Australia's Outback - Uluru National Park

The time has come - the first real road trip in Australia is about to begin! I have been in Adelaide for almost 1.5 months now and time is flying by and there is still so much to discover! I happened to strike up a conversation with Philippa, another German student at UniSA, almost by chance and it turned out that we both absolutely wanted to go to the Outback to see Uluru. The conversation in mid-August went something like this: 'To Uluru? Yeah, cool, I want to go there too.' 'Great, when does it work for you?' 'How about in two weeks?' 'Alright, let's book our flights then.'

Done and done. On September 2nd, we flew with Virgin Australia on a direct flight to Alice Springs, which is pretty much in the middle of Australia, and spent a night in a hostel there. It wasn't a particularly beautiful city, but it was the perfect starting point for our not-yet-fully-planned 5-day road trip.

Road Trip Day 1: Full of anticipation, we wake up in the morning - today we pick up our camper! Neither of us had any camping experience or had ever driven a camper before, but you learn many things as you do them. Next mission: shopping for 5 days' worth of food and drinks, because according to various blog posts, there are very limited options to buy groceries in the Outback - and finally, it should be getting warmer, so water is a must.

We wanted to take it easy on the first day and drove from Alice Springs to the West MacDonnell Ranges. On the way to our first campsite, we stopped at various lookout points/attractions, and to our great delight, we were mostly the only people there. On the first day, we were greeted by endless Outback expanses, 'mountains' that appeared out of nowhere, complete silence, and a beautiful starry sky. The first night in the camper was quite exciting - we quickly learned that it would be better to reach the campsite BEFORE sunset if we still wanted to see what we were cooking on the stove and ultimately eating.

Road Trip Day 2: The alarm goes off at 6 am and the new day begins with a beautiful sunrise - which we can watch right from our bed. The first night was colder than expected, but luckily most campsites are equipped with a well-stocked BBQ station with a kettle and microwave, so we didn't miss out on hot coffee.

The route for the second day was already somewhat questionable in the planning phase and turned out to be a clear misjudgment on our part. From Glen Helen Lodge, we were supposed to drive to Kings Canyon Campsite, which should only take 3 hours - via a 4-wheel drive road. However, our camper did not have 4-wheel drive, but it seemed sturdy enough and we just wanted to check out the 'gravel road' and, if necessary, take the detour and drive around it. At the beginning of the route, everything was fine - no sign of a gravel road or 4-wheel drive. After about 1 hour, the situation changed and the road conditions varied between packed sand, loose sand, huge potholes that could make your wheels fall off, and small nasty ruts that made the whole car vibrate. Oh boy. Now what? We've come this far, so the end of the road can't be too far away - or so we thought. We chugged along the completely deserted, wide 'road' at a top speed of 35-40 km/h and kept switching from left to right to find the best side to drive on.

It took nearly 3 hours, and at times, I wasn't sure if we would make it back with the camper in one piece. Eventually, we arrived at the campsite with enough fuel and were surprised by rain - in the Outback! Our hike at Kings Canyon was postponed to the next morning, and exhausted, we went to bed at 9 pm after this day.

Road Trip Day 3: Since the rain had spoiled our plans the day before and we had a relatively strict schedule, we had no choice but to do a sunrise hike up to Kings Canyon - and in the end, we wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

The hike started at 6:30 am in freezing cold, but soon the sun rose over the canyon and we got to experience a beautiful morning atmosphere on the 300-meter-high cliff. 3 hours later, we continued our journey towards Uluru - after all, there were still 4.5 hours separating us from our final destination. Nothing can prepare you for the feeling of seeing a typical 'postcard motif' in real life - at least that's how I felt when we saw Ayers Rock for the first time at sunset. We made it - the sometimes slightly arduous journey was worth it!

Road Trip Day 4: 'Seeing Uluru in the rain is really lucky, that doesn't happen often!'. Oh great - we finally escaped the miserable weather in Adelaide, packed our summer clothes, only to stand in front of Uluru in the rain - that was not part of the plan at all. Luckily, I still had my rain poncho in my backpack, and rain jackets have been a standard part of the equipment since our arrival in Australia.

It takes 3-4 hours to walk around Uluru (at a relaxed pace) - that's how huge this red rock formation is! Since October 26, 2019, climbing Uluru has been prohibited as it is a sacred site for Indigenous Australians. I never thought I could walk around a single rock for several hours and continually be amazed by the variety of formations, imprints, and shades. After taking what felt like 300 pictures, we decided to spend our last sunset again at Uluru and were once again surprised by a fascinating play of colors. We had also saved another highlight for our last evening: stargazing in the Outback. In the Outback, you can still observe the starry sky without much light pollution - if the moon isn't too bright, that is. Nevertheless, through a telescope, we were able to see the planets Jupiter and Saturn, including its rings, clearly. Interesting side note: In the Southern Hemisphere, you can't see the North Star (obviously). So people here use the 'Southern Cross' as a reference point for the South.

Road Trip Day 5: Our road trip is rapidly coming to an end, and the last day is only intended for the return trip to Alice Springs - but this time on a completely paved road. We'll be back in Alice Springs within 5-6 hours, having traveled over 1200 km in the past few days and witnessed almost every sunrise and sunset.

The journey into the Outback was something truly unique, and camper life turned out to be excellent - as long as you get along great with your camper mate.