The Red Center of Australia: July 1999
Alice Springs, Ayer's Rock/Uluru, The Olga's, King's Canyon
Alice Springs
We arrived via Ansett Airlines in the afternoon and the hostel came to pick us up.
It was good to be back in the warmth and sunshine, but we were jetlagged from 1.5 hour
time zone shift and I just wanted a lie down. The Toddy's backpackers is 1 km out of
town. So we had to walk a lot. there were a lot of Aboriginal people hanging out on the streets and they
have a big presence here. Our hostel was a bit run down and seedy and typically co-ed but no one bothered
us here. I wasn't too thrilled by my bunkmate who left the room trashed and would always come in at
3 am and turn the lights on and make a lot of noise since he worked in a nightclub. I mostly hung out.
Deirdre and I found a Digderidoo for Seth. We had been looking since Cairns. We wanted a nice one, not
out of our pricerange that was made by Aborginal people. Alice was having a street market. D bought some
opals and we explored the Aruehen Aboriginal Art center and the cemetary where Albert Namatjira famous
Aboriginal artist was buried. So we saw this family making didgeridoos as we watched. They were making
them to the Desert design with dots and speckled using plants as a paintbrush. The honey ant Didg was
only $70AUD so we bought that. The only problem was I was too cheap to mail it home so I carried the
thing all the rest of the trip and into New Zealand. So it was infused with our travels. We then climbed
up ANZAC hill for a view of Alice Springs and see the sunset over the MacDonnell ranges. D and I
developed a taste for Pasta with pesto sauce (from a jar). Alice is basically a big tourist area not
quite as over the top garish as Cairns. It just didn't appeal to me very well. One particularly gross
moment that later turned my stomach whenever I thought of eating sandwiches was we were sitting in the
airconditioned mall by Woolworth's at a table and this old Aboriginal man with snot encrusted and hanging
in green gobs from his nose onto his moustache came right up to my face to beg for money so I gave
him $1AUD just to get him away from me. I was so disgusted I nearly puked. It was so sad. Normally I
don't give people who beg money. The site of him really made me was to wretch tho. It still does when
I think about it.
Uluru/Ayer's Rock/The Olga's
We were up before the dawn to meet the Sahara Tours and our guide Malcolm, an older fellow who didn't put
up with any nonsense. He had a great sense of humor and think he handled all of us well. We were
quite a disparate bunch. A lot of young single women from England, US, Switzerland, France, and a family
from Germany, a couple from Denmark, a couple from Melbourne, a single guy from Italy. About 17 of us in all. So the bus ride out to Ayer's Rock the first day was pretty uneventful.
I had had an intuition that I would meet a guy on this trip. But I looked hard at Fabio, the Italian,
and wasn't too sure about that one. I mean he was good looking, a bit young for me at early 20s.
We stopped at the airport to pick two girls up and I thought hey why didn't we just land here
and then go to Ayer's Rock from here? You wouldn't believe it but Ayer's Rock is such a tourist
destination that they have their own airport in site of the rock and a huge resort with an large mall
as well. It's true. We stopped on the way at a huge flattop butte to take pictures and later at
an Aboriginal Roadhouse. They have an art gallery in the back room. In the front you can buy gas,
souvenirs, have a nosh at their diner. Fabio was partial to popsicles. Then we stopped in the middle
of nowhere to gather firewood from the side of the road. I found camel tracks in the sand. We stopped at the resort
to our campground. Now this is camping. Our camp was fully set up with tents and sleeping bags
on cots and a fully enclosed kitchen area with picnic tables. So we unloaded our stuff and Malcolm
and the gals cut up veggies and got the sandwiches out for lunch. Then he had us load up on water
to go out to explore The Olga's. These are huge red rocks near Ayer's rock that are the Aboriginal
women's sacred site and not much is told to us of the area or it's significance. We only had enough
time to go halfway into the area by hiking. D had just got her hiking boots out and had not broken
them in yet so she got blisters on her feet and she was as ouchy as I had been in Perth. So she
hobbled behind the lot of us. Malcolm stayed with her. I made it up to the perch where we could see the
valley in front of us and the towering rocks around us. This is where Fabio proved himself. On the
way back everyone was able to hike right back out but we soon caught up to Deirdre so I hung back
to make sure she got back ok and Malcolm and Fabio were soon far ahead of us. Suddenly Fabio turned
and came back to make sure we got back ok. I was like "ok, I like this guy. Concern for others safety.
That's character right there". So we got back to the bus and Fabio told me to climb up to the top
of the trailer to get a good view. He lent me his hand to climb up to the top. Malcolm didn't want
us up there. So then we drove to an outlook to watch Ayer's Rock at sunset which is something everyone
should do in this lifetime. The rock changes color during the day from dusky brown to red and then
deep red-brown. Malcolm broke out the wine and we drank champagne as the sunset in the desert.
