Blue Mountains

August 11

7:53am Sydney time 

Heading out west of Sydney to the Blue Mountains. 

There are 4.6million people in Sydney and 4.2million in Melbourne. I think he said there are around 24 million people in Australia.

We are heading to Katoomba now.

Apparently Australia's nation was built by convicts. In England, the population separated into poor and rich. Poor people started stealing food so England started to move people into convict jails. Then they filled up and they started sending them to America. Then we had the war of independence and stopped taking the English conflicts. 

Captain James Cook was sent to find a foreign land. He found New Zealand and Australia (a little outside Sydney). Then, he went to explore more and got killed with a spear from the aboriginal people. 

Then England decided to send 11 ships of convicts to Australia to develop a new colony. It took them a while to find the Sydney Harbor but then they sailed the ships in there. 

One thing I forgot to say about the Outback. While we were driving the whole time with JP, everytime we passed another vehicle on the road, even motorcycles, they would both wave or somehow acknowledge eachother. I thought it was cute. 

9:20am Sydney time 

We tried to find some Kangaroos in Eureku (?). Nothing. But that's okay because I already have seen a lot of kangaroos.

Kangaroos were named in a really funny way actually. When the English came over they asked the aboriginal people what the jumpy creature was called and the aboriginal people were confused and said "kan-ga-ru, kan-ga-ru" (?). So they wrote it down in their books as kangaroo. Then, they saw an emu and asked the same question of the aboriginal people. They also received the same response. That response actually means "I have no idea what you're talking about". Haha. True story. 

There are over 250 different languages in Australia due to the aboriginal tribes. With aboriginal life there is a big separation between the women and the men. The grandfathers (elders) will teach the young boys and grandmothers teach granddaughters. It is believed the older you are the better teacher you can be. All the aboriginal cultures are different. This is going to sound terrible and really rude but the aboriginal people I saw in the outback actually resemble monkeys a lot more than we do. Like their faces especially. It's very strange to see. 

There are 1 to 2 million camels in the Outback. Lol. Crazy, especially since they aren't supposed to be here!

10:17am Sydney time 

We stopped in Glenbrook for about 45 minutes. There was nothing here. But I got water and some breakfast from the bakery. When walking around I found a lot of really cool shops. But, unlike in Asia, everything was really expensive. But, it was cute stuff that did give me some good small gift ideas :) crafts! Love it.

The Blue Mountains are called so because of the eucalyptus oil from the trees. There is a mist everyday and when the water particles and the oil particles mix it reflects and gives blue light so there is a blue haze/hue. It's the scattering of blue light. It's like the sky. It scatters blue light off the oxygen molecule and produces the blue color. Blue light is the thickest. 

12:27pm Sydney time 

We just stopped and did a small walk to Wentworth Falls. There were a few lookout points where you could see the blue haze of the mountains. We then walked down around 360 stairs to the bottom of the waterfall. The stairs weren't too difficult but our guide made it seem like it would be really hard. The first 150 stairs were pretty normal woodsy stairs. The last 200 stairs were natural rock stairs and they were pretty steep. I was the first one down and the first one back up and I even stopped to take photos. I think my cardio has improved with all the hikes I've been doing on this trip... Or I feel like it has. Who knows. It could also just be the fresh air. I feel like its so much easier to breathe, not just normally but when I'm exercising as well. Very crisp and clean. Love it. 

The waterfall was nice. The surrounding area made for some really nice photos. It was pretty chilly to start out with on the walk but it got warmer so that was good because I left my jacket in the bus. 

We are heading for lunch now. 

The 3 sisters are over 350million years old and they are very important to the Aboriginal people. We will get the full story later apparently. 

2pm Sydney time 

For lunch we had "salad rolls" with ham. Salad rolls are what Aussies call sandwiches with lettuce in them. There was also a pesto pasta salad. 

Here we had time to walk to Echo Point to see the 3 sisters. On the way down to the viewpoints there are large, thin stones placed along the walkway with quotes from different people. The quotes were pretty interesting and set a good tone for the upcoming view.

Obviously, the view was amazing. A beautiful "blue" valley thickly populated with trees.

3:48pm Sydney time 

We then headed over to the Blue Mountain National Park- Scenic World. Here we took about 1000 stairs down one if the paths. It gave great views of the 3 sisters an it wound through the forest. We saw another waterfall. Some of the paths were really wet. I didn't wear my hiking boots, just my shoes. It was fine though. My ankles felt naked for sure though. And I was really careful going through the mud and water because its a pain in the ass to have wet socks. These shoes aren't waterproof at all. 

Steps wise, it wasn't bad at all. The other stairs we took today were worse... As in more steep. 

At one point, Dave, the driver/guide (since its all one in the same here), pointed out water dripping down some trees through moss. He said this is some of the best water you could drink because it is filtered. We saw a natural spring as well. He also painted my arm with white, yellow and red dirt that the aboriginal people would mix with water and use for body art. Dave spent 3 weeks with an aboriginal tribe so he is very knowledgable. He said it is such a different way of life and one of the best things he has ever done.

