Transcending Borders With Seeds in Our Hands

Our final stop in the Outback was King’s Canyon National Park. Tucker warned us to bring over a liter of water each because, again, people die there every year. The temperatures can become absolutely scorching and you can get heat stroke. We started out on the hardest part of the trail called “Heartattack Hill,” and you can guess why it’s called that. There were over 150 steps to climb but it was early in the morning so it was still cool. We got to the top and started the walk around the rim which lasted over three hours. The walls of the canyons were formed from layers of rocks that had been pressed together as the continent of Australia compressed inward. The change of pressure on the landscape gave rise to the domes and outcrops that exist today. There were ripple marks on smooth slabs of stone, evidence that the desert was once and inland sea. We made our way down into the gorge and sat in the shaded respite of the Garden of Eden. There was a natural pool and lots of vegetation and birds. The birds made beautiful calls back and forth to each other and flew unabashedly inches from our heads. It felt a bit like I was getting a taste of what the Grand Canyon is like. We finally got to flat ground after coming down gradually over the next hour then we took off to high-tail it to Alice Springs. Tucker dropped each of us at our respective hostels and warned us not to walk around at night if we could help it. This advice was taken into more serious consideration as the sound of two sirens was heard in the distance. Everyone wanted to go to the pub for drinks but I was not feeling well at all, so I went and had a $5 dinner and then left early to get some sleep–I had to get up early to fly to Sydney. I ended up walking back to the hostel by myself and I didn’t feel threatened at all. I walked on the grassy median in the middle of the road and stayed away from the shady park. The next morning I grabbed a coffee in town and saw that it was actually a nicer town than nightime lets on. I was glad to be heading back to Sydney so that I could wash my VERY smelly clothes (I hadn’t washed anything for the whole week in the Outback). My bag still smells so I’m going to have to buy some deodorizer.

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