My Australian Outback Adventure

Finally, finally, finally... our long-planned trip to outback Australia became a reality. After postponing our trip to Uluru back in April, it turned out that nothing quite beats the chill of the desert air in September. For a first-time visitor to Australia's red centre, the cold mornings and evenings were something that my wife Denise and I weren't expecting. The upside however, was a fresh earthern smell that lingered in your nostrils long after the sun came up. That's me above at sunset however. Just in case you go getting the wrong idea that I'm an early morning drinker!

Nothing beats a desert sunrise. Just look how big the sun looks as it crests the horizon!

For us, the trip to Uluru was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that we initially booked to celebrate our... (or perhaps I should just say my) 50th Birthday, but the first half of the year brought change in the form of study commitments and also saw us relocating back to Brisbane. A busy year called for the trip to be postponed until after our daughter's wedding in August. After flying into Ayers Rock International Airport for a 5 night stay at the wonderful Ayers Rock Resort, we were actually closer to our 30th Wedding Anniversary than our birthdays! So the trip became a celebration of both.

Sunrise at Uluru (formerly called Ayers Rock). It's one of those places you just have to see in person.

Being a special occasion holiday, there was no roughing-it or self-drive car rental. We wanted everything taken care of from the moment we touched down. So our first morning, and first true view of Uluru, was on a pre-dawn AAT Kings coach tour for a sunrise coffee and bickies at the viewing area they call Talinguru Nyakunytjaku (talin-guru nuh-kun-ja-koo). I tried to practise pronouncing every Aboriginal word we encountered, but the easiest and most lovely word I picked up was palya (pahl-ya) meaning 'hello, welcome, all is well.' It was spelt out in giant letters at the resort, and apart from making a must-get photo opportunity for the tourists, it's a word I'll now associate with Central Australia in much the same way that you immediately picture Hawaii when you hear Aloha.

But there's no palm trees out in Yulara, (the nearest and only town in the vicinity of Uluru), just a lot of spinifex grass and struggling Desert Oak (wrongly named for they're actually trees from the Acacia family), and surprisingly not a lot of wildlife.

Not far away from 'the rock' is Kata Tjuta, once known as The Olgas. It's really like a scene on Mars!

Next stop on our morning tour was at Kata Tjuta (cat-a joo-ta) where the selfie-stick got another work-out! I'm glad I brought it along, for by now I was getting quite good at making it look like someone else was taking our photos. But with both our kids now grown and married, this was our Mum-and-Dad only, much anticipated coming of life adventure. I'm so glad my troublesome knee held-up to the hour long hike up into Walpa Gorge. If we had made this trip a year ago, I probably would have just sat at the viewing area by the car park rather than experiencing it close up. The ground was rocky, uneven and resembled the surface of Mars. And if you think Uluru is big at 348 metres above sea level, Kata Tjuta is actually 546 metres high, only it doesn't look anything more than a small bumpy ridge when viewed from the distance.

The great thing about experiencing a place as amazing as this, is being able to talk about the highlights over dinner. Which we did each and every night of our stay, whether it was the Pioneer Outback Pub in Yulara, or one of the fine restaurants at Ayers Rock Resort. The resort town of Yulara is spaced out between each of the different accommodations, and a free shuttle bus runs loops of the town every 20 minutes leaving you free to hop from one spot to the next. The night we chose to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary (even though it was a couple of months early), we dined at the Arnguli Grill where we were staying at the Desert Gardens Hotel. Let me just say that I absolutely loved the menu being influenced with Indigenous flavours, from the entree to mains and even dessert. Food has become one of the highlights when we holiday, and both the Arnguli Grill and the adjoining Mangata Bistro at the Desrt Gardens were superb.

Aww! Happy (early) 30th Anniversary babe. Don't we look gorgeous?

Mutitjulu Waterhole at the base of Uluru when filled with water.