At one point along our "hike" we stoppe so Dave could tell us the story of why the 3 sisters are stone. 3 sisters were playing and the father went out to get food. While they were playing they were loud and disturbed the monster in the cave below them. They yelled out for their father to help them and he took a magic bone and turned the girls into stone. He then turned himself into some type of bird that I can't remember the name of that inhabits the area. The monster saw this magic and freaked out and ran. The magic bone still hasn't been found in the Blue Mountains but it is said that when it is the 3 sisters will not be stone anymore.  There is also a weird turkey like bird in the area that always is scratching at the ground and supposedly that is what they are looking for. 

We also had to help Dave make the noise to call out the pigme koalas. We did a call that echoed all through the mountains and then he pointed to the tree. It was a pigme koala! Which really wa just a very tiny wooden made koala on a tree branch.

We continued down and at the bottom we boarded the scenic railway. It is the steepest incline railway in the world. The length of the natural tunnel is 80m ( you go through this), its on a 52 degree incline, the length of the incline is 310m and the vertical drop is 250m. We rode the cliffhanger option which meant that out seats were actually at 64 degrees. It wasn't super great. The best part was the cheesy Star Wars music while we were going up. I was impressed with the incline. I had to brace myself with my feet. It did not take long to get up at all.

A lot of people are talking about how their legs are sore. This was like a walk in the park for me. It was still really great to see though and if I came back to Sydney I would love to come spend more time out here. There are longer hikes you can do and a lot more to see. 

Dave told us a story earlier about the road we took to get out and back from the Blue Mountains. Originally when it was being built, it was by a group of convicts. They were offered 1000 acres of land each as well as to be pardoned if they completed the 100km road in 9 months. They completed it in 6 months actually! Now they are restoring the road and construction/planning/getting approval from the aboriginal people has been she opening for 21 years now! And we though road work in Michigan was slow!!

I spent a lot of the time on the bus trying to work out tomorrow. My time here has flown. But, even though Bondi beach is famous, I am skipping it because I want to do the opera house and sky tower. The bridge climb takes most of the morning. I asked Dave about Bondi and he said it wasn't special so he made my decision a lot easier. 

The rest of the evening I was so tired I just chilled out. There isn't as much to talk about or comment on in Australia because its pretty much like home, especially the city. It's just a normal city. No cows sharing the roads or live chickens slung over the back of a motorbike. At first I thought my blog posts were really short and I was being lazy, but no. 

I went to the grocery store to save money on food. Normally a cheap sandwich is like $8 but I got 2 meals (lunch tomorrow too) at the store for $10. Way to save! Spinach and actual turkey! Yumm. Lots of fruit too. I still love the apples here. I was too lazy to find the kitchen in the hostel so I had a little picnic with myself near the Town Hall building. 

Tomorrow should be good with the opera house, bridge climb, and sky tower! 

Taronga Zoo

August 10

10:04am Sydney time 

I'm waiting for the tour desk to open. I contemplated going out and walking around before but everything I want to see is so far away I wouldn't make it back by 10:30 (and I want to book things!). The Irish girls are doing the bridge climb today at 12 so I am going to see if I can get on that one or not. I also want to book a trip to the Blue Mountains. And a tour of the opera house. So that really only leaves me a small amount of time to walk around the city. I need to go to bondi beach as well. 

I decided to use the time to catch up on my blog. I was only 2 days behind so it wasn't too bad. There are 6 beds in my dorm room. Aside from Nette, there were 2 Chinese girls who arrived. The bed moves every time the girl on the top moves but I don't even care because I like being on the bottom for once. There are also 2 girls from Scotland or Ireland or Britain who are strange. They don't really talk to anyone and they literally made a fort with their bunk bed. They used the blankets and towels they had to make curtains around the bottom bunk bed. Then, they both slept down there. Very strange. But whatever. 

I really hope I can fit everything in for Sydney in the next 3 days and short morning! 

12:17pm Sydney time 

I went down to the travel desk at 10:30am and no one was there. I waited for a bit and still, no one. I saw a g adventures tour in the lobby though. Yea G adventures! 

I finally decided after 10 minutes I was wasting precious time and had already wasted some of the morning. So, I went to the front desk. One of the girls, Tash, working there also works at the travel desk. She helped me with a plan for my next few days and things were good. I booked my tour for the Blue Mountains tomorrow. That means I have to be ready to leave at 7:40am. Then, the bridge climb at noon today (when the Irish girls were going) was full so I will probably do the bridge climb Monday. I still need to book that... I wanted to do a ferry ride at some point so I decided today I will go to the zoo. It was that or Manly but everyone has been recommending the zoo to me. Tash even said it had great views and that the animals have the best view of Sydney. 

I bought a ticket that includes the ferry there and back and the zoo entrance. I realized later that I didn't even ask aloud student tickets. I am so bad about that. It usually saves a fair amount of money too. Oh well I guess. The zoo is $51.50 but includes a few other things there as well. There definitely isn't a student price for the Blue Mountain tour but there may be for the zoo. No idea and now I'm not gonna ask because I don't want to be annoyed at myself. 

