Uluru Rocks

The last two days were phenomenal. On Tuesday morning I woke up early and hit the road to Uluru at 9:15 AM. I wanted to miss the afternoon heat of the Outback so I pretty much drove straight through and got to my dorm around 1:30 PM. There's a big complex right outside of the National Park called Ayers Rock Resort complete with a post office, supermarket, and various overnight options from camping to $500/night hotel rooms. The resort is actually pretty cool and it was designed to have a minimal environmental impact and isn't too much of a blemish on the face of the Outback. I opted for the $41 shared room which consisted of two bunkbeds and not much else. After checking in I took it easy for the rest of the day and only left the room to see Uluru by sunset. The viewing was very peaceful and it was nice to have my own car so that I could come and go as I pleased. I got back to the resort around 8 PM, ate a delicious lamb fillet, took a shower, and hit the hay around 9 PM.

Wednesday was pretty damn hectic and I think it'll be described better in timestamp format.

1:30 AM: I wake up with a start, worried that I was going to miss the sunrise. I check my watch and see that it's way too early and I pass back out. I proceed to have a nightmare about waking up at noon and missing everything that I wanted to do.

2:30 AM: I wake up again, relieved that I didn't miss the sunrise but annoyed that I keep on waking up. I pass out in a few minutes and am greeted by another nightmare about missing the sunrise.

3:00 AM: I wake up again. I'm pretty ticked off but eventually fall back asleep.

4:15 AM: I wake up again and nod in and out of consciousness before my alarm goes off at 4:40 AM. I hop out of my bunk and run to the shared showers to start my day.

5:00 AM: I turn in the key to my dorm and drive to the Uluru sunrise viewing point.

5:30 AM: I park at the viewing point. I'm one of the first people there and try to find the best place to watch the sunrise. I back my Toyota Yaris into a spot, get on the roof and wait.

6:04 AM: This is the advertised time of sunrise and a bevy of tour busses have arrived. There are a lot of old people and Asians milling around but I am the only one sitting on the roof of a Toyota Yaris. I feel special. The sky is brightening but nothing too special is happening.

6:20 AM: The sun finally peeks over the Outback and Uluru lights up in a reddish glow. It is absolutely surreal and is one of the most amazing moments of my life. The buzzing of tourists subsides and everyone stares at the sacred rock. It's hard to properly explain but all morning the rock sat there, looking dull and dark reddish-brown, even as the sky lit up, the suddenly it just started glowing in an intense red and I understood why the rock meant so much to the Aborigines. I'm not a religious guy but the moment was scarily spiritual.

6:40 AM: My boner has subsided and I get off of the roof of my Toyota Yaris. I could have spent more time there, taking a walk around the base of the rock and whatnot, but I want to get to King's Canyon before it gets too hot. I tell the rock that I love her and start my drive to King's Canyon.

7:30 AM: I stop in Curtain Springs for gas. They have an Internet kiosk so I check my email for $A1/5 minutes. My mother is worried about my safety in the Outback so I send her a message to let her know I'm ok. Doesn't she know that I'm the master of road trips?

8:00 AM: I'm getting tired to I accelerate and turn up my music. I think I see a deer grazing on the side of the road. All of a sudden it stands up and hops into the middle of the road, right in the path of my car. I swerve into the other lane and it feels like I missed him by inches. I look in the rearview and the kangaroo bounds across the road, completely unaffected by his near-death encounter.

9:45 AM: After ~350 KM I reach King's Canyon. It doesn't look like much but it's called The Grand Canyon of Australia. I slather on some sunscreen and put on my M's hat. Time to get physical.

9:50 AM: I drop a deuce. I'm very glad that I took care of this early and didn't have to deal witth eurge to defecate while hiking.

10:00 AM: I finally start the hike. There are a lot of signs warning about the heat and the exertion and whatnot but it's only 6 KM, how hard can it be? Supposedly the hike takes 4.5 hours but I'm shooting for 3 so that I can be back by 1 PM, before we hit our high of 39 degrees Celcius.

10:05 AM: I take my first break. The first part of the hike is straight up, from the canyon floor to the rim. It's pretty brutal. I'm sweating like Patrick Ewing at the free-throw line and I've already downed half of my water bottle. If I didn't have this stupid blog I might have turned back but I wanted cool pictures from the rim so I pressed on.

10:10 AM: Break number two. I mean, the canyon doesn't look that big, WHY AM I STILL CLIMBING!!!

10:20 AM: I reach the rim, swallow the pre-vomit saliva, and start to navigate my way around the canyon.

10:30 AM: I catch up to a French couple. The woman does not look happy. I overhear the man say "Sava?(how's it going?)" to his girlfriend and she responds with "Sava Bon(It's going well)" before launching into a tirade that probably translated into something like, "I hate you for taking me on this trip, I want to go back to Paris and drink wine and wave my white flag. Screw you, you frog-eating mother-effer." It was a very impressive tirade and I gave her a golf clap.

