The Red Centre

We’ve just finished a week long trip into the centre of Australia, and what a fantastic area it is!

The adventure started right back after we got off Magnetic Island and we had to take the 26 hour bus to Alice Springs. The bus journey wasn’t too bad at all, but as we kept going, it became more and more sparse. We were now in the outback. 

I was told a few things about Alice Springs before getting there, which my hostel then confirmed. It’s a dangerous place, and we were told that we must be back at the hostel before it got dark. You could tell they were serious by looking at the size of the fences around the hostel. 

The next morning, a few of us set off on the tour of the red centre that we had booked. This included going to visit three of the most popular rock formations in the area, and also camping in the outback for three nights. 

After a long drive, we had a walk around Uluṟu (formally Ayers Rock, they changed it back to its aboriginal name) and also viewed the sunset. 

After that, we hopped onto our pink bus and headed for base camp. Camp consisted of swags and sleeping bags around a fire. It’s also winter around here, although not the winter you’d expect. I’d compare it to our April temperatures, warm in the day but cold at night. It was very special being able to see the stars directly above you every time you woke up in the night. 

It was an early start the next day as we headed to watch sunrise over Uluṟu. We also did a hike at Kata Tjuta, but you are not allowed to take photos here due to its connections to aboriginal culture. I did get an allowed photo from afar however. 

After this, it was another long drive to the next campsite, King’s Canyon. 

The next morning, we then completed our final stop at the King’s Canyon itself, which felt like you were walking on Mars (or Tatooine). Here we heard of the tragic story of the death of an English girl, who died when the sandstone she was standing on gave way. Since then, they have banned people from going anywhere near the edges, but you still get fantastic views either way. 

As part of this tour, you are expected to work together to get things done, such as the cooking. I put myself on BBQ duty throughout, which was all going well until I burnt myself. Thankfully not as bad as when I previously landed on a BBQ and ended up in hospital. 

We then spent the night in the best camp of all, bush camp. This was a back to basics camp with literally just a fire to cook food on. We also had the joys of using an Australian dunny, which was an experience in itself. 

The next day we made the long drive back to Alice Springs, and saw some animals alongside the road. There’s no fences in the outback, so animals and vehicles are expected to share the road. As well as the usual cows and kangaroos, I also saw a wild camel and emus. 

This was my absolute favourite place in Australia. Apart from being very dry and having a dry throat and lips the whole time, I’ve never seen a landscape like it, and the treats just kept coming. 

There’s one final 22 hour bus journey to Darwin in the very north, the final stop in Australia. Or is it?