I got directions from Tash on how toget to the ferry and misunderstood them. I got to the right place but on the opposite side of the footbridge instead of the closer side. It's at Darling Harbor which is really only a 5 minute walk from the hostel. But I went to the other side. Which meant that I missed the ferry at 11:45. I'm now getting on the ferry for departure at 12:30. Yey zoo! 

7:26pm Sydney time 

Well, if I lost any weight I probably gained all of it back today. Earlier I had a Mars bar because I didn't think I would have time for lunch and that's all I had on me. Then I ended up having time for lunch and ate a veggie sandwich. Then I had a magnum because it looked tasty at the zoo. Now I just got a piece of carrot cake. I think I'm having a sweets craving... I haven't eaten too muh sweets before this. Crazy! 

I think I'm going to try to go to the cinema tonight too. I've always wanted to go to a movie by myself but I won't do it at home and I'm not doing anything tonight so why not. I'm sure it will be ridiculously expensive though.

The zoo was pretty cool. At one point I wanted to scream though because there were so many people. The zoo wasn't really anything special but the views of the city were spectacular and the ferry ride in the harbor was so amazing. Sydney is a really nice city. The harbor is awesome. I can't figure out if I like this one or Singapore's more. 

Actually, maybe I'll go to the cinema another night and try to catch the fireworks at the harbor by me (not with the opera house). I've been craving popcorn and since I'm eating a sandwich and carrot cake now I probably won't be hungry for popcorn. Plus, the fireworks will be nice anyway. Haven't done fireworks yet on this trip I don't think. It doesn't happen any other night either. 

Next day

Well, apparently it didn't happen last night either. I got to the pier around 8pm and just sat on a bench on the footbridge. I sat there til 8:45pm. Nothing. It was getting chilly so I decided to leave and go back to the hostel. 

Finding the cinema last night was a pain in the ass. It said it was on George street which is the street the hostel is on do I just walked in the direction. There was a parking garage, but no cinema. And then, I didn't see it around the corner. I had to ask 2 people. I finally ended up finding it around the corner and down another street parallel to George Street. There weren't any movies I wanted to see showing until 8:50pm and it was 7:10pm. So then I went to pie face for dinner. Which I already talked about. 

Other than that I just showered and went to bed early pretty much. Blue Mountains tour tomorrow! 

Sydney!

August 9

Today was also a not too exciting day until the very end. I pretty much woke up and showered and packed and headed to the airport in a shuttle bus. We (the girl from Holland and myself) were the first ones to be picked up. Then, we had to sit on the bus for over an hour picking up everyone else from all the various hostels and neighborhoods. At one point we drove through a very rich neighborhood which was cool to see. The houses were amazing. A few of the Irish girls and the guy from Singapore ended up being on the shuttle with me (I had the same flight as the Irish girls). I actually like these 3 Irish girls. They are very nice and fun. Emma, Cas (Caroline), and Kat. 

My flight was departing at 1:10pm and we got to the airport with the shuttle bus at 12:10pm. Then, I had to wait another 5 minutes while all the luggage was taken off the bus since mine was under everyone else's. I didn't even get through checking in until 12:40pm. Luckily going through security took all of 5 seconds and I had maybe 20 minutes to wait in the airport before we boarded. 

Qantas air was the carrier. The flight attendant was actually really rude and I found it very funny. I don't think she meant to be rude and she probably had a reason to be rude but the announcement told people to turn off electronic devices (in only English) and a few foreigners still had theirs on and she snapped at them and told them to turn it off and that there had already been at least 1 or 2 announcements about it. 

The flight was 2 1/2 hours. I actually didn't sleep for once. I watched Oz the Great and Powerful which I thought was actually not a good movie. We lifted off and you could see the outback from a birds eye view and it was really cool. It was pretty red which surprised me since when you're down in it it's mostly green. I wanted to take a photo of it but the man next to me by the window was constantly taking out his iPad and snapping photos of it or videoing it ever few seconds. Surprisingly enough, he was Australian, not Asian. The guy to the left of me was German and kept jabbing his elbow into my side. They served us a sandwich for a light lunch and the man to the right of me (the photo snapper) asked for more food because he was famished. He ended up getting a free sandwich. All in all it was a good flight.

I grabbed my luggage and talked to the airport information desk about a ticket for the shuttle bus. She said it was $30 round trip. I was skeptical because of what happened in Melbourne so I thought I wouldn't buy it and I would just pay it for cheaper to the bus driver. It didn't really matter. It's $15 either way. But, my hostel did reimburse me for the way to the hostel since I'm staying more than 3 nights! Yey money reimbursement! 

I seriously don't get the airport pick up system here. It's so silly. It was the same in Melbourne. Nothing is labeled, you can't find where anything would be. There are signs saying shuttles here, buses here, private pick up here, but its just an arrow in a general direction. Plus, I was looking for the air bus and that's actually a shuttle and not even labeled air bus! So stupid. It took me like 30 minutes to find where I was going, even after asking at the information desk. 

