Red Centre Treks

May 24, 2015April 29, 2018 ~ margaretsealey ~ 4 Comments

Nature’s big things are truly impressive. For instance, when my sister Jenny and I flew over the Grand Canyon in a helicopter, we were struck by its enormous scale: Deep, long and rugged, it was surrounded by beige desert so different from the colours in Australia. It was awe inspiring but somehow remote. We were only able to get up close and personal with the canyon when we landed halfway down on a rocky outcrop. We admired the view, stretched our legs and scoffed a champagne lunch. It was an unforgettable, exciting experience, after all you don’t get to ride in a helicopter or a limousine every day. But, there wasn’t time to immerse ourselves in the colours, textures, scents and spiritual history of the the canyon itself. This is not the case when you visit Uluru, Kata Tjuta and King’s Canyon in the Red Centre. There your senses are saturated as you trek, stroll or saunter along paths that have that have been part of Aboriginal Dreaming for thousands of years.

All of the walks are around 10 kms in length, vary in difficulty and take a few hours to complete. I undertook these walks with my husband, Kenn and friends, Helen and Phil. Although capable of setting new land speed records and clambering up cliffs like mountain goats, these three intrepid trekkers slowed their pace to accommodate my more slothful saunter. I suspect the thought of having to carry me back to base, a victim of exhaustion or a premature heart attack might have been part of their motivation.

Our first walk was around the base of Uluru, the biggest monolith on Earth. It dominates the flat expanse of the desert for as far as the eye can see.

walk 2 — Setting a cracking pace. Sunset is not far off.

The path is well marked and the rock is there beside you, revealing different faces as the light moves.

I was surprised by the amount of vegetation and the sense of mystery you feel in the shadows.

We completed this relatively easy walk with enough time to get to the sunset viewing area. Nature puts on the most amazing light show as the rock lights up and the sky is smudged with many of the colours of the rainbow.

IMG_20150427_182154 — Smudgy colours soften the rock

Our second walk was far more challenging. We hired a 4WD and drove 300 kms to King’s Canyon. What I didn’t realise, until I reached the starting point of the walk, was that you have to climb 500 steps up a cliff face to begin!

Kenn appointed himself as my personal water boy and with his help I made it. This was definitely the hardest part of the walk. The views from the canyon’s rim were amazing and almost made the memory of the 500 steps melt away. Almost ..

We clambered over rock platforms and negotiated bridges onto sandstone spurs.

And … hidden away deep within the canyon was ‘The Garden of Eden’.

This place is significant for the Aboriginal people and it was easy to see why. In the midst of so much dryness, hidden from the unrelenting sun, the water is cool, sheltered by ferns and palms. It is very quiet there. Like all who went before us, we were refreshed and restored and finished this walk on a high.

Our third walk was also challenging and in my opinion, the most rewarding of all. This was the ‘Valley of the Winds’ at Kata Tjuta or the Olgas. We decided to do the whole walk, which is a loop, but you can do shorter sections if you wish. It’s only about 50 kms from Yulara, the Uluru township. The first part of the walk from the car park to the base of the Olgas is quite long and for a time, you could easily imagine that you were walking on the moon.

olga 2 — Kenn striding out in the moonscape

But then you turn a corner and find yourself walking in between the beehive domes of sandstone that are the Olgas. The wind whistles around you, an unusual experience as usually it is really quiet out here. In places there is enough water to support vegetation; we walked through a lovely avenue of ghost gums.

Winding in and out of the domes, down and up rock faces, we reached the lookout. Again, like everywhere around Uluru, there was an amazing vista.

We scrambled down a steep incline. It was at this point that I started having a few worries. It was so steep that I negotiated most of it on my bottom. As I was sliding from rock to rock, getting rid of my cellulite, I started thinking about how I was going to climb back up! It would be a tough ask at the end of a long walk. I felt totally knackered just thinking about it. But we had come so far! At the bottom we found ourselves inhaling the scents of the savanna surrounding the Olgas, that unforgettable, eucalyptus smell of the Australian bush. Tramping through mulga, spinifex and assorted grasslands we had wonderful views both of the desert stretching away in one direction and the Olgas standing guard in another.

panorama — View from the Savanna of the Olgas.

We didn’t have to retrace our steps. I was saved from the slippery cliff of hell. A relatively gentle climb found us back among the Olgas via a different route and eventually we made our way to the car park.

All the walks were special and were, for me, the most memorable part of my visit to Uluru. It is a very personal way to connect with this ancient landscape and its dreaming.

If you haven’t visited Uluru yet, I hope you are able to soon. It really is a very, very special part of the world.

One Hump or Two?

May 4, 2015May 5, 2016 ~ margaretsealey ~ 4 Comments

Camels are big! Really big! I didn’t appreciate their size until we signed up for a morning camel ride in the shadow of the Rock. Upon arrival at the camel farm, I spied our beasts, sitting in a row, elegantly attired in colorful Afghan saddles.

Even sitting on the ground, they came up to my waist. Mounting the camel was to prove a challenge. I had to sit on the front side of the hump as Kenn, being heavier, had to take the rear seat. But how to get into the saddle? My leg just didn’t want to go up and over. I’ve never been very good at Can Can high kicks. I can’t do the splits either. I was also worried that my leg could connect the head of the beast in the attempt. As if it could read my thoughts, my camel turned its massive head and gave me a penetrating stare and a warning snort: I froze. Everyone waited. Eventually, the cameleer came to my rescue and gave me a hoist up. But worse was to come. Camels don’t get up evenly on all four legs. They straighten their rear legs first, then unfurl their front legs. At one point, you are perched in the saddle almost perpendicular to the ground. “You have to lean back and hang on as your camel gets up,” we were told. And lean I did. My lean would have made a bare back rodeo rider proud!

