Part 2 - the Wettening

The Olgas (aboriginal name of Kata Tjuta) are very close to Ayers Rock making this part of Australia look like a geologists theme park (please Mum, can we go on the sedimentary rock formation now?  No, not until you have eaten your hotdog).  The Olgas are a group of large domes of conglomerate rock formations consisting of pebbles and boulders which have been bound together with the sand they originally rested in.  They were originally part of a sea bed, some 550 million years ago when this part of Australia was a giant inland sea.  The sea eventually disappeared and over time wind and rain has eroded the solid mass into the shapes you see today, and with a bit of tectonic action lifted them above the surrounding landscape.

Sunrise was a bit of a wash out with the rain continuing and the clouds blocking anything noteworthy.  The plan was to complete a 3.5 hr walk through the Olgas looking at this very spectacular place, but with the rain still hammering down, Shona suggested we did a different and shorter 30 minute walk up into one of the valleys so we could at least see the place up close and personal.  Considering how the rock was made and what its made up of, the domes were surprisingly smooth even up close.  The rain added another dimension giving the rock a different, more purpley colour (everything out here is red) and created small waterfalls some cascading off the top and some sprouting out the sides like a leaky sponge.

After completing the walk and the rain easing off, we decided to try our luck and do the beginning of the 3.5 hr trek we were supposed to do.  We got to the first look out some 30 minutes from the bus and the heavens opened again, making the decision whether to carry on or not for us.

It was a real shame about the weather as this place looked amazing and the walk through its domes would have been spectacular, but it was just too wet to carry on.  We have to say, and this may not go down too well with some people, but we thought the Olgas were even more impressive than Ayres Rock and that was pretty incredible.

With plans having to be changed due to the weather our knowledgeable guide had an idea, why not go back to Ayers Rock to see if there were any waterfalls on it.  If so it would be a very rare sight indeed.  So we hopped back on the bus and drove the 35 km back Ayers Rock as quick as we could.  As we drove up to the rock everyone was nose up to the windows looking out for falls.  We didn’t have to look too hard.  There were waterfalls everywhere most cascading off the top of the rock and falling some 300m.  The noise they made was defending at times as multiple falls would appear within metres of each other depending on the way the rock diverted the rain water.  We were all more than happy to dash out into the rain to watch the spectacle oblivious to the fact we were getting very wet again, but we were all uncaring as this was a once in a lifetime experience. 

We were there just at the right time, because as soon as the rain started to ease the waterfalls very quickly began to peter out, showing just how rare it is to see such a sight.  After taking enough photos to fill the Louvre, we left for the visitor centre for a look at the displays and hot cup of tea and a hot meat pie.

The afternoon was spent driving another 400km to a different campsite and the place of the next days adventures at Kings Canyon. On the way, Shona pulled off onto an unsealed road and drove down it for a few kilometres to look for firewood for us to collect for the campfire.  On finding a good spot we all went off into the bush to find suitable wood.  Its very interesting just how quickly you lose the road or even a vehicle when you go just a few meters into the bush.  You can totally see how people get lost in this vast wilderness.  Once we had collected plenty of wood it was piled high on the top of the bus, we continued our journey.

Our campsite was 10km down a unsealed road behind a very remote roadhouse.  We pulled into our home for the night and began to setup camp. 

Being a luxury camping trip (?!) we even had a hot shower available to us.  Where’s the catch I here you cry?  Well, to get the hot water we had to fire up the furnace ourselves if we wanted to use it.  Emma being a huge fan of hot showers made it her personal mission to get the fire started, along with Alan another member of our group.  After at least an hour of trying to make a fire with damp wood and smoke constantly smothering the fire (good job our lives did not depend on it) they managed to get it started and heat the water for a shower.  Emma spent the rest of the night promoting the shower like a door to door salesman would.  Success was mixed with only 5 of the group using it (2 of them being us….I daren’t say no!).

Even though we were a big distance from our previous nights location, this place had also seen significant rainfall the night before and upon inspecting the swag bags they were very wet and the bags were unusable.  Thankfully, Shona was able to borrow some dry swag bags from the next door camp spot so we were not having to prepare to get into wet bags.  Dinner was a fantastic and was just what we needed to warm us up before bed.  Chicken, Apricot and Peach curry with Damper bread, a traditional bush food (the bread not the curry).  Learning the lesson from the previous night we slept in the dinning shed, however as luck would have it there was no rain that night.

Another early start at 6am and for us the start of our last day on the trip.  Half the group had booked the 5 day trip and much worse weather was predicted over the coming days - still waiting to hear how they got on:(  After breakfast we made our way to Kings Canyon, and with a dry day ahead of us we completed a 8km walk around the edge of the canyon and a climb down into a tropical oasis called the garden of Eden which contained a water hole and unique trees and plants. 

As is becoming the norm for the trip, the views, the geology, the flora and fauna were just incredible and with the expert eye of our guide we were treated to a fun and informative walk through yet another diverse and alien landscape.

Our final adventure on this trip was something I had been looking forward to since we landed in this country, a proper 4x4 off road experience.  Part of our journey back to civilisation was via a 100km unsealed road.  The bus powered down this route sliding as it hit patches of sand and vibrating like a washing machine on a spin cycle - awesome, let’s go 4x4!  We stopped for our final break at Palmer River and decided to go for a swim.  

Even though the weather had made the trip challenging at times, it certainly made it interesting and we had such fun with the guide and the rest of the group (I know to you it may sound like hell, but for us its just the way we roll).  We bid a fond farewell to the remainder of the group doing the 5 day trip and after a very dodgy looking exchange with another bus (food in exchange for tourists) on a lonely crossroads, we were whisked back to Alice Springs for a hot shower, a beer and some hot food.

All in all, a quite fabulous couple of days!

Next:  The start of the East coast and our final 6 weeks in Oz.