Once at Kata-Tjuta, we hiked about 3 miles of the Valley of the Winds Walk. It was cold and windy but stunningly beautiful as the sunlight continued to slide down the sides of the red rocks. We climbed amongst the rocks up some steep paths and rock sides to a valley lookout before turning back to the bus. By 11 AM we were driving back past Uluru on our way back to camp for lunch and to pack up. In the late morning sun and shadows, Uluru appeared a deep purple with molten orange stripes flowing down its sides. Breathtaking!
We had a three hour drive ahead of us to get to our second campsite at Kings Creek Cattle Station. Along the way, we stopped for a bathroom and snack break and encountered Mongrel, the emu. We also stopped to gather firewood from along the side of the deserted road for the evening’s fire. Dinner was to be a traditional camp oven dinner over the coals.
At the cattle station, everyone rushed to buy and indulge in a real coffee (instead of instant), prepped the dinner, and had a little free time. We wandered back to the store to buy me a sunhat and to view a video about Ian and Lyn Conway, the owners of the station. We were reassured to watch a story about the couple, who by working with the local community, are sending 20 some local children to private school in Adelaide, nearly 1,000 miles away. They are truly making a difference in the lives of some aboriginal children.
dinner prep time
Dinner was a wonderful chicken and vegetable stew, baked potatoes, and damper cooked over the coals. Damper is a very traditional Aussie camp bread. Ours was made by Lorraine, the one Aussie on our tour. Water, flour, some onions, and beer mixed and cooked to perfection. After dinner, we sat around the campfire and Ben gave us a star talk. We saw the southern cross, the milky way (although aboriginals call it the smoky way), a giant emu seen by looking at the dark space without stars, Venus, Mars. Mesmerizing.
No comments:
Post a Comment