To the Outback and Beyond! A girl's first camping experience

Brellowgirl
Dec 24, 2015
10 min read

12.18.15

We. Are. Going. Camping. In. The. Desert.

8:30 First stop toilets at the camel farm 9:40 Second stop toilets at Mt. Ebenezer roadhouse 11:14 Stop on the side of the road for lunch handouts. Subs and apples and museli bars! 12:10 Kings canyon did a 30min hike 2:00 Went to Kathleen Springs, a water hole, for a 30 min hike 3:30 Kings creek station stop 4:15 Stopped to gather firewood 6:00 Mt. Conner privately owned Mt. that looks a bit like Uluru. People think it’s Uluru and stop to take pictures all the time so Mark calls it “Fooluru” 6:30 Beer stop at curtain springs

I see lots of wild cows on the roads. I have a headache. The clouds are super fluffy and beautifully illuminated by the setting sun. We set up bush camp. Me and Gemma made the fire while others started on dinner. We were fire wardens! We had rice, pasta, tomato sauce, chili con carne and a heap of veggies (potatoes, carrots, onions). It was so cool watching the coals cook all our food. I ate but I also had a huge headache. Couldn't even finish my beer, what a sin. I also had cramps. Probably cause I had to poop but didn't wanna go in the dark (that’s the truth). We had some damper for dessert (bread made from flour and milk that was baked on the coals) and I crawled into my sleeping bag in the swag. I was so hot but I wanted to be covered. Such a bad feeling. There were tons of stars in the sky but the moon was half full so it was still a bit bright out. My head was pounding so I ended up going to bed asap. About 10 minutes after I put my head down, a couple of the girls jumped up saying they saw a snake. I was too tired to be bothered so I put my head back down. Tia made a circle around our sleeping bags with a rock because mark said snakes wouldn't cross newly dug ground. I think that's bs lol. I fell asleep fast and only woke up a few times to turn over and take a look at the stars. Around 2am I put my glasses on and saw the most amazing sight. So many stars glittering in the sky. The moon had moved and it was dark all around. I could see the milky way clearly. At first I thought I was just seeing things but I waited about ten minutes and let my eyes adjust. So amazing to see so many stars in the sky. I couldn't even find any constellations I knew there were so many stars. I stayed awake for about an hour watching them shine. I saw a few shooting stars and made my wishes. Around 2:30 I heard something in the distance. At first I thought it was someone in our group sleep talking. Then I heard it again and it sounded like a moan like a ghost. And then again and I realized it was howling from a dog. Dingoes. Before bed mark said that the dingoes here have enough to feed on so they don't typically attack people but in other areas they're starving and they'll go after people. So reassuring. I stayed up for a while afterwards just to make sure we didn't get a visit.

12.19.15

Mark woke us up around 5:30am and we had some cereal and I made myself a jelly sandwich before deciding I really had to pee. I mean, I had to poop the night before but I held it cause it was pitch black 10 feet away from our campfire and I was scared of poppin a squat and pooping behind a bush so I held it. But in the morning I really had to pee so I went in the toilet. It really is just a hole in the ground... Don't drop anything and don't fall in! While you're at it, close your nose too. We cleaned up our bush camp and made our way to Yulara camp where we got to take showers. When we walked in, one of the cleaners was scooping up something on the ground. I didn't realize what it was until I got closer. They call them red backs here but they're commonly known as black widow spiders at home. He told us to be careful lol. I didn't have my contacts on so I took a quick, blind shower in fear haha.

We just drove through the gates of Uluru-kata tjuta national park and I can see Ayers Rock in the distance. We'll be doing some hiking today and hopefully I can get some sun! We have to carry 3 liters of water with us because so many people die of dehydration out here. We're supposed to drink between 5-7 liters per day or a liter an hour while you're out in the sun. It's already 9:23am and it's very hot. A lot of the walks you're supposed to finish by 11 because it just gets too hot (over 36C).

We hiked the Valley of the Winds at Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) but could only go to the first two lookouts because of the heat. Still, the views were spectacular and it was a good length hike to do in the heat. In some of the pictures we’re wearing these black nets over our faces to keep the flies away. There are so many and they just annoy you by getting in your face all day so people by the nets to wear. After seeing Kata Tjuta Mark took us over to the Mutujulu water hole. It was really nice but no waterfalls because it hadn’t rained in a while. We saw a black perentie monitor while we were walking and spent some time there in the shade before moving on. We got to go to the Aboriginal Cultural Center where we read about the Ananu stories about Uluru. Just like we have Biblical stories of creation, they too have creation stories that tell about how the world came to be and how Uluru got some of its distinct markings. There are also parables that have underlying meanings about how mankind should treat one another, how we should live, etc. It was all very interesting and there was also quite a lot of art made by locals for sale. Something cool I saw were bowls used by the aboriginals made out of gum tree bark and they had markings burned into them with a shaped hot wire. Before we headed over to watch the sunset, Mark took us over to Uluru to see some of the cave drawings. They’re all symbols painted onto the walls of the rock with different colored crushed stones. We weren’t allowed to take pictures in a bunch of areas near Uluru because it’s a sacred place for the Ananu people.

For dinner we raced over to the sunset at Uluru which is a great spot where everyone goes to watch Uluru change colors when the sun goes down. We had some beers and chilled out there while Mark cooked us dinner. After the sun went down we made our way back to the Yulara campgrounds to set up our site and get ready for bed. I slept well but was disappointed that it wasn’t as dark at the campsite as it had been the night before so I couldn’t see as many stars.

