The Red Centre

The next morning, I was up early in the coolness of dawn so as to try and distil the flurry of events the day before into something coherent (and no, I wasn't nursing a hangover, despite the pile of bottles and cans lying at my feet). Suffice it to say, there would be no "6 - 7 - 8" this morning, but we had all day to get down to Port Augusta to catch the Ghan train to Alice Springs. Besides, there were still some of the real joys of outback camping to discover, such as setting off into the desert armed only with a shovel, a roll of toilet paper, and that determined look on your face...

At last we were ready to break camp and retrace our route back to Lyndhurst, returning Ideyaka Hill to the peace and anonymity it has traditionally enjoyed. Back in Lyndhurst, the rave party was still in full swing, but whether anyone there bothered to look up the evening before, we were unable to establish. We stopped off in Leigh Creek for much-needed showers, but we were still shedding dust for days afterwards. The morning papers announced mixed success in Ceduna; apparently the clouds had parted shortly before totality, and allowed most to get some or all of their 33 seconds of totality. As it turned out, we made the right decision by going inland, but things could so easily have worked out differently.

Tim and Cam got us to Port Augusta in good time to catch the Ghan for the overnight trip through to Alice Springs. Despite asking everyone to double-check that nothing had been left behind on the coach, guess who managed to leave his boots behind? After bumping into surprisingly few other tour groups so far, we were joined on the train by several, including Dennis Mammana's group who had watched the eclipse from Roxby Downs. Somehow we managed to avoid getting our luggage completely mixed up.

The scenery as we headed inland from Port Augusta wasn't that amazing, but there were several of these large mounds. I didn't think we would be able to see the day-old Moon so soon after a sunset eclipse, but after some careful scanning, we eventually managed to pick out the slenderest of crescents, while dining on the Ghan.

Friday 6 November

Although the railway line currently extends only as far as Alice Springs, work is well underway on extending it all the way to Darwin. When complete, the Ghan's journey of 4650 km from Sydney to Darwin, via Adelaide and Alice Springs, will be longer even than the Indian Pacific from Sydney to Perth.

But I think our group had had enough of trains by the time we crawled into Alice Springs at 9am the next morning. I slept better than on the Indian Pacific (both Dave and I dreamt of being in an earthquake), if only because the tracks are a lot flatter and straighter in South Australia.

In Alice Springs, we were met by our second AAT Kings driver Myles McClure for a 3 day tour of the "Red Centre". As we headed south out of Alice Springs, we passed this looooong load, part of the new rail link to Darwin. "The Alice" looked incredibly lush to us (almost anything would after the country we'd just been through), mainly as a result of having just had their wettest November on record. And yet 2002 was the driest year ever in Central Australia.

Our first port of call was the eponymous Stuarts Well, where we paid a visit to the local camel farm. It was so hot even the camels were taking shelter (and so dry that they'd had to close two lanes of the local swimming pool). Nevertheless, after much loud bellowing, snorting, and offering of bribes, we were finally able to coax Howard and Kathy on board. I don't think next year's Camel Cup is under threat from the American contingent.

After a late lunch of lamingtons at the Mt Ebenezer Roadhouse, it was still a long couple of hours until we reached the Kings Canyon Resort, and the thing we'd been looking forward to most of all - a swimming pool! Here Dave and Becky are the first to take the plunge. The second priority on everyone's mind by this stage was laundry.

The Kings Canyon Resort is a little piece of luxury nestled on the edge of the Watarrka National Park. Just 3 weeks earlier, this area had been evacuated due to bushfires burning either side of the main highway. The Resort was undamaged, but substantial areas of the Park, including shelters and an old toilet block in the Canyon parking area, were now just charred ruins.

Nevertheless, at Myles' suggestion we took a stroll before dinner along the canyon floor, where he proceeded to demonstrate his encyclopaedic knowledge of the flora, fauna, and cultural history of this area and its inhabitants. The Canyon is most colourful in the late afternoon sunshine, and although we almost missed out due to cloud (better now than 2 days earlier), the Sun came out on cue right around sunset to turn the canyon walls a magnificent shade of orange.

Unfortunately, the pesky and persistent Aussie bush fly had followed us north, and would go for any source of liquid, including eyeballs, nostrils, mouths, etc. Different people handled this in their own way; some perfected the "Aussie salute", others (my Mum included) resorted to personal flyscreens.

Once again, it was an early start the next morning to try and beat the heat, for those of us who wanted to tackle the more strenuous Canyon Rim walk. It's not so bad once you get up the first steep bit on the left. Actually, we had the perfect morning for the walk - light cloud helped keep the temperatures down, but by the time we finished the walk just after 9:30am, it was sweltering.