I got into the shuttle bus and there were 3 people in it. 2 from South Africa and 1 from Colorado. The guy from Colorado was a character. He definitely had a laissez-faire, whatever dude, I love Australia, I'm pretty cool attitude about him. He also had an 11 year old daughter at home with a wife who filed for divorce while he was in Australia (for 2 weeks total) and he told the South African girl who was with her boyfriend that her accent was sexy. Very strange haha. I did like him though because once he knew I was from Michigan he held up his hand and asked me where on the map I was from. I loved that. He grew up in Ohio and we chatted about UofM and Ohio State for a minute. He has his own business at home installing electronic things in rich peoples houses. I was in the shuttle with this guy for maybe 15 minutes and I already know all this about him. Ha. 

The shuttle driver dropped me off on the side of the road and told me to cross the street and go 10m and the hostel (Base Sydney) would be right there. I crossed the street and started walking and didn't see it. Not to mention, I have no frickin clue how far 10m is. So, I stopped in a convenient store to ask. 

The man was not Australian but he was helpful. At first he had no idea what I was saying and I was like shit he doesn't understand English but he just didn't know the name. He took the address and googled it and showed me where to go. He asked where I was from and I told him the US and he said, "Oh my goodness! Most people I meet from the US have large bodies. I don't know why but you're so small." I'm not sure if that was referring to my height or weight or both, but it made me think that either all the people from the states he meets are pretty huge or I have lost weight. 

I actually needed to go down a different street, so I'm glad the shuttle driver made that one clear... I got to Base which wasn't very far from the convenient store and had to wait a bit to talk to the desk and check in. The guy who checked me in made a point of saying I was from Michigan and when I went back a few hours later he referred to me as "Miss Michigan". I wonder if he even knows where Michigan is. Most people don't. 

When I got up to the room, I was pleasantly surprised. I am in the Sanctuary which is a dorm area for only females and its very nice. It is clean and has full size mirrors and hair dryers. The bathroom is in the normal part of the dorm though. But, I was also excited because I got there in time to get a bottom bunk! Yey! First time haha. 

There was a girl in the dorm already and we started talking. Her name is Nette and she is from the Philippines but has lived in Singapore for the past 6 years. She said she doesn't like the people too much there because they don't want to have kids and all they care about is money... I think she was talking about it in terms of a boyfriend. 

She asked if I had any plans for the evening and we decided to walk around and go grab dinner together. And then it all came out. Boyfriend disaster ha. It was still a nice time though and it was nice I got to walk around at night with someone. We are at a pizzeria and split the bill in half. At first I was nervous she might be like oh I don't have money can you get this one but she was really nice. I had a salad and she didn't really eat any of it and she still split that. I tried to give her money and she wouldn't take it. 

We walked down to the harbor and saw the bridge. The buildings at night are spectacular as well. I really like Sydney. I was all ready to come home and now I want to stay here a bit longer! There is a lot I need to fit in! But, ill make the best of the time I have. 

When we walked further down the boardwalk and the opera house was visible it was amazing. Like I literally said "whoa" out loud. It is such a cool building architecturally. And it is huge! There is also a Luna Park here that was all lit up and I could see from across the river. That was cool. 

It started getting chilly so after taking photos and walking around for a bit, we headed back to the hostel. It was a really good night. 

Unfortunately, the tour information desk doesn't open until 10:30am so I need to wait until then to form a plan of attack. I ended up spending the evening looking at what to do around Sydney so at least I can tell him what I think I want to do and he can help me further. 

Alice Springs

August 8

Today was a pretty boring day. We did a lot of sitting on the bus and driving. We were going to take a new way JP hadn't been before but we didn't end up being able to do so because there was a bus accident on the road with school children the previous evening. It was still blocked. 

We drove for a total of 5 hours but there were a few stops for gas and the toilet and also a lunch break. Wraps! Yum. Seriously, the world doesn't have turkey deli meat. So strange. Only chicken and ham and salami and everything else in the world. Annoying! Cheese was there though. So, it semi made up for it. 

We arrived in Alice Springs around 3 or 3:30pm and JP dropped us all off at our hostels. We were meeting up later that evening for dinner... And drinks. JP warned us that he usually gets pretty drunk at these things and that he often gets handsy. I wasn't too excited for the dinner but I also had nothing else to do. 

At the hostel I ended up being in the same room as the German girl, Katya. She said she felt the same way about the group I had which was nice to know. We then split the cost of laundry and I washed some clothes so they weren't super dirty for the city. She washed all her clothes. Laundry was $7. But it was a washer and dryer. The clothes still don't smell laundry detergent clean, but they don't smell bad and they aren't caked in dust from the Outback. 

Dinner was okay. Fish and chips and salad. Still very good. $10 so not too bad. Split some cider with 2 of the German girls (Nelle and Steffi). At first it tasted like soap to me but it got better after I got used to the taste. I ended up going back with Katya earlier. I'm sure it would have been an interesting night (apparently they were out til 3:30am and went to the casino and the British girl went home with JP). I don't find drinking and partying as fun if I don't enjoy the people a ton haha. 

