Uluru and Kata Tjuta
On sunday we did what we came to Alice Springs to do - see Ayers Rock. The drive to the national park where Ayers Rock is located (Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park) takes around 5 hours from Alice Springs so that meant a 5am wake up. Our day started with breakfast at sunrise and a 6am pickup from our hostel.
On the way there we stopped to view Mt Connor, which is commonly mistaken for Uluru due to it's size, shape and proximity to Uluru. We also learnt about the salt lakes that are spread out over the Northern Territory and got our first look at the red sand up close.
The beautiful sunrise right outside our room.
The boiling hot red sand of central Australia.
Our first stop when we got to the national park was The Olgas, or as the aboriginals call it, Kata Tjuta. Kata Tjuta (which means 'many heads') is a rock formation consisting of 36 domes. It is very important in aboriginal culture, we are not even allowed to know what happens here, which meant we are only allowed access to the western side of Kata Tjuta. We went on the Walpa Gorge walk - a rocky track between Mt Olga and Mt Walpa. These massive domes are up to 500m high. The walk was incredible but exhausting in the 41 degree heat.
The Olgas. The Walpa Gorge is right in the center where we did our walk.
Bros @ Kata Tjuta.
Marcus in front of the massive Mt Olga.
We visited the cultural centre next to learn more about Aboriginal laws and culture and then we were off to Ayers Rock. We did two walks around the base of Uluru - the Mala Walk and the Kuniya Walk. During these walks our guides told us the aboriginal dreamtime stories (stories passed down through the generations about how things came to be) about the different areas around Uluru. They showed us the aboriginal paintings on the walls and taught us about the landscape. The surrounding area was unusually green and wet due to the massive ammounts of rain Australia has had lately. These walks were thankfully alot more shaded than The Olgas so we weren't out in the boiling sun so much.
We decided to do the full on tourist look and bought matching hats.. haha!
We were unfortunately unable to climb Uluru. The climb is closed during the summer months due to extreme temperatures and can also be closed due to rain, wind, cloud, heat or cultural reasons. It's pretty rare the climb is open and even when it is the aboriginals request that you don't climb. It's very spiritually significal to them and they also feel a responsibility to warn tourists of the dangers involved. Like one of the guides told us: an english backpacker holds the record of being the fastest man down the rock - it only took him 5 seconds! He didn't survive though...
Ayers Rock. Enjoy it under the influence!
Kicking back and relaxing with a glass of champagne and enjoying the view.
Uluru at sunset.
We concluded the day with a barbeque dinner (including champagne) watching the sun set over Uluru. An amazing end to an amazing day!
/M, C & L
On the way there we stopped to view Mt Connor, which is commonly mistaken for Uluru due to it's size, shape and proximity to Uluru. We also learnt about the salt lakes that are spread out over the Northern Territory and got our first look at the red sand up close.
The beautiful sunrise right outside our room.
The boiling hot red sand of central Australia.
Our first stop when we got to the national park was The Olgas, or as the aboriginals call it, Kata Tjuta. Kata Tjuta (which means 'many heads') is a rock formation consisting of 36 domes. It is very important in aboriginal culture, we are not even allowed to know what happens here, which meant we are only allowed access to the western side of Kata Tjuta. We went on the Walpa Gorge walk - a rocky track between Mt Olga and Mt Walpa. These massive domes are up to 500m high. The walk was incredible but exhausting in the 41 degree heat.
The Olgas. The Walpa Gorge is right in the center where we did our walk.
Bros @ Kata Tjuta.
Marcus in front of the massive Mt Olga.
We visited the cultural centre next to learn more about Aboriginal laws and culture and then we were off to Ayers Rock. We did two walks around the base of Uluru - the Mala Walk and the Kuniya Walk. During these walks our guides told us the aboriginal dreamtime stories (stories passed down through the generations about how things came to be) about the different areas around Uluru. They showed us the aboriginal paintings on the walls and taught us about the landscape. The surrounding area was unusually green and wet due to the massive ammounts of rain Australia has had lately. These walks were thankfully alot more shaded than The Olgas so we weren't out in the boiling sun so much.
We decided to do the full on tourist look and bought matching hats.. haha!
We were unfortunately unable to climb Uluru. The climb is closed during the summer months due to extreme temperatures and can also be closed due to rain, wind, cloud, heat or cultural reasons. It's pretty rare the climb is open and even when it is the aboriginals request that you don't climb. It's very spiritually significal to them and they also feel a responsibility to warn tourists of the dangers involved. Like one of the guides told us: an english backpacker holds the record of being the fastest man down the rock - it only took him 5 seconds! He didn't survive though...
Ayers Rock. Enjoy it under the influence!
Kicking back and relaxing with a glass of champagne and enjoying the view.
Uluru at sunset.
We concluded the day with a barbeque dinner (including champagne) watching the sun set over Uluru. An amazing end to an amazing day!