Tomorrow we would tackle the Rock. Back at camp we all pitched in to help Malcolm cook dinner
over dutch ovens in the campfire and clean up afterwards. We sat around the campfire introduced
ourselves. I broke out the didgeridoo tho Fabio was the only one who could make any noise out of
it that sounded remotely right. He sat next to me and D and the other girls said to each other
conspiratorially "Gee, do you think Fabio likes Erika?" The German kids teased him and he teased
them back. It was all fun and lighthearted. Fabio wanted all the girls to make their cots in front
of the fire and sleep under the stars with him. He asked me to. I said yes, then I was too
tired to drag my cot out. You have to remember I have jetlag and sleep deprivation. So the
German father was snoring so loudly that everyone was in hysterics listening to him prattle
on like a giant animal bellowing into the great sandy outback. Morning came all to quickly.
Climbing Ayer's Rock
Malcolm had us all up before sunrise to eat and get in the van to the rock. We had to
decide if we were climbing it or walking around. The 2 French Med Student women, the Belgium
gal, myself and Fabio were climbing. Malcolm had told us the Aboriginal people don't
prohibit us from climbing the rock. It is a sacred site to them and they do not like
the fact that people have died climbing it up a sacred pathway. I guess if Fabio had not
been climbing I would have gone with D around the outside. It is a mammoth structure.
The largest rock in the world. The ranger said there was some wind but he would allow
people to climb it. So he gave us the green light. We were some of the first up. It starts
out ok but gets steeper and steeper. It is all solid rock and only a chain link fence
to hold onto. So the going got scary. My backpack definitely began to wear on me.
I was so tired my muscles and limbs ached with each step about halfway up to the
first ledge. Fabio was a mountain goat compared to me. I was huffing and puffing.
We got to the first ledge I was like halleluhiah. Then he wanted to go up the next
section to the very top where a geological marker sits. So I had my video camera and
gave it to the Australian guy to hold onto for me since the next bit was even more
hairy with narrow ledges to scramble across with wind ripping at my clothes. Fabio
helped us "girls" get up the tough steep bits. I had to get on my butt a few times
to scramble down a particularly steep area. Finally, success, we were at the very top
as the sun came up to illuminate the Olga's off in the distance. They all got photos
of the event. I wish I had one. By the time we were on our way down Japanese tourists
were the second wave behind the early bird Europeans. I tried to encourage them. I
was very sympathetic to their red faces and heaving chests. On the way down the
steepest bit I turned around a came down stepping backwards as it was easier on
my knees and if I fell I would fall forward! But I made it back fine and then
Malcolm took us on a tour of some of the sacred areas along the base where we
saw interesting overhangs of rock with aboriginal paintings. He then took us around
in the van to see the rock from the other side. There is a huge brain shaped
area carved from the elements in the side and I didn't know but this is where
infamous "The dingo took my baby" joke came from. A tourist was camping near
the rock when her child disappeared and she was tried for its murder. We then went
to the Aboriginal cultura center and looked at the displays and art work for sale.
Their culture and traditions are so foreign and alien to me. Not that I don't want
to learn and explore it. But it is so really complex and amazing. They have
stories from the rock pictures ranging from baby or child up to really complex
adult tales to help the tribe follow sacred law and not upset the balance.
King's Canyon
The day passed quickly and we had to break camp to drive to the real outback
near King's Canyon to a campsite. We stopped at the usual roadhouse. We went
into the bar area and a pitbull greeted us tail wagging. I stopped and pet it.
The owner said "you wouldn't know but that animal was going to be destroyed for
being vicious last month." I was taken aback by that. He explained that some
owners should be shot not dogs. The dog was abused and finally it got mean to
defend itself. The man had rescued it and he put his foot on the dog and said
"Now you are just a big wus aren't you Buster?" and the dog whined and acted
very meek and happy at this attention. The campsite was full of colorful parrots
in the trees. The water is heated to the showers by a stove with a huge tree
trunk stuck into it. The water is from an ancient waterway under the earth and
the signs explained that once that was dry there was no more water to be had
so use it carefully. It really made me aware of the earth out here. Living with
scarce resources one has to develop a different way of behaving and thinking.
Malcolm made the campfire. He told the kids to stay away from it. A few weeks
ago a stupid tourist on his tour had gotten burned by the fire by being stupid
and blamed Malcolm which he wasnt having any of but the man had filed suit.
The Dane man regaled in teasing me about not eating meat. He was a hearty fellow
who used to be a banker and now was a landscape architect and he loved it.
Fabio was acting peculiarly. Ignoring me and hanging on the Swiss girls but
they didn't speak much English and I thought they were not any competition.
