Outback

Unfortunately, I have absolutely no knowledge of data in this blog. All I know is that we set off on 10.07.19 and arrived in Darwin on 29.07.19, hmmm timeless.

Townsville to Alice Springs

Heyyyyyyy, we actually have more internet here than we thought 😅🤷🏽‍♀ Somehow good but also a bit boring 😉 We're doing great, yesterday we saw the most beautiful sunset (that was not over the sea) of my life. So amazing the colors on the horizon, very bright blue and pink and in the west very orange ahhh so beautiful!!! Just shortly after that, we unfortunately saw how the car coming towards us killed a beautiful huge eagle, without even braking or batting an eyelid. Just boom, hit it and kept driving. I started crying and Timo had to keep driving, it was only another 10 minutes to the camp but still. The first night in the real outback (the first one doesn't count, we were only about an hour or so away from Townsville) it was freezing cold, maybe around 2℃ even though it was 27℃ during the day. The stars here, however, are gigantic, even more gigantic. However, yesterday the moon was quite bright...

Otherwise, our days are filled with driving, driving, driving. After 3 days of driving and a short fuel breakdown (cough cough, for more details ask Timo), in which a nice camper with a full jerrycan could help us, we finally arrived in Alice Springs. Relieved to see some civilization, we gladly took advantage of the $10 lunch special offer and enjoyed a burger in the restaurant (me and Timo, because Amy is vegetarian and all). After a short visit to the information center and Woolies, we are now at the next free camp, ready to head towards Uluru tomorrow.

Ayers Rock (Uluru) Ullluuulluuuluuurrrrru. Haha, who could pronounce that in their head? 😉😂

Unloaded at the Overflow Camping Place, it started well. No, just kidding, it wasn't that bad there.

The first day/evening, because we arrived in the late afternoon, we mainly spent setting up at the Overflow Campsite and then watching the Uluru rock at sunset. Day 2 started quite early, as we wanted to join a guided tour at 10am. For 2 hours, a ranger took us back and forth around Uluru and told us all sorts of things about Aboriginal culture and the meaning of the rock. It was quite interesting, but a bit too long. However, since it wasn't that warm, it wasn't too bad. After the tour, we went on the 10 km long loop around Uluru. I have to say, it was quite boring haha, but well since we didn't climb it (to Timo's great displeasure) we thought we should at least do the base walk. By the way, we didn't climb it because we were asked everywhere not to do it. The rock has very important religious significance for the Aborigines, and they ask not to climb it. And since both Amy and I decided to respect this, and Timo didn't want to climb alone, none of us climbed it.

After the base walk, we continued to the nearby Kata Tjuta National Park. Here we took a shorter walk before watching the sunset. Oh well, beautiful, beautiful. Exhausted, we had an early night before getting up again for the sunrise. Sunrise conclusion: Freezing cold and hungry, but worth it. After breakfast, it got a bit warmer (the sun was now out) and we decided to visit the camel farm. Ay, the cute stinkers. Did you know that there are even wild camels in the Australian outback? Ha, now you know^^ The rest of the day, we spent in the museum where I discovered my dream picture, unfortunately waaaay too expensive, and we attended a lecture about traditional bush food. After we had enough of that, our time at Uluru was already over, and we headed towards Kings Canyon.

Kings Canyon and West MacDonnell Ranges:

Kings Canyon was absolutely amazing, my friends. Just stunning. I was more impressed than by Uluru. We did a beautiful 3 1/2 hour hike there, on top of the canyon and then around it. We also went down into the canyon to the so-called Garden of Eden, a small oasis with palm trees. Wonderful.

After the canyon, we made a short detour to Palm Valley. After an adventurous night drive over an unpaved gravel road with nice potholes, also called a 4-wheel drive track, passing by an abandoned car with a missing wheel, etc., we woke up the next morning on a pretty nice campsite with a sick Amy and bright sunshine. Amy, being sick, spent the day in the tent, while Timo and I headed to Palm Valley. This 4-wheel drive track was more of a hiking trail than a road, but we definitely had fun. There was a bit of stress and sweating because we were a bit worried about the car, but the little hike that this adventurous path led to was absolutely worth it. Despite the many many flies that were sooo annoying, it was really wonderful. Every second was enjoyed, you can actually imagine it best by picturing a typical oasis from a picture book. With a small stream, a few larger lakes, palm trees, birds chirping, a few frogs... allegedly the first tours were also offered here by camel. We spent another night at the campsite before we made our way around the West MacDonnell Ranges. Timo summed it up quite well: Booooring. Big fat booooring.

Yeah, and then to Alice Springs, replenish food supplies, do laundry, etc., and then off to Darwin with only one stopover in Kakadu.
Kakadu National Park:

Kakakakaduudu, an absolute highlight of our whole trip so far. Here we met dear David from Vienna, who is now accompanying us in his car. The days in Kakadu National Park were all relatively similar, small hikes along beautiful streams, high up on the mountain in blazing sun, through beautiful shady forest, and always an aim, a waterfall and a few rock pools. Awesome!! Especially in this hot weather here. Baramundi/Maguk Falls were our highlight, the most beautiful path to get there and the most beautiful gorge under the waterfall, where you could jump in from the rocks, as well as the most beautiful rock pools above the waterfall, where you could either relax and enjoy the view, or jump in from about 5m, we also swam a bit further through a small gap in the rocks and several more pools, and saw the most beautiful river landscape. Oh, we didn't want to leave at all.

From the waterfall the next day, we were all a bit disappointed because we were so enthusiastic about the previous days, but here there was a beautiful sandy beach where we made ourselves comfortable to play some cards.

One of the most beautiful sunsets, which even brought Amy to tears, was also here in Kakadu. Amy described it quite well, 'I am just so happy that I get to be here right now. We are so lucky.'

Yep, I think that concludes the Kakadu report. Now off to Darwin. See you there XO