12.20.19

Up at 4:30am so that we can watch the sunrise over Uluru. It was really overcast out and you could see it raining in the distance. Lightening would strike and light up the sky every couple of minutes. It’s really a sight to see. We were hoping to get enough rain so that there would be waterfalls but it hadn’t rained that much. We all did the base walk around Uluru and it was drizzling while we walked so by the end of the 6.5 mile walk we were all ready for the bus ride back to Alice Springs. We stopped on the side of the road on the way back home because Mark spotted a thorny devil! It was so cool to see one in person. They walk so funny and they really are amazing creatures. It rained the entire way back and a lot of the roads were flooded. It’s so crazy to experience rain in the desert! Unfortunately we had to have a miserable lunch standing up in the rain at Mt. Ebenezer. Just so gross feeling when you eat in the rain. Then our next stop was for camel rides. Some of the girls took rides but I felt so terrible for the camels. They were roped to the sides of their pens without any room to sit down or stand up properly and the ropes were attached to a hook in their noses that had to be tugged on to lead them places. When they wouldn’t kneel down to let the girls on their backs the handler was yanking on the rope trying to get them to get down and it broke my heart. All those camels were feral. There are thousands in Australia and they’re becoming a problem. The real problem is that they were introduced to Australia by people and now the population can’t be controlled properly and people don’t know what to do. Rant over. We got into Alice Springs and tia and I stayed at the YHA again. We got to stay in the same room that we were in before the camping trip and our friend Jill was still there. Jill is an older woman from Northern Wales (outside of Snowdonia) and she spends a few months in Alice Springs every year helping at the children’s hospital. When she’s back home she fundraises through her church so that she can make her next trip. She has done humanitarian work for years and years now and can’t think of any other way she would want to live her life. When we met her she was busy knitting mittens for some of the babies at the hospital because there’s been an outbreak of scabies. She reported that so many babies are born unhealthy and that it is not all uncommon for an aboriginal women to die in childbirth. I learned that the diets of the aboriginal people are very poor and that they have not been educated about the long term effects of eating fast food, processed foods, etc. The life expectancy of an aboriginal is 29 years. 29 years in 2015. How terrible is that? She will be spending Christmas helping at the hospital and I really wish her all the best because she’s doing amazing work for these people.

In the evening our tour group met up for dinner and hung around to watch a local band play a few songs. Tia and I called it a night early and spent the next morning packing for our flight to Sydney.

12.21.15

Sydney is great! I mean, I haven’t seen much of it at all but from the airport I took a train and bus to Bondi beach and got to catch up with my friend, Jun, from Rutgers. I haven’t seen him in years and it was nice to chat about our travels and what’s in store for us next. We had dinner at a cute Italian place known for their porchetta in Bondi. Such a cute area!!! It was raining the whole time but from what I’ve seen I love it. It was a Monday night and there was a wait at the restaurants. It reminded me of LA and I really think I’m going to like it here.

12.22.15

It’s been pouring all day. So depressing but it is what it is. Hopefully if it’s all rainy now then it won’t be when Kirk and Janaki get here =] Jun and I had brunch at this place called Bills. Their scrambled eggs were super yum (made with cream and perfectly folded) and their ricotta hot cakes (with banana and a homemade honeycomb butter) were also very good. We spent the day in because of the rain and I got to write a bit and upload my hundreds of pictures and also look into some hair modeling gigs for the next weeks here. I’m hoping to pick one up so I can get some color in my hair. I haven’t done a crazy color since senior year and I’m having a bit of withdrawal. I figure I’ll still be traveling for a bit so if my hair is purple it won’t be a problem until I get home ;)

I’m on a train to Otford right now meeting up with Tia at the yoga retreat she was staying at before. We’re only staying there for two nights and then back to Sydney on the 24th for Christmas eve. Hope it’s warm out and the rain subsides so we can bbq and lay out on the beach for Christmas!

12.23.15

I love it here at the yoga place! It’s called Govinda Valley and although we don’t have any guests staying here at the moment all the volunteers (and there’s a bunch-like 15) are super nice. Tia picked me up from the station yesterday with Vijay. Vijay is one of the cooks here and he’s my age. He’s been cooking for about 3 months and when I got here Tia had saved some food for me from dinner. Vijay made a coconut curry with cauliflower and green beans and some rice. I also had a big salad. They only prepare vegetarian food here (also no eggs, garlic or onions). It’s totally zen, I love it. It’s one of the devotees birthday’s today so after dinner last night I helped Tia and Vijay make some sushi rolls. Tia had done the prep earlier in the day so I taught Vijay how to assemble the rice and veggies and roll them up. This morning I promised Vijay that I would help him cut the rolls and help with a Japanese sweet. Tia and I got up at 5:30 to head over to the kitchen and help out. We made a Japanese sweet potato treat, daigaku imo, it’s basically roasted sweet potatoes that are tossed in a caramelized brown sugar and soy glaze and then sprinkled with sesame seeds. Vijay also made breakfast for the volunteers – a big pot of steaming oats with cranberries, dates, cinnamon and vanilla sooooh yummy. Our accommodation is very nice. We’re in the women’s ashram (no men allowed!!) with a few other girls. Tia and I have our own room to share and there’s a kitchen and a really nice, cozy and bright living room where I’m writing from now =] There’s a garden here and yoga rooms to practice in. In the kitchen there is an area for the food we prepare to be offered to the gods before being served. There are also some other rules like not tasting/eating food in the kitchen so I asked Vejay how he cooks without being able to taste the food and he says he does it by smell…thought that was super brave… Cooking for a big group of people daily and not being able to taste what I’m serving…that would give me a heart attack but I understand and I think it’s really interesting to trust yourself that much and to kind of be one with the food so that you can use your other senses to know when a dish is just right. I have to head over to the main building and find out what my tasks are for the day. Catch you guys later!

Much love,

Cas