/M, C & L
The Red Centre
We arrived at Alice Springs yesterday, which is a small town of 27,000 in the heart of Australia. We flew over the famous red sand but Alice Springs itself is actually quite green at the moment due to the massive amount of rain the city has had. It's now 35 degrees here in the middle of the desert but luckily we have a pool at our hostel! Score! Within 2 hours of arriving in Alice Springs we were already lying by the pool and soaking up the sun. This is the life!
The red desert of North Australia.
This is how happy we were to be in Alice Springs.
Our last days in Adelaide we not very productive due to the terrible weather. However we did squeeze in one more day at the beach (before the bad weather came) and a free tour of Haigh's Chocolate Factory which included free samples! Haigh's is an Australian chocolate which produces exclusively for it's 13 stores across Australia. Most of the work is done by hand and we watched as they wrapped the chocolates individually, hand dipped the truffles and decorated the chocolates one by one. We got to taste their milk and dark chocolate, chocolate coated almonds and rasberry chocolates. Liz was forced to buy a selection of truffles to taste what we had seen in production.
Chocolate everywhere! And all of these were handmade!
Mmm... chocolate.
We are planning on doing lots of swimming and sunbaking here and of course we are going to see Ayers Rock tomorrow! It costs a whopping $200 per person though, but we're spending the day seeing Ayers Rock and the surrounding area. Hope it's worth it. We're flying back to Melbourne on 20th and spending 2 weeks there. After that, on the 4th of february, we are coming home.
/M, C & L
New continent, New year, New adventures!
Long time, no blog (again)! We have been pretty lazy with the blog posts lately, and we apoligise for that. There's just so much going on all the time and whenever there's time left of our days we basically just do stuff we want (sleeping).
Alrights, let's just jump right in.
We're now in Adelaide, a pretty big city on the coast of South Australia, about 2 hours flight west from Sydney, which is the last city we visited. Lots have been going on since our last post, including a few more days in Melbourne, new years eve & sightseeing in Sydney, and now our new route, away from the bad weather and the floods in Queensland. We've managed to hit the worst summer Australia's had in 90 years. Fail-bros strike again!
After celebrating an Australian christmas with the Walkers (Liz's parents, brother Bob, sister Samantha, grandparents & aunt) and Aina, we didn't really do much other than shopping in the city. The boxing day sales started, and we all went looking for bargains. Marcus and Chris went to see Tron: Legacy at the IMAX cinema, which was AWESOME! Then, on the 28th of december we left for Sydney! Even though the flight was delayed, we made it there alright, and the next day we saw the city, the Harbour Bridge, the Opera house, enjoyed the great weather and met up with friends.
Bros in Sydney!
Enjoyed a beer (or two) in the baking heat in front of the harbour bridge!
The coming days we checked out what the fuss about Bondi beach was, as well as Manley beach. Bondi was huge, and packed with people! We went there on the 30th of december, an awesome sunny day, went for a swim, got tanned, and had dinner. A cool place indeed! Manley beach was about the same, but the rain pretty much wrecked that day on the beach for us, so we went for a beer instead at a nearby bar.
Bondi Beach, December 30th. Packed!
New years eve was amazing! We started out early by taking a ferry from Circular Quay by the bridge to Balmain, which is west of the bridge and the opera house and settled down on blanket & foldout chairs, with food, drinks, beer, snacks, music and good friends. We managed to find a great spot in the shade overlooking the bridge. We basically sat there for more than 12 hours, which might sound a bit much, but the great company and nice weather really made it a memorable day! The fireworks at midnight were amazing! It lit up the city and the whole sky, leaving everyone stunned and amazed, cheering and laughing. After the fireworks we hung out for a while and then took the ferry back to the city, and walked back on crowded streets to the hotel.
The awesome gang on new years! And yes, our dutch friend Tim insisted on hanging the dutch flag by our camp, even though there were only two dutch people among us...
The sky exploded at midnight!
The following days we stayed in two new hotels/hostels, trying to figure out where to go next. Our last two nights we stayed in a hostel in Kings Cross in Sydney, which basically is the red light district. All the noisy drunks outside the bars and strip clubs didn't really help you fall asleep at night... We decided on going to Adelaide to find the sun, and spent the last day in Sydney with Mike, Tommy and Jocke at Mike's mom's place, having a barbeque and playing water volleyball in the pool! It was a good day :) (Marcus and Tommy beat the crap out of Chris and Mike at volleyball. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Chris and Mike couldn't reach the bottom of the pool in the deeper end, on one side of the volleyball net).
Volleyball @ Mikes! We all felt really pool! ...I mean cool.