11:00 AM: I reach the Garden of Eden. It's a spot toward the back of the canyon with large pools of water and lush greenery. Apparently the rock is porous and holds water like a sponge. When the pools start to evaporate, more water seeps out of the rock. It's actually pretty cool. There are a lot of imformative signs on the walk and the I enjoy them.

11:15 AM: I run into a group of 5 tourists and a guide who I call the Asian Steve Irwin. He is Asian and is a hiking guide but he talks with the same passion and enthusiasm that Steve Iriwn did. He asks how my hike is going and I respond that I'm glad I got started early. He launches into a tirade over how hot it gets up on the rim and how it catches a lot of people off guard and how he once led a group where a guy wasn't drinking water and he had to carry the guy to shade and start an IV and the guy could have died and all that good stuff. He started to talk about the wildlife too but I had heard enough and slowly, without taking my eyes off of him, started to back away. Once I was over the ridge, I turned my back and sprinted off, careful not to look back. He was a wierd dude.

11:35 AM: I reach my Toyota Yaris and get out of dodge. I look in my rearview mirror and the Asian Steve Irwin is nowhere in sight. I breathe a sigh of relief and start the drive back to Alice Springs.

11:55 AM: I stop at King's Creek to buy water and gas. I'm still sweating like Ewing and I'm worried that it might never stop.

12:30 PM: I finally stop sweating. The AC in my Toyota Yaris feels good.

1:00 PM: I stop in Mt. Ebenezer for lunch. The wings are $A2 each and the jo-jos are $A3.50. I buy 3 wings and some jo-jos. Everything is delicious. I am the only person in the restaurant and I gaze out the window reflecting on life and the pursuit. Suddenly a 40-person tour bus pulls up and I see old people start to get out. Time to hit the road.

4:00 PM: I get back to Alice Springs. I check into my hostel, take a shower then crawl into bed. I'm exhausted and want to go to sleep but I fire up my laptop and watch Season 3 of The Wire to help ease me into slumber.

11:30 PM: I finish Season 3 of the Wire and have goosebumps up and down my body. What an amazing show. I shutdown my laptop and turn off the lights. My German roommate, who lay down at 9 PM, can now go to sleep. I dream about nothing and wake up at 8 AM feeling great. Australia is awesome.

Uluru

Made it to Uluru. Drive was fun. It's hot. But dry. Bearable. Internet is $A12/hour. Bargain. Pauly has a great post up. Hilarious. I should have flown here direct from Sydney. Stupid. I'm thirsty. Peace.

Alice Springs

The whole Alice Springs experience has been a bit of a debacle. The main reason for coming here was to see Uluru but it's a 450 km drive and it's possible to just fly there. I came to Alice Springs because I like driving and seeing countryside and I heard that there were some cool sights to be seen in the city. I had a devil of a time finding a reasonable rate on a rental car and nothing came with unlimited miles. I'm stuck with a 1000 Km limit which I'm definitely going to exceed at a rate of $$A0.28 per Km. It doesn't sound like much but it still annoys me. I'm still looking forward to the drive tomorrow but Alice Springs has been a bit of a disappointment. Most of the historical monuments are just tourist traps that try to take your money. There isn't a real museum here and all the history is about the white people who settled the land. There isn't anything telling of the history of the aborigines. It's esimated that 90% of indigenous Australians died when the British settled here due to diseases and massacres. It really pisses me off how people can be such assholes. Obviously this isn't just a problem in Australia because we did some fucked up things to the Native Americans. I'm jus tmiffed at how people can come into a new world and kill whomever or whatever is currently living there, rape the women, etc. The thing that frustrates me further is the fact that there are a bunch of aborigines in Alice Springs but none of them have good jobs or education. They're all just sitting on the street looking poor. There are a few aboriginal art shops and whatnot but they're all run by white people and feel super fake.

Man, maybe I just got out on the wrong side of bed this morning. I don't really know a ton about the aboriginal history other than what I read on Wikipedia and I should probably read more about the history before getting so agitated. I hazily remember Cory-Ann saying something about trying to improve the education system for aborigines but we were at the bar in the Crown Casino and the conversation may never have happened. If it did though, I'll have a long chat with her this weekend and might feel better about getting up in arms.

Tomorrow I'm driving ~460 Km to Uluru. I'm probably going to get to my hotel around 4 PM and will try to get to the rock by sunset. Then, in the morning I will wake up at sunrise and go back. While it's still early, I'm going to drive to King's Canyon and hike along the rim. Hopefully I get out of there by 2 PM or so and I can drive back to Alice Springs before it gets dark. Apparently there are a lot of animals all over the roads and they're hard to see at night. Internet is $A16/hour over there so I'll be sure to post once I get back to Alice Springs safe and sound. It would be awesome if I could complete the drive without hitting anything. Peace.