At the hostel I ended up deciding I would buy a weeks worth of Internet. It was $4 for 1 day and $15 for a week through global gossip which is a network all over the place so I bought it. Luckily it works in Sydney. 

The hostel (Haven) was actually very nice. The room I had was a 4 person room with a bathroom in it so that was nice. There were 2 other girls. I never even saw one of them. She came in really late at night and got up and left really early in the morning. The other girl was from Holland and was nice but not the most polite. She was traveling for 2 weeks and sick of it and ready to go back to Sydney. I still have no idea if she was working in Sydney or not. No matter how many times I asked the answer was unclear. 

It was nice to have Internet again, although not having it for a week and a half was actually pretty nice as well. To just be disconnected from the world is kind of refreshing...

I wasn't too bummed I was leaving the next morning because there really isn't too much to do in Alice Springs. 

Kings Canyon

August 7

10am Adelaide time 

Well. Supposedly last night wasn't as cold as the night before. However, I woke up in the morning not being able to feel my big toe on my left foot. For a while there I seriously thought we were gonna have to remove it and that it was completely dead. I guess I need to wear another pair of socks tonight.

I woke up at 3:30am with a ridiculously pulsating and exploding bladder. It must have been huge. I also love how I literally never have to get up to pee in the middle of the night. Like, ever. But, the one time it's super inconvenient because its freezing outside and I'm sandwiched in my sleeping bag and zipped up in my swag, I have to pee. I tried not thinking about it and only made it half an hour. At that point I decided I had to get up and go because I was so uncomfortable. It wasn't too bad and I felt so much better. 

I got back in my sleeping bag and zipped my swag back up and I literally had my own sleeping bag over my head because its so cold. I definitely was not prepared for such cold temperatures at night. I was literally using my warm breath to circulate warmth around the rest of my sleeping bag and warm me up. I think it actually worked though because aside from my toe, I wasn't as cold. Luckily, I fell back asleep quickly and only woke again at 7am when everyone else started getting up. 

JP made us some pancakes and there was also cereal. The pancakes were like real pancakes from home... From a jug that you add water to, but still. None of the Thai green pancakes that aren't floury or fluffy. 

I helped clean up breakfast and we all helped load everything up. We were out of the camp ground by 9:20am. 

And, at 10, when I started writing this, we had just stopped off the road to take photos of a whole lot of ferrel camels. There were maybe 30 of them at least. It was crazy! I've never seen a herd/pack (?) of wild camels. JP said that they will actually fly over them in helicopters and shoot them sometimes. They were brought over from the Arab countries and they actually aren't native animals so they ruin the native ecosystem in Australia.

We have a 3 hour drive I think before we get to the place we are stopping for lunch. 

Later

The place we stopped for lunch was actually our camp site for the evening. We had burgers for lunch and after clean up, we headed to Kings Canyon which was about a 40 minute drive. 

The hike we were doing at Kings Canyon was 6k's. It was actually a really beautiful hike. We could see the valley from the top. To get to the top though we had to climb "heart attack hill". I didn't even think about counting the steps. It was ridiculous. Plus they were rock steps so its hard to count what is an actual step. Before we even started JP told us there is a part you get to that makes you think you're at the top and you're not... Then there is a second part you think you're at the top and you're not... And then the third part, you're actually at the top. My thighs were already burning after the first one. Ha. It was good though. And it wa probably like at least a few hundred steps. 

At the top, the walk had beautiful views looking back down across/over the valley. There were obviously a lot of rocks to look at. And on some parts there were ripple marks which showe evidence of shallow lakes once being at Watarrka/Kings Canyon. Watarrka is the aboriginese name for Kings Canyon. 

The area was originally a bunch of sand dunes and then they turned into sandstone. The sandstone has a bunch of different layers and its very visible on the sides of the rocks. 

We also entered an area called "Garden of Eden". To get here we had to climb down built in wooden stairs. This is a waterhole that was so serene and peaceful. So beautiful. We got there right as the sun was beginning to set so it was producing a yellowy orange light across the water as the reflections of the rock and it looked so cool. They ask you don't swim in it because they wouldn't have either.

We then had to climb back up out of the gorge and up the wooden stairs on the other side to continue on the walk. Everyone was complaining that we still had 3k's left and that JP had lied and told us we wouldn't have to do any more stairs. I wanted to punch them in the face. It's so stupid because a 3k should only like like 20-30 minutes to walk. I jus ignored it and enjoyed the scenery around me. 

We got back to the bus a little before sunset. It was really nice actually to drive back while the sun was setting over the outback. 

For dinner we had gnocchi with a meat sauce. It was delectable. I have been extemely surprised with the food selection on this trip. It has tasted good and for the most part there has been a huge variety. Well done groovy grapes! 

This evening a bunch of the Irish people got piss drunk. They were so loud. We sat around the campfire telling stories. We made up our own drinking game as well. It was called Boomerang (since we are in Australia) and it was just we did whatever with a few rules. You cant use anyones name, you cannot point, you must drink with your non-dominant hand, and a few other silly rules specific to things people in the group said often. We mostly listened to stories and played high or low. If I ever write a book, people from this trip could definitely make some interesting characters. Between the drunk Irish who only talk about drinking and the French girl with crazy stories dealing with love and sex and always saying blah blah blah, wow. Ha. 

