Camping in the "Way" Outback

We recently returned from our camping trip, three days in the outback. Amazing! We boarded our van (each only equipped with a backpacks worth of clothes), met our tour guide, Scott, and were on our way to a once in a lifetime adventure. We were picked up and on the road by 6:00 A.M. Because of this we were able to watch the sunrise while literally standing in the middle of nowhere, spinfex grass and marsupial mole burrows and all. After the sun came up we dug for witchety grubs. Back on the bus and off to the Kings Canyon where we climbed vertically up to the top, stairs after stairs after stairs. Luckily we all made it to the top through perseverance and persistence. We hiked around the canyon for about two more hours and then had lunch. After lunch we continued to drive and picked up some fire wood along the way for our campfire (so we could cook dinner that night). Scott said that he’d never seen a group get so cut up from collecting fire wood, it was rough times, definitely need some mental preparation beforehand (wasn’t nearly prepared). After a bottle of antiseptic ointment we were on our way. We set up camp in the middle of the outback under the stars and around the biggest campfire pit I have ever seen. We had no toilet a first for me and no tents or shelter. We started a fire and started making the most boom diggity dinner ever. Rice and chilli, with vegetables and bread. While dinner was cooking Charlie gave us a lecture on the southern sky. Facts from such lecture – the cerestrial equator separates the northern and southern sky starting at O’Ryan’s belt. The zodiac line is the path were the sun and moon travel. And the galaxy can be seen as well. We looked right down the center of the milky way. The sky here was so amazing with our the light pollution of the city. After dinner we rolled out our swags and went to sleep under the full moon and night sky filled with stars. The next day we went to Kata Tjuta, which was a sacred aboriginal men’s place. It was multiple stones next to each other, and another hike! Then we stopped and the culture center and were on our way to Uluru. We got to do the mala walk where Scott told us a lot of Anangu (aboriginal/indigenous/people of the land) stories. The stories and explanations that were offered by the Anangu of why things were the way they were was extremely fascinating. The culture and lifestyle was very cool to learn about, but it is extremely sad as it barely exists anymore. We were able to watch the sunset on Uluru over a stirfry dinner. The color of the rock changed throughout the sunset. It was pretty cool. Back to our camp for some smores. Woke up early to see the sun rise on Uluru over breakfast. Made a pyramid infront of it as you can see in the picture. From Top to Bottom: Tifany, Mariah, Brittany M., Jen, Jared, Brittanie P, Sarah, Dan, Brina, and Brady. The tour guide was in the back, that was Scott. Then we hiked around Uluru and were on the road back home. We stopped and rode camels, so much fun. They were so tall and it felt like a ship, they are actually called the ships of the desert because men used to get sea sick when they rode them. Back home to the YHA and a shower. Our 4^th day, a bonus day we went to see the MacDonnell Ranges and possible every waterhole they had to offer. An amazing burger lunch and a swim in frozen waters (so cold it hurt) and back home again. We had a nice group dinner where I tried kangaroo and crocodile. The kangaroo tasted like a gamey stake and the crocodile was like chew chicken that had no flavor. All in all a great adventure, for the record booksJ