AROUND THE MASSIVE STONE, AND ON

We have finally made it around the massive stone, although the journey is far from over. Uluru, otherwise known, as Ayres Rock is so much better than what I expected, having only seen it in pictures taken from a distance which do not show any of the awesome textures of the rock, or the forms and patterns that make it the attraction that it is. We walked the 9.5 km track around the base and marvelled at the variety of scenes along the way. Sheer rock faces littered with holes and caves, ancient rock art, some sections around the base look like a huge wave frozen in time cut into the rock. Kata Tjuta, aka The Olgas, is 50 km west of the monolithic masterpiece. A series of dome topped mountains made up from small conglomerated rocks as if pieced together by a stonemason with a lot of time on his hands. We walked through a gorge where a green belt of rare fauna lived amongst the rocky ground. Massive faces of smoothish rock towering above us on both sides. We went on a little camel ride which the kids loved and passed a German guy riding around the country in a covered wagon pulled by two camels. His wife left him 12 years ago and he came to Australia and rode a bicycle around the place for a few years, then bought a paddleboat and explored the country’s river ways. He has been on the camel wagon for four years now, some interesting characters about. When we arrived at King’s Canyon, 200kms north of Uluru, we saw a guy ride in on his bike. I was fascinated by the thought of someone riding a bike around here, the harsh heat and huge distances would make it hard going. Albert from Bavaria is loving it. He arrived in Perth 7 weeks ago and has just clicked over his 4000th. Km. The plan is to head from here to Adelaide, then Melbourne, Tasmania, Sydney and then to Brisbane to meet up with his girlfriend and ride some more. He came out for a beer with us, a quiet sort of guy, wiry build, very strong willed, a wicked tan between white thighs and ankles, huge calves and similar appetite. We might catch up with him further south, (I gave him Kangaroobies address so hopefully we will see him there). Safe travels Albert!! I find it difficult enough driving a bus around the country….. King’s Canyon too was excellent, a harsh 6km walk started at daybreak, lots of steep climbs down, across and up a series of canyons, the kids have done very well on all these walks lately with the heat and rocky paths. I think we have had enough of the rocky, sandy places for a while. We seem to travel through areas and get sated with the type of land we are in; we have had our fill of theme parks, zoos, rainforest, desert, fossicking, caves, mines and more. After an overnight stop in Marla, (where the hell is Marla?) we ventured on a side trip to Mantabie, which is another small opal mining town 30kms. each way down a rocky dirt road. Fields of cars stripped of all their workings, mining equipment and a few dry looking shops, of course a pub and various temporary permanent styles of accommodation sat amongst small mountains of glaring white rock, all perched on a small rise in the middle of a rocky red desert. Back to the bus for a late start to the travelling day. As we approached Coober Pedy, the opal centre of the world, (providing 85% of the worlds opals) 240kms to the south the small volcano shaped domes of mining gravel of various shades from white to yellow, began lining the flats beside the road, sort of what the moon would feel like, I Imagine. It is also the town where half the population lives underground in houses cut into the earth, mainly to keep cool, a fairly constant 26 degrees year round A very multicultural place where many Europeans moved to after the first World War, meaning lots of nice eating places, the bakers this morning were Hungarian, which was good because I was Hungary. Coober Pedy is an adaptation of an Aboriginal term of similar sound meaning “white man in hole” or “white man’s hole”, depending on which brochure you read. There are certainly many white men’s holes around here, over 200,000 shafts that many signs warn of. Do not walk backwards on opal fields. Take care of children. Be careful! Water is very precious out here, the supply has been the biggest hurdle for many years. We have to pay for showers here and there is no supply for the campsites except a sink, you can buy water for the bus at a pump in the main street, 30 cents for 20 litres. There are no native trees in town, all have been planted by drilling holes through the rock and sandstone crust, and definitely no grass, so it is a dry and dusty place. Even the local footy field is just a layer of whitish grey gravel! The local speedway is on tomorrow night which I am looking forward to. They have a demolition derby and a burnout competition, should be interesting.