Soon, we were off on our ride through the red dirt. We kept up a sedate pace and all adjusted easily to the swaying gait of our ‘ships of the desert’. There were no dashes across the sand hills reminiscent of Lawrence of Arabia but lots of interesting information about camels and our surroundings was imparted by our charming guides. For example, did you know that all camels think about, is food: finding food, eating food and bringing up food from one stomach to another. A highlight of the ride was the view from the sand hill. We could see both Uluru and Kata Tjuta!

Back at the farm, we explored an interesting collection of pioneer coaches and paraphernalia. There was an especially cute baby camel that had been abandoned in the desert and hand raised on the farm. Just had to say hello.

It was a great way to spend a morning. That afternoon, a close encounter with Uluru awaited. Will share it with you next time. Rock on!

Starry, Starry Night

May 2, 2015May 5, 2016 ~ margaretsealey ~ 1 Comment

They say that in the desert, the stars are so big and so bright in the velvety, dark sky that you feel that you could almost reach out and touch them.

This is certainly true of the night skies that surround Uluru, (Ayers Rock), which is located in the centre of Australia. I travelled to Uluru last week with my husband Kenn and friends, Helen and Phil. Luckily for me, I had a window seat for as we approached Uluru, the pilot banked the plane on his approach and I had my first view of the rock. Even from the air, it’s huge: it dominated the landscape.

Settling into our rooms at the very comfortable Desert Gardens Hotel, we spent a couple of hours exploring the resort township of Yulara,

which is just 20 kilometers from the Rock before readying ourselves for our first encounter with the desert, ‘The Sounds of Silence” dinner. This was truly unforgettable. We were picked up by our coach as dusk was approaching and driven out into the desert, There we walked up a sand hill where we were greeted with champagne, a view of the rock and the haunting sounds of the didgeridoo.

greeting at dinner — Champagne and canapes on the sand hill

Dideridoo — Didgeridoo echoes in the silence of the desert

A couple of champagnes later and the sun had dipped below the horizon. We were ushered to our dining table under the stars where a wonderful Australian themed dinner awaited us. What’s not to like about wonderful food and wine in an unforgettable setting?

sounds of silence 3 — Fellow diners from Canada

While we dined, we were entertained by a group of young Aboriginal dancers. I really liked their youthful enthusiasm and the way the boys acknowledged their uncles and elders who had shared their dances with them. Then there were the stars: millions of them. We listened as a young astronomer pointed out some of the constellations and planets we could see and invited us to look more closely at them through a telescope. I have waited a long time to see the moons of Jupiter and Saturn’s rings with my own eyes!

When at last the final port had been drunk, the last chocolate consumed and the torches had burned low, we found ourselves walking back through the dark, in the silence, sheltered by the stars, touched by the magic of the desert.

‘Glamping’ in Evans Head

April 11, 2015March 27, 2018 ~ margaretsealey ~ 3 Comments

I am a relative newcomer to ‘Glamping’. Until recently, my camping experiences involved a tent, an airbed that hopefully would stay inflated and a sleeping bag. There were minimal extras: a little two burner stove, a gas lantern and a camping table. A lot of baked beans and tinned spaghetti was consumed. I have no champagne memories! But on a recent camping trip to Evans Head, my eyes were opened to a whole new world of camping realities, the world of ‘glamping’

Evans Head is only about 45 mins away from Byron Bay. The group we joined for a long weekend were seasoned glampers. We had waterfront sites at the Silver Sands Caravan Park and soon, remarkable hand crafted camper trailers were being unloaded, tents and tarps erected and kayaks and professional looking fishing gear stowed away.

campground by the river — Waterfront sites on the river at Evans

There was so much to explore and experience. First of all, we had to explore the track along the river, to the breakwater and the beach and test out the surf. The water was clear and very warm for this time of year.

Soon, it was time for Happy Hour and a gourmet barbecue as we watched the tide run out on the river and the pelicans playing. Next morning, I was up early enough to catch the sunrise. I didn’t have to forego my beauty sleep as daylight saving hadn’t ended and the sun was kindly rising at 7 am. The sun peeked through the clouds and then burst over the ocean in amazing colours!

Walking back to camp, I noticed that the riverside cafe was open. No need to forego creature comforts while glamping. I thought, as I appreciatively sipped a large takeaway cappuccino.

Later that day we tested out the 4WD on the sand. You can drive north along the beach for quite a few kms and you don’t need a permit to do so. It’s just you, the sea, the sand and the seagulls and pelicans. Oh and the occasional horse and rider.

We also explored the beautiful Chinaman’s Beach which is a little to the south of our campsite on the other side of the river. The beach is perfectly unspoiled and is fringed with amazing aubergine coloured rocks, tangerine, brown and cream striped cliffs and amazing rock pools. I love climbing over and through rock pools. It’s like there a new world just waiting to be discovered by you. What a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours!

Back at camp, the troops had been busy. A visit to the fishing co-op and Tiger Prawns were on the menu. My baked bean days were over!.

And so the weekend continued. The Kayakers ventured upstream, circumnavigated a small island and let the current bring them back to camp. The fishermen had some success in the surf gutters. Blessed with perfect sunny weather and balmy nights, we swam, ate, walked, ate, fished, ate and drank a …a little. What’s a bottle or two of Pinot Grigio between friends? And I took the time to catch up on some reading and day dream about the next glamping adventure.