Adelaide is a quiet, mellow and cozy city, as far as we know. On friday we went to the beach, in 34 degree heat and sun (got burnt - we had it coming. Australian sun really is a lot stronger than anywhere else we've been so far). It was still a great day though! Yesterday was an even better day, since we went to the world famous Jacob's Creek, in the Barossa Valley, about an hour drive from Adelaide. It's the home of yellow hills with crops swaying in the wind in the distance, green vineyards as far as the eye can see, and of course - wine tasting! Since we arrived a bit early, we had a nice lunch with good wine, and while the rain poured outside we enjoyed cheesecake, kaluha creme brulee, coffe and tea. The sky then cleared up, and the sun was shining on us while a guide showed us the vineyard and the many different kind of grapes they grow. We then did some wine tasting. The list was long, and we tried many different kinds! After this, we made our way to a look-out point, giving us a breathtaking view of the beautiful valley!
A fine selection @ Jacob's Creek Visitor Centre!
In front of the vineyard at Jacob's Creek.
The amazing view from one of the look-out points in Barossa Valley.
From here, we all want to go to Alice Springs to see Ayers Rock. If we can find a cheap enough way to get there, that is. We'll keep you updated on how it goes. Hopefully ;)
/M, C & L
Alrights, let's just jump right in.
We're now in Adelaide, a pretty big city on the coast of South Australia, about 2 hours flight west from Sydney, which is the last city we visited. Lots have been going on since our last post, including a few more days in Melbourne, new years eve & sightseeing in Sydney, and now our new route, away from the bad weather and the floods in Queensland. We've managed to hit the worst summer Australia's had in 90 years. Fail-bros strike again!
After celebrating an Australian christmas with the Walkers (Liz's parents, brother Bob, sister Samantha, grandparents & aunt) and Aina, we didn't really do much other than shopping in the city. The boxing day sales started, and we all went looking for bargains. Marcus and Chris went to see Tron: Legacy at the IMAX cinema, which was AWESOME! Then, on the 28th of december we left for Sydney! Even though the flight was delayed, we made it there alright, and the next day we saw the city, the Harbour Bridge, the Opera house, enjoyed the great weather and met up with friends.
Bros in Sydney!
Enjoyed a beer (or two) in the baking heat in front of the harbour bridge!
The coming days we checked out what the fuss about Bondi beach was, as well as Manley beach. Bondi was huge, and packed with people! We went there on the 30th of december, an awesome sunny day, went for a swim, got tanned, and had dinner. A cool place indeed! Manley beach was about the same, but the rain pretty much wrecked that day on the beach for us, so we went for a beer instead at a nearby bar.
Bondi Beach, December 30th. Packed!
New years eve was amazing! We started out early by taking a ferry from Circular Quay by the bridge to Balmain, which is west of the bridge and the opera house and settled down on blanket & foldout chairs, with food, drinks, beer, snacks, music and good friends. We managed to find a great spot in the shade overlooking the bridge. We basically sat there for more than 12 hours, which might sound a bit much, but the great company and nice weather really made it a memorable day! The fireworks at midnight were amazing! It lit up the city and the whole sky, leaving everyone stunned and amazed, cheering and laughing. After the fireworks we hung out for a while and then took the ferry back to the city, and walked back on crowded streets to the hotel.
The awesome gang on new years! And yes, our dutch friend Tim insisted on hanging the dutch flag by our camp, even though there were only two dutch people among us...
The sky exploded at midnight!
The following days we stayed in two new hotels/hostels, trying to figure out where to go next. Our last two nights we stayed in a hostel in Kings Cross in Sydney, which basically is the red light district. All the noisy drunks outside the bars and strip clubs didn't really help you fall asleep at night... We decided on going to Adelaide to find the sun, and spent the last day in Sydney with Mike, Tommy and Jocke at Mike's mom's place, having a barbeque and playing water volleyball in the pool! It was a good day :) (Marcus and Tommy beat the crap out of Chris and Mike at volleyball. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Chris and Mike couldn't reach the bottom of the pool in the deeper end, on one side of the volleyball net).
Volleyball @ Mikes! We all felt really pool! ...I mean cool.
Adelaide is a quiet, mellow and cozy city, as far as we know. On friday we went to the beach, in 34 degree heat and sun (got burnt - we had it coming. Australian sun really is a lot stronger than anywhere else we've been so far). It was still a great day though! Yesterday was an even better day, since we went to the world famous Jacob's Creek, in the Barossa Valley, about an hour drive from Adelaide. It's the home of yellow hills with crops swaying in the wind in the distance, green vineyards as far as the eye can see, and of course - wine tasting! Since we arrived a bit early, we had a nice lunch with good wine, and while the rain poured outside we enjoyed cheesecake, kaluha creme brulee, coffe and tea. The sky then cleared up, and the sun was shining on us while a guide showed us the vineyard and the many different kind of grapes they grow. We then did some wine tasting. The list was long, and we tried many different kinds! After this, we made our way to a look-out point, giving us a breathtaking view of the beautiful valley!
A fine selection @ Jacob's Creek Visitor Centre!
In front of the vineyard at Jacob's Creek.
The amazing view from one of the look-out points in Barossa Valley.
From here, we all want to go to Alice Springs to see Ayers Rock. If we can find a cheap enough way to get there, that is. We'll keep you updated on how it goes. Hopefully ;)
/M, C & L
