Kata Tjuta

In the second part of the tour we were headed for 2 more attractions: Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon. Next up was a 3-hour hike around Kata Tjuta, also known as The Olgas, which is also considered sacred by the local Aborigines. In their language Kata Tjuta means "many heads" which is referring to the 36 hills that form this rock formation. The highest rock, Mount Olga, rises 564 meters from the surrounding area.  It belongs to the same national park as Uluru that I climbed the day before. During the walk we went through many deep valleys and steep-sided gorges, with the Valley of the Winds being the most beautiful.

Do-it-yourself!

Afterwards we went on to the next camp for the night at Kings Creek Station. For our nightly campfire we had to collect firewood in the wilderness and find as much dry wood as possible. We also tore down small trees, if we could knock them down with our manpower.

We also needed our labour power in the camp. Like for every meal we prepared a BBQ. Some people had to manage the barbecue, some had to cut vegetables and others had to prepare the salad. It was nice that they had always prepared something for me and the only other vegetarian woman.  I understand that the tour wanted to awaken the adventurer in us with all these do-it-yourself activities, but the price of the tour was so high that it would have been nice not to do everything ourselves all the time.

Night beneath the stars with dingos and snoring tourists

After dinner I used the time to enjoy the beautiful night sky, which can be seen here in extreme clarity thanks to virtually no air pollution. With the great lens and my wallet as an improvised tripod and a long exposure time I managed to take a great picture of me and the milky way. Before going to bed we plundered our alcohol supplies. But I could hardly sleep at all. Some of our group were snoring extremely loudly and since it was super quiet otherwise, their snoring stood out especially. From a distance I could also listen to the howling of Dingos, the Australian wild dogs, which I then spotted scampering through the camp in the dark. Having hardly slept again, we started off very early once more.

Kings Canyon

That day we wanted to see the sunrise at Kings Canyon. It has been home to the Luritja people, a local Aboriginal tribe, for several thousand years and places in the canyon are still sacred sites. Its imposing cliffs, some of which are over 100 metres high, and its high biodiversity thanks to year-round water-bearing billabongs make it a popular tourist destination in the Red Centre. Until then I did not know how many colours a morning sky can have, yellow-purple-blue - all there. Until then I only knew the red of the dawn.

We took the scenic rim walk around the canyon where we got rewarded with views of picturesque landscapes in and around the canyon which are the result of millions of years of erosion. We walked past mysterious dome formations and sharp-edged cliffs which where surrounded by red desert. The guide often warned us not to get too close to the edge.

Back at the camp later, we all packed our things and everybody used the opportunity to recharge their mobile phones and powerbanks. I made no effort to recharge my mobile phone, because behind the thick cable tangle of all the charging devices I couldn't find a single free power socket. Anyway, I only needed my mobile phone here to take pictures, because I hardly had any signal reception during the 3-day tour. This is the disadvantage of the remoteness of the outback, whereby it was also a welcoming change for me not always having to look at my mobile phone!

Back to Alice Springs

Afterwards we had a long drive back to Alice Springs, where we changed drivers in between, because our tour guide (at the same time our driver) took care of the other group members, whose tour even took one day longer than ours. I was glad that I could finally sleep in a normal bed again in the evening. The 2 days freezing in the wilderness were enough for me.  It was definitely a great tour, especially the atmosphere in the group was great and also the nature in the Australian outback is uniquely beautiful. We took a final group photo at the entrance of Alice Springs and later I met the Frenchwoman Melanie, the Frenchman Andy and the Australian Andrew for a few beers in a bar in Alice Springs to finish off a great tour! For sure one of the highlights of this trip or even all my travels.