Lexy's Jeans

Palya friends & family!
(Palya: general greeting in Yankunytjatjara/Pitjantjatjara)

Ahh.. Alice Springs.
My first mistake as a backpacker was not packing jeans. Luckily before my departure from the US my cousin Lexy let me have a pair of her jeans for my travel that I wore many many times during my visits to Melbourne and Port Lincoln. (Thanks Lex!)
But stepping off the plane wearing Lexy's jeans I got thinking to myself "I am sure glad I had these jeans the last four weeks, however, it's too bloody hot to be in jeans in Alice Springs!"
I've since then chucked the jeans in the bin.. as well as a few other winter ingredients.
I made my way to The Rock Tour office in the afternoon and explored the small town centre. Lovely little town full of Aboriginal history and locals.
The following morning was an early morning to begin my tour of Uluru, Kata Tjuta, and Kings Canyon. The tour was a three day tour with camping in various locations of the outback! I felt at home with the weather.. however the heat makes me annoyed and cranky (lol).
Side note: the nice thing about being a solo traveller is that I can either be myself (for those of you that know me personally -- very outgoing) or I can be a total introvert and not say a word. The heat made me an introvert these three days.
Bright and early Steve, my fabulous tour guide, picked me up right outside my hostel. We had a five hour drive to Uluru & Kata Tjuta National Park, and we had to pick others up on our way from Yulara Airport.
We first stopped at the visitors center to learn about some of the traditional aboriginal law. And let me tell you, Uluru is NOT just some huge rock in the middle of nowhere. I am truly amazed at the rich aboriginal culture still present here today. I learned so much about the Anangu people.
Tjukurpa. It is believed to be an ancestral period also knowns as Dreamtime.  Their life revolves around Tjukurpa which is the basis of all knowledge, law and everything in life.
 The first afternoon we walked around the south side of Uluru and heard stories about Mutitjulu watering hole. If you do anything in Australia, Uluru is a must. I absolutely loved it, and don't just do a sunset tour. Do a camping tour, at LEAST one night. Believe me it will be worth it. It was more than just a beautiful sunset & sunrise like we see on Pinterest or see pictures.
That night we made our way to camp and got to know everyone in the group. Laughing over a few beers, and playing group games. Steve cooked a great dinner, we ate emu coconut curry.. it tasted like chicken!
The next best thing was setting up for sleeping time. I was thrilled to be camping & when one person in our group asked if there was wifi, I couldn't help but laugh! WE WERE IN THE BUSH! We barely got cell service and they were asking about wifi.....
Steve explained the importance of our SPB (snake protection barrier) and how to set up our swag. In total he took about 30 minutes explaining everything. What we had to do was lay out our swag, and use a stick or a his shovel to make a shallow barrier around it, he explained that snakes don't like repetition, so once it feels the ditch it will turn around, and if it feels it again it will go away.
Then he told us about the spiders. He instructed us to put a little bit of salt around our SPB so that the specific spiders he told us about would come in our area because the salt burned their legs. And then there were the Dingo's. Keep three rocks by our side because the Dingo's are curious and will come up and sniff and be vocal. Throw a rock in the opposite direction to sway its attention from you to the movement of the rock.
I ventured up to a viewing point to photograph the stars with a fellow amateur photographer and ended up seeing the silhouette of Uluru and distant flashes of lightening in the background. It was an "I love life" moment. There was no way I was going to capture the sight with my camera as I was seeing it with my own eyes. After two shots, I gave up and enjoyed the moment. Shooting star after shooting star, lightening glowing in the distance and the sounds of the sleeping desert in my ears. I thought of Mari.. and how she could be helping me with my photography!
The sunrise at Uluru was also once in a lifetime. The way the sun rose up behind the clouds, pouring streaks of sun rays down the massive rock formation was breathtaking. From there we walked around the north base of Uluru seeing various sacred spots to the Anangu people. The place where women would give birth, and the elders cave that was strictly for men. We also saw a very special place where Inma happens. Inma is the sacred ceremonies performed by the aboriginal people of the area for certain celebrations. Stories are written on the cave walls with Oka and tell of ancestral law, life events and symbolize life lessons. Cave paintings teach young boys how to hunt, women how to gather from the land, and so much more.
After our morning in the National Park we made our way to Kings Canyon Station. On our 2.5 hour drive we saw Brumby -- now if you have previously read my blog you know about Fabio. My good old friend from Melbourne, well.. he was the one to tell me about Brumby, the wild horses that still roam all over Central Australia. Steve my tour guide has only seen Brumby once in his life and he has been guiding for almost 15 years. And on that drive to Kings Canyon we saw THREE teams of Brumby. I almost began to cry! They were so beautiful, large, healthy looking horses!!
At our camp spot we had a lovely dinner of Kangaroo bolognese and got to pick our spots to put our swags that night. At this point Steve had told the group that everything he told us about our SPB was bullsh*t because obviously they are snakes and go over anything and everything, and spiders are the same! However the three rocks beside you for the Dingo's was very true. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I picked a spot on the grass beside the huge Desert Oak tree that rested on our camp ground. With not a light in sight I decided to play around with my camera and light painting the huge Oak tree. I shall post pictures once I return home... but it was just beautiful. The wind whispered through her leaves all night, as she danced to their secrets. Shooting stars graced her overhead. And her limbs came to life as the wind picked up. The night was perfect.
The third day we were early to rise, hiked Kings Canyon by 5:30 AM and finished around 9:00 PM.
It was a beautiful hike, however, it was much like Arizona hiking. After our hike we headed for home, and on our way we saw another team of Brumby!! Tjukurpa for sure.

My time in Alice Springs is almost over. I am heading to Darwin this afternoon for more exploration and camping in Kakadu National Park. Will keep you updated as much as I can.

Palya,
Kali


If you're keen to learning more about the Aboriginal people we are the traditional owners of Uluru and Kata-Tjuta visit this website!!!

http://www.parksaustralia.gov.au/uluru/people-place/culture.html