Australia through the eyes of a blonde

The outback through the eyes of a blonde.

Trundling along in a rickety, rusty old minibus, on a dirt track known to Australians as a highway! The Stuart highway  runs 3027km from Adelaide to Darwin and is one hell of a journey. I was doing a 2 week tour.  Feeling like I was getting a true ‘Aussie’ experience sat in the back of the bus with every piece of luggage, clothing and indeed my skin getting a covering of orange sand dust pouring in through the numerous cracks and gaps. All of a sudden we came to a dramatic screeching halt and the tour guide jumped out of the bus without a word and ran off down the street, leaving his 16 passengers thinking “oh my god its wolf creek!” .  We sat for a few moments wondering what on earth was going on and watch him run until he was out of sight. We started discussing what we should do when suddenly our tour guide re-appeared carrying a thorny devil, 1 of Australia’s crazy looking native lizards that are rarely seen in the wild. He’d spotted it on the road and managed to narrowly miss hitting it, but wanted us to see it in all its natural glory. They are truly one of the most unusual looking creatures I’ve seen.  This happened again when he went chasing a brown snake.

We spent the first week staying in places with a population of 4, scaling mount Olsen baggy and walking across salt lakes until finally reaching what we were all waiting for, Uluru or Ayers rock.

As we drove into the car park it was easy to see why this landmark has such immense status, this is one big rock. Having been educated by our very knowledgeable guide on how disrespectful it is to climb Uluru , I was quite taken aback by how many  people were making there way up.  From the bottom they looked like tiny ants snaking there way up the side of the mountain. Our tour guide had kindly and passionately taken the time to tell us all about the aboriginal laws and beliefs and after listening I had decided it would be unforgivable to climb it. Not only do tourists disregard aboriginal belief but they stand in front of the enormous sign  which explains in detail, in as many languages as you can think of, why not to climb,  then they turn and go straight up.  Its saddening to think of all the history they are missing by doing that instead of walking around the base, from where you can see original paintings, learn the mythical stories and see just how and where the people used to live. I felt privileged to be experiencing it and loved learning all about it.   

Uluru was definitely a highlight of my year in Australia, it is awe inspiring and they certainly don’t call it the trip of a lifetime for nothing!