So long, Sydney

Sydney has been great. Pauly and I got to experience two great barbeques and met a lot of really cool people. My favorite thing about this great country is the people that I've met. Everyone is very friendly and very interested in what you're saying. They also really like beer and meat and partying, three of my favorite pastimes. The city itself is really gorgeous and unlike anywhere else in the world. The harbor is great and there are some remarkable buildings down here that make for a beautiful skyline. I don't think the metro system is very good but the city, despite being quite hilly, is easily navigated on foot. One of the best things about both Melbourne and Sydney, the two biggest cities in Australia, is that they have a clean, compact downtown area and it's really easy to wander around without plans. Everyone knows how much I hate plans.

Tomorrow I say goodbye to Pauly who has been my travel partner over the last 8 days. We also spent a lot of time together at the casino in Melbourne. I like traveling solo but I like having a great travel partner even more. Pauly and I work well together because we're both relaxed guys who are up for anything. I like flying by the seat of my pants and Pauly doesn't mind doing the same. We've had a good time together down here and I'll be sad to part ways. *sniff* I'm fly to Alice Springs in the morning to see Uluru, formerly Ayers Rock. I'll be there until Thursday when I fly to Melbourne in preparation for the Great Ocean Road, a drive that I'll be doing over the weekend with the lovely and talented Cory-Ann. The next week will be spectacular and I hope to have a lot of pictures.

It was also a lot of fun being here during the Australian Open. I was in France in 2000 during the Tour de France and the Euro Cup and it's really fun to see a whole country consumed by sports. Federer just won the men's side, barely squeaking out a 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Fernando Gonzalez. Gonzalez played out of his mind and Federer still won in straight sets. We went to the bar the night of the Roddick match, hoping to see some tough tennis and Roger just ruined it for us. He is so unbelievable to watch and I can't get enough. I wish that I could watch Jordan again and Federer has the same sort of aura. The man just refuses to lose.

Here are some pictures from the past few days. 100 cool points to the person who can name the type of flower in the first picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gaff

I just spent 15 minutes trying to type up something about last night but nothing will beat Pauly's post. Go here for the details.

It's Australia Day and we're ready to party. I will be partying sans condom despite Dookie's excellent advice. I can't wait to see what Pauly writes about tomorrow so that I can steal it instead of writing something myself.

Speaking of stealing because of laziness, Scott finally has all his India posts up so head over there if you have the time.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. Oy, Oy, Oy. Happy Australia Day.

Sydney

Pauly and I got to Sydney this morning at 7 AM. THe overnight train was pretty brutal and neither of us slept very well. The train was a lot worse than the ones in Europe or Japan and about on par with the train that I took in India. Given the option again I think I'd rather fly from the Gold Coast to Sydney. Live and learn.

We got to our hostel around 8 AM but it was too early to check in. We dropped off our bags and went to an Internet cafe. After about 30 minutes I had a wicked deuce brewing so I got up to look for the bathroom. The Internet cafe didn't have a bathroom so I had to scurry across the street before it was too late. I burst into an office building and walked quickly to the back corner where the bathroom was located. There was one guy in front of me and with two urinals and only one stall he took the stall to take his piss! I had to sit there clenching my cheeks while Mr. Deuchebag had the stall locked up. For a second I thought that I would have to use the urinal but he finished just in time and I shot him a dirty look before slamming the stall door and wrecking the toilet.

That was the exciting part of the day. We also hit Bondi Beach in the early afternoon and it reminded me of a miniature Nice with more surfing. Pauly and I walked the beach and got to see one nice pair of boobies flapping in the wind. Sydney is a pretty cool city. It kind of reminds me of Seattle because it has a compact downtown core with cool neighborhoods sprawling out in every direction. At first I thought it was like New York but I've changed my opinion after seeing the outer nieghborhoods.

I got a haircut and now look very sexy. Pauly's roommate in the hostel works at a bar and he told us tonight is ladies night AND that he'd hook us up with free drinks. Sold and sold. There's a chance that I hit on some women tonight but there's a better chance that I get really drunk and sloppy. I will have a full report tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Australia Day and I can't wait. Pauly has a friend here in Sydney and she's throwing a party from 3:30-late. She has advised us to bring a toothbrush and a change of clothes so it might be a pretty good time. I'm probably going to stay in Sydney for one more day, after Australia Day, before flying to Adelaide to catch the train to Alice Springs.

Picture Dump

Here are some pics randomly posted without rhyme or reason. Hopefully this helps you understand better why I'm having so much fun down here. Tomorrow, Pauly and I are catching a late train to Sydney while Schecky is flies back to Melbourne. I'm gonna miss the Scheck but Sydney will be great. Next post will probably come from there.