I got tired so I rolled up in my swag and went to sleep. Put on my iPod and didn't even notice how much noise they were making even though my swag was less than 3 feet from it all.

18k

August 6

7:32pm Adelaide time 

This is the first break we have had today. It has been so ridiculously crazy, but a good crazy. We were busy all day and I love that. 

We arose from our swags at 5:30am. It was freezing. I don't think I used my sleeping bag correctly so I need to try it with the blanket part inside this time. I went to switch it earlier this afternoon and with it the way it was even though it had been outside in the heat, the inside of the sleeping bag was cold. So... Ha. I must be using it incorrectly since when I was on the train in India and Thailand I was overheating even though the cabins were freezing... 

I think I'm catching a cold though which really blows. I wouldn't be surprised since I've been going through extreme temperature changes. Not only did I go from super hot Asian summer to cold Australian winter, but the temperature change here is crazy too. It's like 2 degrees Celsius at night and 27 during the day. I broke out some EmergenC packets and my zicam. I really don't want to be sick the last week of my trip, but I guess I started sick so I'll probably end sick as well. Boo. 

I surprisingly enough slept through the night very well. Anyway, we got up at 5:30am and had breakfast... Cornflakes and skim milk. Closer to home! Although I haven't had cereal at home in ages. We headed out to Uluru to see the sunrise around 6:30am. Sunrise was at 7 something. Again, it was freezing having to wait there for sunrise.

Sunrise was nice. The colors weren't brilliant or anything. After that, we headed to Uluru to scope out the cultural center. I liked the cultural center in the Grampians better actually. Not only was it indoors, aka there was heat, but I thought it was better at explaining the aboriginal history and life. But, this one was more focused on the stories about how Uluru was formed as well as the food the aboriginese eat. It also explained why they prefer we don't climb Uluru. There are 3 reasons:

1. People die sometimes when they climb Uluru and they feel responsible for it.

2. It's not safe.

3. It's essentially sacred ground because when they found it they did a ceremonial walk up and put a pole there, so it is disrespectful.

Looking at it, honestly I don't think I would want to climb it anyway. It was ridiculously steep and there is a metal chain that is nailed into the rock to help you get up or down. It's literally walking up a super steep rock. At this point, the government continues to keep it open for people to climb because they make a ton of money off it. JP said he thinks the climbing path will close in the near future. 

At the cultural center there were many stories on plaques and I can't even remember all of them or keep them straight, let alone even one of the names. I was able to take a photo of one of the stories that was retold at Uluru. There was also a huge book called the "Sorry Book" in which a ton of letters from people who had been to Uluru and taken stones home with them. They ended up having a bunch of bad luck like cancer or not being able to get a job and explained their situation, sent the rocks back, and asked for forgiveness. It was kind of funny. The aboriginal people do not believe there is actually a curse on people who take the stones. People are crazy. 

This is the story of Kuniya and Liru: 

Minyma Kuniya the woma python woman came from the east near Erlduda. A bad feeling grew in her stomach- something was wrong. She had to go to Uluru.

Kuniya created inma (ceremony) to connect her eggs together. She carried them to Uluru in a ring around her neck and placed them at Kuniya Piti.

Meanwhile, Kuniyas nephew arrived on the other side of Uluru. He was being chased by a war party of Liru (poisonous snake) men from out near Kata Tjuta.

He had broken the law in their land and they were sent to punish him.

The Liru men threw spears at Kuniyas nephew. One pierced his thigh and many others hit the side of Uluru.

One Liru warrior, Wati Liru, was left to care for the injured python man. But he did not do his duty and left the injured man on his own. 

Minyma Kuniya realized that her nephew had been injured and was not being cared for properly.

She raced to Mutitjulu Waterhole and saw Wati Liru high in the cliff. She called out to him about her nephew, but he only laughed.

Minyma Kuniya placed her wana (digging stick) upright in the ground in front of her. Kneeling down, she picked up handfuls if sand and threw it over we body, singing and making herself stronger. 

She was creating inma (ceremony) to help her confront Wati Liru.

Kuniya moved towards Liru singing and dancing akuta - a dance step used by women ready to fight.

Kuniya hit him once over the head with her wana. He fell down but got back up. She hit him a second time and killed him.

Kuniya then went and found her injured nephew. She picked him up, dusted him off and carried him to Mutitjulu Waterhole.

She created inma and combined their 2 spirits into 1. They became Wanampi, the rainbow serpent, who lives in and protects the waterhole today. 

This story teaches a traditional form of payback punishment- a spear to the thigh. The punisher must then look after the injured person until they are well enough to care for themselves. It also teaches about women's intuition and that  a woman may use force to protect her children. This is a powerful story, Kuniya is a powerful woman. 

