Part III: Camping in the Outback...I am living my dreams

Some of you may know that I absolutely love doing adventurous things (I guess skydiving and scuba diving kinda give that away ). But I’ve got to tell you, camping in the Outback has probably been my favorite.

My friends and I flew from Melbourne to Alice Springs, Northern Territory (central Australia). Let’s just say that everything you hear about the Outback is true, 100%. I looked out of the plane window and saw red desert sand scattered with bushes and sticks…for miles and miles and miles. It literally was never ending! It seemed that there was absolutely nothing there—no wonder everyone lives on the east coast—plus it is not technically summer yet, and it was already in the mid-40s (°C), which is about 110°F.

We all walked off the plane inside to the small terminal (only one), grabbed our bags, and then took a shuttle to our YHA hostel. After our hostel in Melbourne, this one looked like a resort! It was small, but looked like a little community. There was a pool in the center, with the rooms surrounding it. I even got to lay out for a little while! We somehow got an eight person room for just us four, so it was nice to have the extra space. We repacked our camping clothes into our backpacks for the tour (we were leaving early the next morning on The Rock Tour, a 3-day 2-night camping trip to Uluru, the largest rock in the world, Kings Canyon, Kata Tjuta, etc.), and then headed off to Woolworth’s, our favorite grocery store. After going out for meals in Melbourne, all of us decided that we were going to spend the least amount possible on food for the two nights we were in Alice Springs. Good thing I love peanut butter and jelly.

Day 1

Craig, our Aussie tour guide, picked us up in The Rock Tour bus from our hostel at 6 am. After picking everyone else up from their accommodation, we were on our way to Kings Canyon and Curtain Springs. There were 18 other people on the tour from all over the world: two young couples from Denmark and Italy, girls from Japan, Korea, Germany, South Africa, a few from the U.S. too, a guy from England, and my favorite new friend, Hanneke Duisterwinkel. Any guess where she’s from?! Holland! Go Dutch. I was so excited when she told me that, and of course I told her that I go to school in Holland, Michigan…and then I began to list off all of the crazy Dutch last names of my friends. I asked what her last name was, and she had to write it down for me to understand what she was saying in her accent. Haha. Oh Dutch people…I love you 

Anyway, our first hike was through Kings Canyon, which I will describe as a large rock formation in the middle of the Outback. There were a couple of trails that you could follow, depending on how far you wanted to go. We hiked for 3.5 hours (7.5 km), stopping for lunch and to see the ‘Garden of Eden’, a small body of water. We hiked up Heartbreak Hill (bringing back memories of my City2Surf run!), and then enjoyed the beautiful lookout at the top. Everyone had to carry 3 liters of water, and drink at least 2 to avoid dehydration. Thankfully it was a little cloudy and breezy, so the weather was very bearable, and actually pretty nice. I realized my love for hiking all over again when I was out there with my backpack, bandana, and water bottles…no wonder moving out West appeals to me! It’s too bad that there aren’t any mountains to climb and hike in Illinois or Michigan. It was a great hike, and by the end we were all ready to head off to camp and make dinner.

I should tell you that when I say ‘camping,’ I don’t mean luxurious summer camp like Covenant Harbor in Lake Geneva, WI. No…this was REAL camping. I mean intense! Obviously the Outback has a few petrol (gas) stations off of the main (and only paved) road, but besides that there is nothing but flat desert land. So after all of the water we drank, everyone had to go to the bathroom. Craig nonchalantly said, “Oh yeah, there’s tons of toilets out here…just grab some paper if you need it!” So that was that, and we all wandered out of the bus and found a toilet (aka a dead shrub/bush) where we could dig a hole…I’ll leave you to imagine the rest ;) I was laughing when I was out there, just thinking, “wow, I’m in the middle of the Outback…” haha it was an experience for sure, but I didn’t mind, and got used to it for the rest of the trip.

When we got to camp (about half a mile off of the road) in Curtain Springs, Craig cooked an amazing dinner for us. We had a noodle and vegetable stir fry dish and sautéed chicken. He cooked it over the fire, and all of us took turns stirring the big pot. It was 9 pm by the time everything was ready, so you can imagine how hungry we were! Craig was like, “who’s first?” Then Ashley said, “Oh Meghan is” (of course I’m always first in line and will never miss a meal ;) And then Craig responded, “Oh great, you can be the server, thanks.” Haha I laughed in my head, and then gladly took the serving spoon. I liked serving everyone though, even though Craig said I was a little too generous with the serving sizes. Oh well 

We cleaned up and then got our swags and sleeping bags out of the trailer. A swag is basically a mat with a covering so that you can put your sleeping bag inside of it. Very comfortable. It wasn’t cold like I thought it would be at night, so I just slept inside my sleeping bag on top of the swag. When I looked up at the night sky I saw millions and millions of stars. It was incredible. And before I fell asleep, I was thinking about how much my fellow adventurous friends would love this experience. I wish you could’ve been there with me!

I will add the rest of the trip tomorrow!