Not content with already having pushed my knee to the limit, the next day we took the Uluru shuttle bus tour to the base of the rock, and had them drop us off at the start of the walking track to Mutitjulu Waterhole, (mu-ti-joo-loo). The track at the base of the rock is flat, and the guide said to allow 2 hrs 15 minutes to do the walk from the waterhole to the main visitor car park at Mala on the other side where the bus would meet us 3 hours later. With the base being 10 kilometres around, not only did we walk 1/3 of the way around the base of Uluru to the Mala car park, but still had enough time for me to hobble a little further to Kantju Gorge (can't-ja) to view some of the Aboriginal cave paintings on the way, and still make it back to the meeting point for our shuttle bus before it returned to pick us up.

There are signed areas outlining where photography is prohibited as the path passes by some sacred sites. So although I'm able to share the amazing sight of Mutitjulu Waterhole being full of water, (as it had rained on the day we flew in), let me just say that each twist, turn, crack and line on the rock tells a story to the Aboriginal people. The most recent line added to this ancient story is the two white lines caused from the footprints of tourists who up until 2019 were able to shuffle single file to the top of the rock. Today it is prohibited to climb on the rock, but there are two white lines leading to the top that are clearly visible from a distance, as though white man's arrival has been added to the ongoing story. My knee is such today, that I dread climbing even a flight of stairs. Yet even if my knee was it's 20 year-old self once more, out of respect I wouldn't contemplate climbing the rock. But still, as a poet and writer... those two white lines are resonating inside me. I'm sure that something creative will come from it once the idea has fully grown.

And perhaps the best way to see Uluru.. on a camel safari!

And if two consecutive days of hiking wasn't taxing enough on my knee, climbing up on a camel the next day for a camel safari along with my wife was enough adreneline and adventure for this trip! After seeing how friendly the camel behind us was, Denise opted to ride up front leaving me to enjoy the gastronomical sounds and smell of a very friendly camel who just wanted to get up close to my arm for a pat. The girth of a camel's belly is such that my legs have never felt so wide apart. My knees, hips and butt were all sore the next morning, and I don't know how those early camalier explorers managed to ride these ships of the desert any longer than our 90 minute safari. Still, for me it was one of the absolute highlights of our trip! And I'd do it all again tomorrow if I could. Seeing Uluru from atop a camel in outback Australia? Just amazing!

'Mind if a take a selfie with you mate?' Says the camel, 'no worries. Cheese!'

And although we were booked to dine under the stars on our final night with an experience called the Sounds of Silence, an afternoon thunderstorm had other plans and we ultimately missed out. So I'll show this last photo out of sequence from a night earlier, as it literally became our last sunset on our outback adventure.

The Field of Lights Star Pass. One of the most visually amazing experiences I've seen.

The attraction is called the Field of Lights, and is a visual art installation by a man by the name of Bruce Munro. Just outside of Yulara on private property overlooking Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, is a solar-powered light installation the size of four football fields containing 50,000 colour changing lights. We pre-booked the popular Star Pass a year before making this trip, and were not disappointed! A coach picks you up from the Hotel reception and takes you to this secret viewing deck atop a sand dune overlooking Uluru. That view in itself is fantastic, sipping wine from an unlimited bar as the sun sets and you watch the colour of the rock darken and fade into the night sky. You almost forget that you've come to see the lights.

Then gradually the grassland in front of you begins to twinkle, as one by one the lights come to life. The sun sets and the field before you turns into a sea of illuminated flowers that change colour in gentle waves. Not only is the sight an incredible contrast to such an ancient landscape, but as last drinks are called at the bar, you get the opportunity to walk down into the field and follow the illuminated path that winds through an immersive work of art. It kind of surprises you with a child-like moment of feeling that the changing colours are actually interacting with you. I liked getting lost in that moment.

And 48 hours later it was over, we were checking out and boarding a coach transfer to an airport that is perhaps the most remote commercial airport in the world. I came to experience an ancient landscape, and left feeling more comfortable with my place in it. Inspired you could say, to be an Australian. The middle of our outback adventure was also the moment we heard that Queen Elizabeth II had passed away. For us it was like two cultures, worlds apart, that in one moment collided. I've come to appreciate the significance of both cultures, and I hope that the future of our country is a fusion of the positive and good in both.

You visit a place like Uluru wanting to come away with a better understand of its' cultural history, and instead come away with it writing a story upon you. It's a beautifully enriching experience. Maybe that's just the writer in me. This is my story. Hope you liked it, till next time...