowing platters of cheese and grapes and veggies and dip.  Our group somehow got invited to enjoy what the tourists left behind, as the workers were just going to throw it out.  We learned that the people who didn’t enjoy their treats were in fact, American, and we all had a chuckle about the “wasteful Americans”.  You know I was one of the first to say something!

We slept under the stars that night in sleeping bags and “swag”.  “Swag” is supposedly what the real jackaroos sleep in when they’re in the outbag.  I don’t really buy it, since it was so comfortable!  The swag was like a super tough sleeping bag with a built in mattress that also had a flap to put over your head in case the moon was too bright.  And bright it was! 

But the moon wasn’t the main event that night-it was the stars and the Milky Way.  We all went to bed around midnight where there were a multitude of stars, more than I’ve ever seen in my life.  When I woke up at 4 I was completely taken aback.  The stars seemed to have multiplied by the thousands and the Milky Way was ever so present.  I saw a shooting star and then forced myself up to eat breakfast and get ready for the day.  That view was easily the single most amazing thing I have seen in my entire life.  I had one of those “I’m so glad to be alive” moments admiring the universe over my head. 

That day we completed the base walk of Ayers Rock.  Halfway through I felt like I was sleepwalking.  It was almost as hot as it was midday the day before, and it was only 930 in the morning!  After the walk, we drove to our new camp, put our swimsuits on and enjoyed being lazy.  We all went to bed early in hopes of seeing amazing stars again, but when we woke up at 5 the next morning the sun had already started to erase the stars. 

We drove to Kings Canyon early to walk for 4 hours.  The heat wasn’t half as bad as it had been the 2 previous days, so it was a very enjoyable walk.  Our guide introduced us to what I called “dinofood” as this plant has been around since dinosaurs were.  It’s just a shorter, fatter, leafier version of what we all recognize as a palm tree.  I learned that canyons are created by wind and other elements-but not water.  So, I hate to break this to you at home, but what we call the Grand Canyon isn’t really a canyon.  It’s a gorge (sp?).  But the Grand Canyon definately sounds a hell of a lot better than the Grand Gorge.  The land around the top of the canyon was amazing as well-there were large beehive formations made out of rock that were created by cracks in the rock and then wind and other elements pushing through them.  So I thought it was neat.

After that walk (no twisted ankle!) we piled in the bus for a 5 hour drive back to Alice Springs, where we were all picked up from.  We all met for dinner in my hostel’s bar and made a not too late night out of it-since we were all so exhausted from the sun and walking and about 8 hours of sleep within the last 2 nights.  

Hi!  I just wanted to let you know that I survived camping in the outback, admiring Ayers Rock, and sweating in the not desert, but semi-arid heat.  I have a lot to tell you, but not while I’m on a 2 dollar/15 minute internet hook up.  And I promise to give full descriptions on the outback and the last few days since I cheated my readers on the Great Barrier Reef.  I’m looking forward to sharpening my creative writing skills…soon, very soon.

I’m in Coober Pedy now, dubbed the Opal Capital of the world.  I think 90% of opals come from here? 

I’m running out of time, so I’ll post back in a few days.  Cheers!

So I arrived in The Outback a few days ago.  It’s nice and toasty, but no humidity, so I’m in my element.  Alice Springs is another tourist town, so I’ve been hanging out by the hostel’s pool, reading and turning brown.  Everyone pretty much bunks here for the night/s until they leave for their Ayers Rock tour and than take off for elsewhere in Australia.  I leave for my tour on Wednesday, so I won’t be back on until at least Friday.

Remember how I was telling you about the flies looking for places to land on your face?  I knew that from reading it in the museum in Sydney.  Well now I know about it from experience!  My lips are sealed shut as I walk around while the flies land on my cheeks and forehead.  It’s only when they land on my “sunnies” that it bothers me, since the fly is in my line of vision.  Another fly tried to fly up my nostril this morning, so I did a good ol’ “farmer’s blow” in the middle of the street…I felt gross doing it, but more gross if larvae started coming out my nose…

Aboriginals are everywhere, sitting the the few shady spots along the sidewalks and up close to the buildings.  It’s obvious that they’re not part of society here, don’t really make eye contact with you as you’re walking down the street (nothing like Brisbane).  I made eye contact with one woman and smiled and she gave me the hugeset smile back…it made me feel like a better person.

So I’m off to lie in the sun, and I’m signing off until Friday…

Happy Birthday Meghan!

So the Great Barrier Reef was amazing.  I’m honestly at a lack of words for it.  Nothing I can say could even begin to explain what I saw…but I can tell you what I felt.  When I first got into the water I was a bit anxious.  Anxious about breathing out of my mouth and anxious about fish swimming around me.  They still kind of creep me out.  After kicking around a bit, I was thinking to myself, “This is it?”  I was a bit unimpressed.  But I picked my head out of the water and noticed the rest of the snorkels were not very close to me, so I started heading towards them and I was taken away by what I saw.  It was so beautiful I almost cried.  It was very similar to how I felt when the train I was on pulled into Bern Switzerland and I saw just the tips of the Alps…incredible.  I understood why I was such a fish as a kid, never wanting to get out of the water, the feeling of gliding through the water came back to me all too quickly.  I felt so at peace with myself and the world floating around looking at the reef, not thinking anything, and hearing nothing but my breathing (which had slown down by then).  I took a ton of pictures with an underwater camera, so I’ll mail that back in the middle of February before I leave Australia-so whoever gets it will see the pics before I do!

That night I went out with my Irish roommates to a local backpacker bar, the Woolshed.  Needless to say, I drank quite a bit and was out until 3.  I had to be up at 630!

I woke up on time and feeling not too bad, but not too great either.  I was picked up for Uncle Brian’s, a rainforest walk/tour at 730.  We walked through some rainforest, swam in a few water holes, played under a waterfall, slid down a natural rock waterslide, and swam in a volcanic lake.  Once I got in the cold water my hangover disappeared instantly.  Gotta remember that one!  I pet a python in the wild too!  The tour wasn’t just learning, sweating, and swimming.  We did a lot of singing and played some games…what a great day.  But I had to come home (back to the hostel) to pack my backpack.  It was an early night.

Now I’m sitting in a hostel in Alice Springs in the middle of the Outback.  Who else can say that they were in a rainforest one day and the desert the next?!?!