Lord of the Flies

G'day all. I am relaxing in sunny Darwin, so have a bit of time to recap the last couple of weeks and sort out my photos.

On my trip along the Great Coastal road from Melbourne to Adelaide, I took loads of pictures. Picking out a few of interest...

The beautiful beach at Gibson Steps just before the 12 Apostles
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=91e0&.dnm=8162.jpg&.src=ph
The 12 Apostles, taken from the helicopter
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From the Tower Hill wildlife reserve, a few shots of koalas, emus and a grey kangaroo (the kangaroos only came out late in the day). Incidentally, the koala in the second picture cr*pped on us seconds later!
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=91e0&.dnm=fe8d.jpg&.src=ph
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Finally, a group shot late in the evening, showing me in the best light
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=91e0&.dnm=7a4d.jpg&.src=ph
Yes, that's me behind the foot!

This is from the Port Adelaide vs Kangaroos Aussie rules game, with the Kangaroos kicking another 6 points. Mr Pitt, are you an Adelaide or Port Adelaide man?
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=67cc&.dnm=bad8.jpg&.src=ph

Having reached Alice Springs from Adelaide on the Ghan train, I spent the afternoon at the Desert Park, a very good desert wildlife park, before meeting up with a few of the lads from the Ocean Road tour for a beer. A couple of northerners joined us, Ian and Ian, and I would be seeing a lot more of them in the next few days...

The next day I joined a tour to see Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the 'red centre'. Quite a young crowd (many just out of university or about to go), but a good group. The first day was a long drive to Yulara, the Ayers Rock desert resort, where we stayed for 2 days. Deserting my customary 5 star luxury, and leaving my valet behind, I swagged it for this trip! (happy Greg!). Swags are a type of canvas sleeping bag with a simple mattress, and fully zipped up look like a body bag. With this I slept in the open, under the stars. The first night was quite pleasant, the second and third absolutely freezing with a howling gale and plunging temperatures! The camp ground was well equipped, with a fridge, kitchen/dining area and barbie (a stir fry on the barbie was a new one for me!) for each group, and a shared bathroom/toilet block, so it wasn't a complete wilderness experience, though the bathroom block had an impressive menagerie of nasty spiders including two deadly redbacks!

From viewing areas we saw the sunset at Uluru, then the next morning the sunrise.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=8248&.dnm=475e.jpg&.src=ph

From here we moved on to Kata Tjuta, another impressive rock formation, where we did the stunning Valley of the Kings walk. The second picture shows the fly net I wore, as the flies were unbelievable, settling on all parts of the body, eyes, ears, nose...And no, I didn't see anyone with dangly cork hats!
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=8248&.dnm=3bbf.jpg&.src=ph
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Incidentally, I met 'the Ians' at all 3 of these locations.

From here, we moved on to Uluru itself, visiting the interesting, though slightly sanitised visitor centre - lots about Aboriginal spirituality, little about the absolute poverty, alcoholism and hopelessness of much of their lives. Petrol sniffing has been a major problem, and unleaded has been taken out of many of the outback petrol stations as a result, which is a bit depressing. Alice Springs has quite an Aboriginal underclass, and parts are unsafe at night.

Uluru is a wonderful natural feature, a giant rock rising from the ground. It still has genuine spiritual significance for the local aboriginal tribe, so it shouldn't be climbed, but as well is an arduous and dangerous ascent. 2 weeks previously a 70 year old German man had fallen off running down, as he thought his tourist bus was going to leave without him! He's apparently now off the critical list, thus failing to make the 2006 Darwin awards...
We did the base walk around the circumference, which takes 2 - 3 hours. This was interesting, but frustrating. Many parts were closed off, with photography forbidden, as they were sacred to the local tribe, but no explanation was given why, so you ended up none the wiser about their customs and beliefs - the aboriginal people are very private about such matters.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=8248&.dnm=65cb.jpg&.src=ph
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Next morning, we headed off to Kings Creek resort, where I tried a spot of quad biking (see below for obligatory silly photo) before heading off for the somewhat more majestic Kings Canyon.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=8248&.dnm=dfe4.jpg&.src=ph

Kings Canyon is yet another amazing rock formation, and another long walk. It started with a painful climb up steep steps (heart attack hill, as it is delightfully known) before levelling out over the rocky peak. A tiring walk (it must be hell during the hottest months, as there's no shade up there), we enjoyed our grog and spag bog around the camp fire that night! On the way back to camp we just avoided 2 kangaroos on the road (a mother and joey) and watched as they hopped off down a side road, an amazing sight.
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mfconway@btinternet.com/detail?.dir=8248&.dnm=f999.jpg&.src=ph
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The journey home the next day turned out to be quite eventful, as the 'special' bus we used to go on a side leg down a sandy road to Rainbow valley (not much to see, millions of flies) broke down! Our tour leader eventually got a lift back to collect our original bus, leaving us with a couple of hours of chatting and finding new ways to squash flies...

That night back in Alice Springs, we all went out for a night on the the town ending up in a dodgy bar (the Ians were there naturally), so getting up the next morning for my flight out was a bit painful (the Ians were at the airport too!). Now I'm in Darwin, right at the top of Australia.

Finally, a story with a relevant message, as we approach Easter. Back in Melbourne, 2 weeks ago, I was given, by one of those nice Grand Prix promo girls, 2 small easter eggs, one of which I ate straight away, the other I put in my bag for later. Last night, I was emptying out my bag, when I found the crushed remains of the egg, and the chocolate crumbs ground into the bottom of my bag...

The moral of the story. When you are given Easter Eggs this comigng weekend, stuff your face with them as quickly as possible, it's the safest option!

Mike