So I had a great argument with my Australian companions about Aboriginal issues.
"Don't even get me started" he said. I said yes, we need to talk about this.
Victorians and Queenslanders seem to me the most Anti-aboriginal. Seeing the
government land return, the money, cars, and homes as a huge welfare market
that didn't benefit anyone. That we gave them trinkets for their land fair and
square. HUH? The people least likely to even encounter real aboriginals were
the people least friendly to them culturally or politically. It was sad to me.
This is how prejudices against blacks and Native Americans or Hispanics get
started. Through ignorance and fear. I stayed up late talking to Malcolm,
Fabio and Rodney. Fabio convinced me to sleep under the stars with him by
the campfire. It was damn cold in the desert at night and my head was so cold
I had to duck into the sleeping bag (the wind was blowing onto my head!).
It was cute. Like the old days when you are a kid and you are sleeping rough.
We talked til we drifted off to sleep. Malcolm came early to wake me and I was
really cranky worse than usual and I gave him and Rodney the finger and they
were like "oooohhhh". Later I felt bad I did that. That was rude but they
were teasing me and you know how I hate that. So we ate breakfast and made off
to King's Canyon to hike up the steep bit and around (the opposite way most
tourists go) since it loops around to the parking lot. It's a lovely canyon
area with lots of windswept features. We had to crawl on our bellies to the edge
since the canyon walls are steep and just last month a woman had been killed falling
from a ledge to her death. Her father saw her fall. How horrible. Almost everywhere
we had been similar to this area someone had fallen to their deaths within the past
year. So be careful out there people. Fabio liked to joke around and go to the
really crazy ledges that Malcolm said were weakened by fault cracks "you damn fool."
Malcolm explained the various plants and geological features. We had an argument
over whether fossils in the rock were jellyfish since they couldn't leave a fossil
since they have no firm bits. This all was at one point under water. Hard to imagine.
We went down into the canyon where two of our more brave women swam and we ate a snack
with a large black hungry crow staring us down from just over our shoulders in the rockface.
Then we climbed up the stairs out to the top to wander back down. Fabio hung back
as I was lagging and almost everyone was ahead of me. So he was always the gentleman.
The toilets at this park are composting ones. There really isn't alot of water out here.
So then the long trip home to Alice. Fabio sat near me and we talked a lot. Deirdre
tried to warn him to stay away from me, that I was dangerous and how awful I am.
I was like "Deirdre, hello, you are cramping my style."
Alice Springs
Malcolm invited us to the local pub in town for a meal and drinks as a way to wind down
the trip. So D and I got changed and went over. Fabio was holding court in the center
with all these women and people were enjoined to sing Karaoke with their tables
but we declined. D gets annoyed in smoky places. I can't blame her. So we all hung
out til 11 pm then the girls went to another bar near a hotel and Fabio and I and
Malcolm went to the local backpackers to dance and play pool. We tried to go to the
hotel bar but it was not half as fun as the backpackers so we went back. Fabio
I was not to pleased to find out played the game better than I do so he was
playing the "I am not going to dance with you or pay attention to you" game and then
would look over to see if I was paying attention to him. So I went over to dance
with another guy I didn't care about and he came and grabbed me to go to that other
hotel bar. Sort of amusing. But a woman told Malcolm who told me that Fabio had
a girlfriend back home and I wouldn't get anywhere with him anyway. So good to know.
So I was just getting annoyed. Because if I ignored him he would come over and
play with ice and flirt and try to get my attention. Then dash off for more
nonsense. The other women in the place didn't want anything to do with him what I could
see. Malcolm and I played pool but I was terrible at it and the other players hate
Malcolm (locals all know each other and they don't have a good opinion of him).
Malcolm's other mate kept coming up to me terrified because some American women
were after him and as everyone knows "American women are crazy!!!!" Of course
these two women were the best dressed most beautiful women in the joint. So at the
end of the evening M and his friend invited me to their place but I said No I am tired
and M made sure I got home ok. Fabio I was so pissed off at. Malcolm told me
"Erika, let me give you some advice. If they don't chase you, don't give them
the time of day. If he's interested he'll come to you. If not, then don't get your
heart broken." Good advice. So Fabio came up after and was making fun of me. He
was going to Cairns next. He said "I am going where it is warm. You are going
where it is cold, hahha" I said "What do you care?" But when we were all leaving
he put out his arms and made a face like "hug?" so I hugged him. I mean how can
you stay mad at that face? I crawled into bed my last thought being "Man these
Australians know how to party!"
Australia is so expensive to get around in that I have now seen more of Australia
than many Australians.
Erika and Fabio the Italian at King's Canyon
On to The Great Ocean Road and Melbourne
Back to my OzPage
Email Webmistress E
This page updated February 21, 2000.