JP dropped us off and we did a 10k walk around the base of Uluru. It is huge. Like massive. It towers over you. There are certain areas that are sacred and you're not even allowed to take photos in those spots. Signs indicated these areas and they lasted for long stretches of the walk. Some of the rock formations were really amazing. Unfortunately, most of them were the sacred areas so I couldn't take photos. There was one that looked like some creature swallowing another. It was impressive. I don't remember which story went with it though so I don't even remember if that was what happened. 

12:07am Adelaide time 

After our walk, JP gathered us all up to walk the last k as a group so he could give us a guided tour. I wish I would have had time earlier to write some stuff down because a lot of what he said was really interesting. I can't remember most of it now though but I'll do my best. 

Uluru is a sacred site for both men and women but Kata Tjuta is a sacred site for men.

Lasseter came up again. I can't remember why now which is really frustrating. Today was just a lot of information. 

To enter into manhood, the boys would have to cut their penises down the middle the long way and put something (cant remember what) in it and have the skin heal around it. JP also told us the way the aboriginal people would apologize to others. When the men did something wrong, they would slice their thigh open just above their knee and heat up hot rocks and put the rocks in their thigh and let it heal over. This was a symbol to the community that the person was sorry. If they committed a really terrible crime there would be a village payback, so everyone would get together and throw spears at the man. If he dodged them all and was fine then that was his punishment but most of the time they ended up getting speared in the heart or head and dying. There is still a bylaw in the Australian constitution that allows people to go through this ritual to apologize to the community. Obviously, they can't throw spears at the person now, so instead they will stick a spear through the middle of their thigh. The causes something to dislodge so the person then walks with a limp for the rest of their life.

After this, we went back to the campsite for lunch. Fajitas! It was so good. I haven't had sour cream in ages. Yum. 

After lunch and clean up, we headed back out to the park and went to Kata Tjuta. Here, we did the valley of the winds walk which was an 8k walk. It was actually really beautiful. A lot more exciting scenery wise than the Uluru walk. The Uluru base walk is cool because you see how big the rock really is and you can see all the detailed markings but its a really flat, boring walk. With Kata Tjuta, it's more like the Grampians where you're climbing up and down rock stairs. It's a set of about 36 rocks that formed together and you walk in between these rocks. It's really cool. There are some watering holes as well. At Uluru there were a bunch of dark markings on the rock which is where water runs down the rock when it is raining. Kata Tjuta to the aboriginal people is a bunch of heads of their ancestors. Unfortunately for us, with the aboriginal culture stories are only passed down through word of mouth, nothing is written down. Therefore, we don't know too much about it because you gain that information by birth right.

After the hike a ton of people had blisters. Not me! We then went to watch the sunset over Kata Tjuta. It was pretty, unfortunately, people aren't that patient from the group and literally the second the sun went down, we got back on the bus and drove back to the camp sight. When the sun was setting the colors in the sky were nice but more blue, violet, and pink. After a while of driving, I looked out the window and the sky was bright orange and red and it was so pretty. I'm disappointed we didn't get to stay and see that.  

I think this is the only place I have ever been in the world where not only can I see so many stars, and the Milky Way, but I also actually have the impression that the world is round and the sun and moon rotate in and out of the sky based on where we are on earths rotation. It's amazing. Like at sunset I can see the stars and the night sky bleeding over the sky to cover everything as the sun bleeds out of the picture. I think it may be this way here because there is just outback for miles and miles so it looks like you can see where the earth "drops off" but I don't know. Either way, I think it's really different and a cool thing to be able to experience.

When we got back to camp we started dinner. JP made a curry. I was worried my body would reject the rice but it was fine. I think I've had enough other stuff in the past week and a half to make it not as repulsive to me anymore. It was rice with a Thai curry sauce with chicken, potato, and green bean. 

The rest of the evening we sat around the fire telling stories. JP has a lot of really embarrassing stories to deal with himself pooping in foreign countries such as having diarrhea in a bathroom area with no stalls and having an Indian man rub his back with 20 other guys leaning over to watch him shit and having to go so bad that he had to stop a Vietnamese public bus and ran down a hill to shit while everyone on the bus was watching and when he was done he got up and realized there was a family cooking their dinner a few meters behind him. The French girl told some crazy stories about her and guys... Like crazy. Like only in movies stuff and I think people lost some respect for her. It was an interesting night to say the least.

When it was time for bed I had turned my sleeping bag the other way out and put on both pairs of pants, both wool socks, and my normal Tshirt/compression shirt/jacket/lumberjack/scarf/bandana combination. Really hoping that will keep me warm!

One Left Turn

August 5

10:38am Adelaide time 

We have now been driving for about 3 and a half hours and we have about 5 more hours to go. We are also stopping for lunch at some point too. We are heading to Uluru and should be there in time for sunset. We will be there all day tomorrow as well and then we head out the next day which means we have 2 sunsets and 2 sunrises. We aren't allowed to climb Ayers Rock or Uluru because the aboriginal people don't like it and it is considered disrespectful. We do an 8k hike tomorrow so that should be fun. 3 more days on this tour. Then one evening and I head out to Sydney! 

