BERLIN CITY GIRLS IN THE OUTBACK

02.02.17 - 05.02.17

WELCOME TO THE OUTBACK / ALICE SPRINGS & ULURU / AYERS ROCK

So now it was off to the Outback for us. The flight from Adelaide to Alice Springs was quite impressive, it was about 2 hours over red nothingness - hence the name 'Red Centre'.

Upon arriving in Alice Springs, the heat greeted us immediately: 36°C is a cold summer day here. Well, there's not really much to report about the city itself. I think the description 'deserted desert town' sums it up quite well. It has everything you need and even the supermarket is open until 22:00, but everything is a bit dead. Occasionally, you can see Aborigines lurking on the roadside or in the parks, which gave us a strange feeling. It is the lifestyle of the Aborigines to be outside, but together with their appearance it is probably too different for us Europeans. Along with this dead town, I just had an uncomfortable feeling in Alice Springs.

The next day, it was really serious for us - 3 days in the Outback. We booked an 'adventure tour', so we already knew what we were getting into, but no - you only know it when you experience it. Those who know me are probably thinking how will she survive ... I can reassure you - I survived. It meant getting up at 4:30 am for us, as an hour later we were already picked up and on our way to Uluru. It is an 8-hour bus journey between Alice Springs and Uluru, so we didn't arrive at our first destination, the Kings Canyons, until around noon. It felt like 50°C - according to our tour guide, it was only 34°C (I doubt that) - and we went on a 3-hour hike into the canyons.

Everyone had to have 3 litres of water with them - and we needed it. It was incredibly exhausting in this heat, I think I've never sweat so much in my life and the 3 litres of water were necessary for me to survive. Plus, there were billions of flies that you just have to live with in the Outback. On the one hand, it was naturally super beautiful, but on the other hand, it was super exhausting. Impressive was that the 'Red Centre' is lush and green this year due to the heavy rain.

We noticed this on the bus journey and our tour guide described it as unique. Barely escaping death, we went to the bush camp after the walk. We made a short stop to collect firewood, in the middle of nowhere surrounded by snakes and other monsters, the adventure can begin. Bush camp... well, I would say the description doesn't really fit a sandy area with nothing but nature around it, but oh well.

There were no showers or toilets and after the death hike, I didn't really feel fresh, but oh well. We wanted adventure - we got adventure. So we cooked our dinner over the campfire, sat together for a while and tried to get to know each other, and then went to sleep. We slept in a 'swag' (a thin mattress with a protective cover).

In this swag, you put your sleeping bag and that's it - sleeping under the stars. Sounds romantic - at about 40°C and in the middle of the Australian Outback among all sorts of creepy crawlies, it wasn't that romantic. We were also advised not to leave anything outside, otherwise the dingoes will snatch it away, but that didn't really reassure me either. Luckily, I bought an inlet for my sleeping bag in Germany, so I just used that and slept on the swag because it was just too hot. Not only did the air temperature not cool down, but also the heat rose from the ground. It wasn't my best night - but it wasn't very long anyway, as we were woken up at 4:30 am the next day.

We had breakfast and then went to another viewpoint where we watched the sunrise behind Uluru and had breakfast. It was incredibly beautiful.

We then went on a half-day hike around Uluru before heading back to Alice Springs, as we had an 8-hour bus ride ahead of us. On the way back, we stopped at a camel farm and that was the end of our adventure. All in all, I'm glad we did the tour the way it was, even though next time I would probably prefer a tour with proper accommodation. But it was definitely exciting and thrilling 3 days. Tomorrow we will be heading to our last Australian section of our trip - Perth and the West Coast - and that's when our camper life will start again.