Patrolling the desert

We managed to catch a taxi to Adelaide airport early in the morning and even made it to our flight to Alice Springs in Central Australia without any problems. (After missing our former flight, I'll never take catching flights for granted anymore.) We got a free transfer shuttle to our very cute hostel called Annie's Place (no, I didn't choose it only because of the name), a quirky place with a pool, old movie posters on the walls and a pub with comfy vintage furniture, the same style my grandparents have in their home. We became particularly fond of the pool, as for the first time we were motivated enough to actually dip in. Swimming felt so nice after the long winter in Europe!

On our arrival day we didn't really have anything to do, so we went for a walk around the town, planning to visit the first McDonalds for a nice 70 cent chocolate ice cream (I would be completely addicted to them now, but luckily for my shape they don't have them in most McD's, boohoo). Alice Springs as a town didn't really impress us, as there's nothing to do. Granted, there are some pricey museums trying to squeeze out the last dollars from tourists, but we weren't really interested in those. The heat was so scorching (at least for a fair Northern European like myself) that walking about wasn't that pleasant. We were getting desperate to find the yellow archs and actually stopped people to ask for directions, but they were also tourists and didn't know where it was. After walking around the whole town centre we gave up and bought some unsatisfying ice creams from a supermarket. On our way back we found on the street an empty french fries pouch with the yellow M, proving that there certainly is at least one in town, and mocking us for our lack of success.

Being short on time, we couldn't do a three-day tour taking in all the highlights of the area, so we settled for a one-day tour. It was a 19-hour-long tour visiting Uluru the rock and Kaja Tjuta national park with some more rocks. 1000 km return drive doesn't sound like much fun, but actually I enjoyed sitting in the bus very much. On the way there I was staring transfixed at the desert around me. It wasn't the barren, red plain I had in my imagination. The soil was a stunning shade of red, yes. However, thanks to the area having received double the amount of usual yearly rainfall already in January and February, the desert didn't look like it usually does. Instead, the land was full of vegetation, lush baby-green grass and bushes. So beautiful! The ride back was even better. There were multiple thunderstorm blazing in the desert for hours at the time, flashes of lightning slashing the sky. Gorgeous! I tell you something, thunderstorm in a desert are something.

We were also trying to spot some wildlife on the way, but the only saw some cows lounging in the shade under bushes. There are 1,2 million camels in the area, where were they now? (Yes, they are an imported species that took a liking to the country and started reproducing like rabbits.) Instead we just saw emptiness, ranches the size of European countries. I suppose if you don't like people, this would be a good place for avoiding seeing them.

Having heard so much of the Rock, I tried to be careful with my expectations. I mean, how cool can a rock be? When I got to see it then, I have to say all my expectations, build by hundreds of professional pictures of the rock, were met. I was impressed by the colour, the shape, the texture, the sheer size of it. It is just the rock, but in my opinion it's worth driving a thousand kilometers to see it.

The rock is actually red because of the rust on the upper layers of it, the rock itself is grey.

The last two pictures are from Kaja Tjuta, another group of rocks.

We had a very nice barbeque at the sunset viewing area, growing even more appreciative of the view with some champagne. We didn't get to witness the rock glowing red in the last strays of sun, as unfortunately the sun sank into a sea of clouds before reaching the edge of the horizont. However, we got to see a sunset that was one of the most dramatic I've seen in my life.

Special picture dedicated to the other Anni's back home, also known as losers in Finland.

We saw beauty that literally took my breath away, leaving me gasping. Still, there are two other things that I might remember even longer:

1. The desert flies. They had a passionate, burning, unyielding lust for my bodily liquids. They tried relentlessly to enter every exposed hole in my body. They were everywhere. To prevent the flies from entering our tour bus, the drivers were happy to "whip everybody with their fairy sticks" (that name sounds so wrong). If you go to a desert for longer than a day, I strongly recommend that you wear a hat with a mosquito net, that is, unless you enjoy insects up your nose, inside your ears, and stuck to your eyeballs. Oh well, at least battling them off was good exercise for my arms.

2. On our way back to Alice we stopped at a roadhouse for a toilet. Never in my life have I seen so many cockroaches, not even on TV. They were wriggling everywhere on the floor, swimming in the sink, possibly hanging from the roof waiting for a chance to jump on my head. Be happy that I didn't take my camera with me, otherwise I would share a picture. That sight won't leave me very soon.