I don't know how JP does all this driving. It's literally just been one road and its mostly straight. On either side it is just Outback for miles and miles. Right now that consists of sometimes red soil and definitely a lot of trees/shrubs. We do turn left in an hour or two. Whoo! So exciting.

I realized last night there is one other 20 year old and then everyone else is like high 20s and older. I also realized today is my last malaria pill! 101 days done! Now I can get rid of the stupid container. Yey!

1:01pm Adelaide time 

We stopped off for lunch when we crossed from southern Australia into the Northern Territory. Sandwiches again! There were an insane amount of flies around. Like millions. Just flying at your face and your food and your mouth and your ears. Ah god, it was horrible. We all looked like crazy people swatting them away all the time. You couldn't go anywhere and get away from them! Apparently the camp site we stay at is sprayed against them so hopefully there won't be as many because that would seriously be an unpleasant stay. 

We still haven't made the left turn yet. And were only half way through all the driving. 

JP said that this stuff was discovered in order to build a telegraph from Australia to Britain. Australia was originally a British colony and in order to do anything they would have to write a letter and send it to Britain and wait for a response which took a full year. So they built this telegraph system so it would be faster and one guy went off the path a little and discovered Uluru, Ayers Rock, and Kings Cross. 

Australia's government is the same as Britains. 

We actually had to turn the AC on just now because it was so hot on the bus. 

2:18pm Adelaide time 

We just made the left turn! Then we stopped for some gas and a bunch of people had ice cream. Exciting stuff. 

Lasseter is the name of the road we just turned off on. He was a guy who claimed there was a ton of gold in Uluru. He got a bunch of people to donate money and go with him out there and then everyone realized he was crazy. He ended up dying of malnutrition because his body rejected the aboriginal food they were trying to feed him. 

Forgot to mention we saw a dingoe earlier. It looked like a dog. Not too exciting. 

7:07pm Adelaide time 

We got to the camp site in Uluru around 5pm. People broke out alcohol an hour before we got to the camp site. I think JP is really not a fan of our group as a whole. He seemed grumpy earlier. 

When we got here we unloaded everything and JP took off to go get food and gas and left us at the site. We got to go up to a lookout point that is maybe a 3 minute walk from the camp site. That is literally all we did today. Tomorrow we will get up at 5:30 or 6am to see sunrise.

There aren't too many people in the group that I connect to. It's good it's a short trip. Everyone is all about drinking which normally I'm on board for but as I mentioned its so expensive here! Plus, almost everyone has been here for a long time living here and the conversations are  geared around that so it's hard to get involved. And since everyone has been living here they all have Internet and are always talking on the phone or texting friends and family. But, whatever. No big deal. 

10:43pm Adelaide time 

For dinner we had a massive feast. We had mashed potatoes, pear salad, noodle coleslaw, a piece of bread, and then we each had a piece of kangaroo, sausage, and a chicken kebab. JP is a good cook. 

The rest of the evening we sat around the campfire playing games. I suggested many that we played on the last trip but no one seemed to want to play any of them because it required too much thinking... So we ended up playing a game where you had to say a famous persons name and go in a circle and the next name has to use the last name of the previously named person. If it was a name with the same first letter of both the first and last name then the circle reversed. It was fun. 

I thought about singing a song but one of the other girls friends wanted her to sing and I didn't want to steal her thunder. Plus, people on this trip don't really seem to like the things I do or say. So... Yeah. Maybe another night.

At the moment I am in my sleeping bag, inside my swag, with a lot of clothes on by the camp fire. Time to head to bed. But, people are still talking a lot and I'm also not too tired yet. 3 more days of this tour... Early rise tomorrow! 

I've always wanted to sleep out under the stars. I'm pretty pumped about this. The swag is actually pretty comfortable. The pad on the bottom is thick which makes sleeping on the ground nice. I am kinda surprised that I am not a little more freaked out by this. I feel like normally I would be but I really don't mind. Maybe it's because I'm not at home. Who knows. 2 more nights to sleep under the stars as well! I feel like I can't see the stars as well as I could last night. 

My sleeping bag has 3 different ways it can be used and I can't totally figure out which way is the warmest. I'm not too cold but my feet are really cold. I even have my wool socks on. I looked up the sleeping bag on the Internet a while ago and I think it said that using the baffles face in was the warmest because it contains body heat whereas if the baffles are face out it lets cool air into the bag. But there is the side with the fleece blanket as well and I can't figure of if that should be on top or bottom. It doesn't seem to matter though. If I'm absolutely freezing I can always rent another sleeping bag for $20. I don't think I'll have to though, but well see! 

There are warning signs all over the camp about wild dingoes. Hopefully we don't get any of those. I am sure I will check my boots in the morning as well to make sure nothing is in them. Also unsure if the fire will burn all night or not. We locked all our valuables in the bus. I considered sleeping with mine in my sleeping bag but decided against it. Hopefully that wasn't the wrong decision... My bag is just sitting out under the tent where the kitchen is too. JP said it would be fine so I'm trusting him.