Rainin' on the Rock

While you read this I recommend you listen to this song.

When you think Australia, I almost guarantee you think of the outback, the endless expanse of desert, bugs and nothing-ness that stretches across the middle of the country. One of the 'true Australian experiences' we thought was to go on an outback excursion. In the middle of the country, there's this giant rock, Uluru (or Ayer's Rock) that's like the epitome of the outback, so we decided to find a tour that would take us there. Since our spring break here is technically a 'study week' between the end of classes and the beginning of finals, we took advantage of the week off and went on our adventure.

On Sunday morning, we went to the airport and started our trip at 3:30 in the morning. We flew to Sydney and then straight to the Ayer's Rock airport. Now, the entire outback is desert. Meaning it rarely rains. Like, no rain ever. And as soon as we hop off the plane, what do we see? Rain. Lots and lots of rain. This had us kind of excited though. We had been told numerous times that seeing rain on Uluru was not only incredibly rare but also insanely beautiful. We were picked up from the airport (which was smaller than the Bloomington airport by far if that tells you anything) by our tour guide, Sheldon, who we immediately began calling Shelly, much to his dismay. He was exactly what you'd think if you thought bushman... long hair, long beard, funny hat, boots, the whole deal. He then drove us in the bus that would become our new best friend to our campsite to meet the rest of the crew. On our tour there were only six of us: me, Christy and Alex and then lovely ladies from Canada, the UK and Germany. After meeting up with them, we all went to Kata Tjuta, another big rock formation in the area. We got to take a very strenuous hike up and around the rocks, but thankfully it had stopped raining at that point so we could enjoy it.
Then we went to a sunset look out point to watch the sun set over Uluru. Fun fact: it's really hard to see the sun setting when it's cloudy. But regardless, it was a good view of the rock and you could still see the colors changing. For dinner, we headed back to the campsite and had some nice camel sausages, kangaroo steaks and beef. I just couldn't bring myself to try the camel. Then we got to sleep in some lovely tents and pretend there weren't huge centipedes outside that wanted to eat us for breakfast.

The next morning, we woke up hopeful that we'd get to see the sunrise over Uluru as we hiked around the base of it. It was pretty cloudy but we still got to see it! We hiked and hiked and hiked around the rock, which was SO much bigger than expected, a 7 mile walk from start to finish. Also, there are tons of flies, so we spent a lot of time swatting them out of our faces as we walked. But, again, no rain! It was one of those sights that can't be explained. It was hands down one of the most beautiful and awe inspiring things I've ever experienced. After getting picked up by Shelly, it started pouring and that is the beginning of the endless desert rain. We went to an aboriginal culture center where we learned all about the tribes that live in the area and how they have adapted to the environment, and we got to admire all kinds of aboriginal art. Then, we got to experience what only 1% of visitors to Uluru ever get to see... rain on the rock. Because of how much it was raining, there were AMAZING waterfalls all down the sides of Uluru. It was absolutely unbelievable. Our tour guide, who has been doing this for six years, was freaking out with excitement because of how rare it was. We got to spend time just walking around (getting soaking wet... a common theme for the week...) and taking it all in. After stopping back at our campsite for sandwiches, we took off for King's Canyon. We spent the night hanging out, playing the didgeridoo and chatting before cuddling into our new tents for another night of pretending there weren't vicious dingos outside waiting to kill us.

Turns out the dingos should have been the least of our worries because starting at around 2:30 in the morning, the dang monsoon started. All three of us woke up and were seriously concerned that our tent was going to flood or blow apart in general. I figured that was the end... I was going to die in the middle of the desert because of a giant rain storm. And it turns out we were right to be concerned... when we woke up in the morning we found out that the government had closed all the surrounding roads due to flooding and that even if the roads were open, we wouldn't be able to get the buses through them. We were officially stranded in the outback for 11 hours before the rain let up enough that we could get out. I'm not going to lie, it was equal parts absolutely terrifying, unbelievable and hilarious. How many people can truly say they've been flooded into the outback of Australia? However, as an added bonus, in attempts to entertain us while we waited for freedom, Shelly and another one of the tour guides let us braid their hair/beards. It was hilarious.We were supposed to hike King's Canyon but because of the weather, as soon as we were able to leave, we had to try to outrun the rain. It didn't work. We drove to Erldunda that night. It's basically just a truck stop in the middle of nowhere that has a campsite. There wasn't much exciting there but we really only spent the evening and then slept in yet another tent. This time, the only thing we were really worried about though was the truckers on the highway.

We woke up before dawn yet again to drive to Coober Pedy, a little mine town literally in the middle of nowhere. There were opal mines EVERYWHERE as we drove up to the city. The first thing of the agenda was to tour one of the opal mines. In Coober Pedy, basically all the houses are actually caves dug into the rock underground, so we got to tour some of those as well. It was really funny to see everyone freaking out about the rain, and watching how easily everything flooded. In the less than 24 hours we were there, it rained more than it rains there on average in an entire year. Rocks were crumbling the ceilings of houses, walls were caving in, it was crazy. Then we got to do some opal shopping and got some awesome pizza at a little bar in this seriously tiny town. After dinner was a highlight of the trip... we went to a place called Josephine's Gallery and got to play with a baby kangaroo. The owner carried it out in a little pouch because it's mother had died and we got to pet it and watch it jump around on its little baby legs! Seriously, it was so adorable. That night we got to stay in one of the underground caves which was actually super cool once we weren't worried about it caving in on us!

On our final day, we drove to Adelaide where we would catch our flight back to Brisbane. Although most of the day was spent driving, we stopped several places along the way including Lake Hart, which is a salt lake. Normally salt lakes are totally dry with a layer of salt on the sand basically but since it had rained so much, it actually had water in it that Shelly said probably would be there for at least 2 or 3 months. After making several more stops, we had to say goodbye to all our new friends. Although you would think the rain would put a damper on a trip like this, it was such an incredible experience and one that so few people actually get. We were very lucky and the rain just gave us more time to spend with each other and the amazing new people we travelled with. This truly marks the beginning of the end of the adventure! One final and ten days in New Zealand are all that's left! It makes me want to cry thinking about leaving this incredible place. I miss you all, but you can just come visit me here, right??