It's always exciting at the beginning of a new trip or tour, getting onto a bus full of total strangers and getting to know new people - something that would previously have scared me shitless! And now it's something I look forward too! The bus was completely full which I can take as only a good sign for the trip and we were the last to be picked up so I head to the only space left at the back and introduce myself to people around me. One being American which lead to a VERY long conversation about everything States related! I MAY have been more patriotic than she was!
Our first stop towards Kings Canyon was a small camel farm. Yep, camel farm. It was clearly a typical tourist spot in which they just exploited us but of course we were all happy to oblige as they offered $7 camel rides which lasted no more than 1 minute! I must admit, it was a funny 1 minute at that! Being on a camel while it runs is quite an experience!!
By the time we arrived at Kings Canyon, everyone was pretty keen to stretch their legs, so we booted up and set off to start the 6km hike. The first part kicked most people in the guts, it's nicknamed 'Heart Attack Hill' and it's understandable why, it's a very steep and long path that winds it's way up the hill as the rest of the hike runs along the top of the canyon.
The viewpoints along the walk were pretty amazing and offered up several views and angle of the canyon itself.
One of my favourite parts was called 'Garden of Eden' and it was at the bottom of a valley and was a beautiful over grown mass of bushes, trees and a stream that we followed to a secluded water hole at the end.
We made it down just as the sun was going down and it was just a short drive to our camp site. One of the unique things about this trip is the things we sleep in, they're called 'swags' and basically they're a rigid larger scale sleeping bag that is similar to a coffin! Get it? They actually have a thin foam mattress inside and turned out to be really comfortable! And warm! I went to bed expecting to be FREEZING like I was in America, so 4 layers later I'm laid in my cocoon like state, SWELTERING! G Adventures should take tips and get these, they're awesome!
P.s. A girls shoe got taken by a dingo!! Which really shouldn't be funny but it was especially as it was just one!
The next morning was our drive to Uluru, aka Ayers Rock. We'd drove for a few hours and Clancy (our tour guide) asked if we fancied going hunting for some Bush-tucker. Of course we wanted too! He explained about the trees around us and how they're named the witchetty tree and they're home to the witchetty grub, the grub nestle into the roots of the plant and eat away getting fatter and fatter resulting in the root becoming swelled, the way to notice before seeing the root is by the trees having dead branches or just wilted in general. Well it took one girl less than 2 minutes to spot one and so we gathered round while we dug up the root to find they were swollen too!
He cracked open the swollen root to reveal a pretty hefty looking witchetty grub which are as ugly as they look on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! Clancy then proceeded to mock about someone wanting to eat them, to which we laughed at, when in fact, he was COMPLETELY serious... One girl stood up and said she would eat it, but Clancy has two grubs...
So here am I thinking I really want to do it but also how disgusting it looks! So again I think 'how many times is this chance going to present itself?' and the answer was probably never again, so I maned up and stood forward to eat the other!!!
Everyone gathered round covering their mouths in disgust as we geared up to tuck into our bush-tucker... So I grab it by it's head and I can see it start to curl and wriggle, it's pretty lazy so it's not moving a lot but it makes zero difference to how vile and ugly it looks!
So yeah here it goes I think to myself! Just one bite, one chew, one swallow - easy!? I hold it over my mouth for a second while I second doubt the terrible choice I made and on the count of 3 I just put it in my mouth and bite down!!
Yeah... It's repulsive. It pretty much bursts in my mouth and it feels like a raw egg in my mouth (even writing this makes me squirm!!). I can't even help but gag... But I just think I need to get rid of it and I can't give in now and spit it out! So while I talk myself into swallowing it I try my best not to throw up and then I just do it. Swallow it. Get rid of it and run to the bus for many, MANY gulps of water! But hey, all in the name of experience and adventure huh!?
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I recover from eating my witchetty grub by polishing off 2 bottles of water then I glance out the window and think I see Ayers Rock!? Just as I clock The Rock, Clancy shouts 'HEY GUYS! LOOK! AYERS ROCK!!' And pulls over and stops the bus a fair distance from The Rock... It wasn't quite what I was expecting if I'm honest, it was anywhere near as rounded as I expected and it had large rubble deposits around the bottom but I assumed this was just the other side of The Rock. So we snap our photos and jump on the bus so we can carry on and get closer... Clancy goes 'looks different from here doesn't it? Yeah... It's not really Ayers Rock!' EVERYONE on the bus had fell for it! This was when we realised, he liked a practical joke or two...
As Uluru grew bigger in the distance it's honestly as impressive as in photos, it stands so boldly with nothing around however. From pictures it looks very smooth but up close the imperfections of the stones texture are what makes it better! It was probably the perfect weather for a 9km base walk around Uluru, for the majority of the walk there's absolutely no shade unless the rock provides it, so walking in the summer heat would be unbearable!
There were a couple of sensitive areas around the rock in which photos weren't allowed because this area would be used for initiations or ceremonial purposes and are not appropriate to be seen anywhere else. I managed to make up with plenty of photos from the rest of the areas!
From photos it's hard to understand the texture of the rock, it's much less round at the base as the base walk would weave in and out of the crevasses and the channels formed on The Rock from falling water (can you imagine how amazing it would look during a storm covered in waterfalls!?!?). It strangely just adds more character (like it needs more) to the story of Ayers Rock.
Uluru had recently experienced a heavy rainfall so we took a detour to The Waterhole - which are illustrated heavily in Aboriginal art - as it was flush with water.
The sun was now beginning to set and the one thing we all wanted to see was the changing colour of the rock as the sun set. But we were still a kilometre or two off!
We eventually made our meeting point but had missed the actual sunset unfortunately. We were still able to get some good shots of The Rock glowing from the evening sky still... Out meeting point was at the base of the rock climb, I remember looking up at it and just thinking 'No... Never... That's just too much!' WELL little did I know what was coming the following day...
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