As the walk flattens out nearer the top, you enter what is known as "The Lost City", because of the way the hollows and columns of rock resemble amphitheatres and gargoyles. If some of this area looks familiar to you, it could be because this was where the famous "Cock in a Frock on a Rock" scene in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was filmed.

Near the top of the canyon, a set of wooden steps takes you down into the aptly-named "Garden of Eden". This unexpected oasis harbours lots of birds and plant life.

A short trail leads to a splended waterhole, where birds would flit low across the surface, picking off insects. Unfortunately, the serenity was shattered soon after when a group of German backpackers arrived, and proceeded to treat it like their own private swimming pool.

Since we no longer had the place to ourselves, it was time to hike out and back down the other side of the Canyon. Along the way though, we stopped to peer over one of the overhangs (this area is popularly known as "Big Bum Rock"). It wasn't until we got further round that we realised how precarious our perch had been! Just before reaching the coach, Myles took us on a small detour to an overhang containing 4 hand stencils, the only known examples of Aboriginal rock art in the Canyon.

No, this isn't Ayers Rock, though lots of people mistake Mt Conner for its more famous cousin. It's a 3.5 hour drive from Kings Canyon to Ayers Rock (hereafter referred to by its Aboriginal name of Uluru), and not much to see in between, so we made a brief stop here to check out the red sandhills.

At last we arrived at the Outback Pioneer Hotel at Yulara Village, the nearest town to Uluru. Once more, the hot, dry weather made us seek out the pool for some relief. At 6pm, Myles took us out for a quick circuit of Uluru, before we joined the hordes at the official sunset viewing site. Once again, clouds spoilt the show somewhat, and although there were some interesting colours on the clouds, there was very little on Uluru itself. Still, that was no reason not to drink the wine we'd brought along for the occasion.

Sunday 8 December

The Aboriginal guardians of Uluru request that all visitors respect their wish that people not climb Uluru. However, they can't stop them, unless (a) the winds at the top are too strong, or (b) temperatures in excess of 35^oC are predicted. I was still in two minds about whether to go, but the fact I was without my boots (they were waiting for me in Alice Springs) had already put me in some doubt, and ultimately the weather put paid to any attempt.

Instead, Myles led us on the first section of the 10 km walk around the base of Uluru, and once again shared his extensive knowledge of the region. It's not until you get up close and personal that you appreciate just how much erosion has taken place on and around the rock. The standard sunset viewing angle doesn't really convey this. Part of the reason you won't see some of the most intriguing rock formations is that photography is prohibited around extensive areas of Uluru which are considered sacred by the Anangu people.

Here's a good example of what wind erosion can do. This rock cave, shaped a bit like a breaking wave, is big enough to hold a tour coach or two. Just as well, considering the number of busloads of Japanese tourists following us, disappointed at not being allowed to climb the rock today. Photography is prohibited around most of the northeast face of Uluru, which is a shame, as there are some amazing features to be seen there. At one stage, I was out in front of the group on the trail, when suddenly a Perentie lizard saunters across the path not 10 feet ahead of me. This one was 3-4 feet in length, but by the time I recovered from the shock, and had been able to attach a more appropriate lens to my camera, he had disappeared into the brush on the other side. Virtually everyone else was able to get a picture of him (or at least his head peeking up out of the grass), but my stalking attempts failed, and in the end I almost couldn't find where I'd dropped my backpack. So much for my career as a wildlife photographer...

At least Uluru was a more obliging subject, and near the feature known as "The Mouth" (real imaginative, these Aussies), I captured what looks to me more like an "Evil Eye". After an hour-and-a-half, we had been about 3/4 of the way around the base of Uluru, so in the rising heat Myles picked us up and took us to the nearby Aboriginal Cultural Centre.

On our final lap around Uluru, we stopped near the old airstrip to get a view of Uluru with Kata Tjuta (better known as The Olgas) in the background. Unfortunately, time did not allow us to explore more of the fantastic geology in the Red Centre, but even this brief exploration of Kings Canyon and Uluru had exceeded all our expectations.

On the way back to Alice Springs, there was one more astronomical detour to make. The Henbury Meteorite Craters Reserve contains 12 craters, the largest of which (shown here) is 180 metres in diameter, and 15 metres deep (the Reserve also contained about fifteen billion flies on the day we were there). The craters are believed to have been formed by the impact of a metorite (or meteorites) some 4500 years ago. Indeed, this crater is actually two separate craters in which the wall between them has long ago collapsed. Considering that it was astronomy that prompted us to undertake this trip in the first place, I thought it was a fitting place to end our trip. The next day, our group dispersed from Alice Springs. Most of us flew back to Sydney, then to points further afield. All seemed to agree it had been a fabulous trip (though at US$200 per second of totality, one of the most expensive!). So, who's for Turkey on 29 March 2006?

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