In the Outback

To be honest, we wouldn’t have had visited the Northern Territory if seeing Uluru, known also as Ayers Rock, hadn’t been Lucia’s dream. Firstly traveling to this state is expensive even for Australian standards and secondly other than the rock there was not all that much we wanted to see. But hey, we were in the Oz, so we tought we might as well go for it.

With a bit of luck in the end we managed to get good deals for all parts of this trip: a reasonably well priced TigerAir flight from Sydney to Alice Springs, special offer on The Rock tour with free accommodation before and after the three-day trip and to our great happiness promotional price for tickets to Darwin onboard the legendary Ghan train.

When landing in Alice Springs one must notice how the red desert plains under change into lush green bush where the European settlers decided to built the city. Alice Springs is known as the capital of Red Centre, starting point for trips into outback as well as the centre for Royal Flying Doctors who serve in the centre of Australia. Apart from climbing a small ANZAC memorial hill, on our first day we also visited their museum. Mark remembered a TV show about Flying Doctors from his childhood, so it was quite interesting especially for him to learn more about it. Flying Doctors use airplanes to access remote parts of the outback not only for emergency purposes, but also to visit communities and conduct preventive care in a makeshift ambulance onboard the aircraft.

The town was the first place where we saw more aboriginal people than elsewhere. Years of supression and today’s governmental support that doesn’t motivate to work had taken a toll on many and alcohol is a big problem here. Also, as we were told, until Europeans came to Australia, there was pretty much no sugar in aboriginal diet and the body doesn’t know how to process it. Fast food and alcohol therefore has enormous impact on the aboriginals and diabetes and liver disfunction are very common. Other than this, Alice Springs is an uninteresting town.

After a night in a dorm room – for us the first time with other people too – at 5:30am we departed on the long awaited journey into the outback. Our expedition included 19 young people, a middle aged French couple, driver/guide/cook Robbie and a minibus with a trailer full of bags, supplies, sleeping bags and swags (we will explain later). Two hours into the trip we woke up when the bus stopped at the roadside. Flat tyre. A black toe and a couple of scratches were the result of Mark helping the guys to disconnect the trailer. Hoping the toe is not broken we watched Robbie skillfully changed the tyre. Until we reached our destination for the day, we took turns in coming to the front of the bus and introducing ourselves to the rest. The group consisted of holidayers, travellers and folks seeing the country they worked for a while in before departing back home.

The first stop was Kings Canyon which we hiked around in about 3 hours. During many stops Robbie explained about geology and flora and fauna of the area. Did you know that the red color of Australia’s centre comes from oxidising iron that is highly present in the sand and sandstone here? The more red, the more exposed and the older it is.

We passed a few eucalyptus trees covered in natural sunscreen that cut of branches when the rest of the tree needs more nutrition. As we walked Robbie explained some parts of Tjukupra – the traditional aboriginal law. For example we learnt two traditional ways of punishing ‘offenders’. One is opening one’s thigh and sticking a spear into the muscles, then helping it to heal but the offender stays crippled forever. Second involves applying milk of a plant into one’s eyes which would blind him for a few days. If this person finds his way back to community after being dropped in the desert, he served his punishment. And also we enjoyed some pleasantries such as wonderful views of the canyon, walk through ‘the garden of Eden’ with its pools and posing on an elevated rock which allegedly was an inspiration to Elton John when composing his songs for The Lion King.

Before reaching the campsite for the night, two tasks were ahead of us: collecting wood for a campfire and buying alcohol for the trip. At the sunset we stopped in the middle of nowhere with simple brief: get as much big chunks of wood as possible. All wood here is superdry so taking down an old dried out tree is an option highly welcomed. The boys took to this task with strong enthusiasm and in groups competed who would bring a bigger tree, that we would tie on top the trailer. Second task was also challenging as the alcohol order had to be made in crates and the group had to work in a team to agree who should still add a couple of bottles to his request.

At around 7pm we reached the bush camp. Except of an old fire pit and even older dry toilet there was nothing miles away from us. It has to be said that the camp is part of Curtin Springs, a cattle farm the size of the Netherlands with 15 permanent inhabitants. It was totally dark, so setting up a proper fire was essential. With help of headlamps, a few girls cut some vegetables that Robbie along with other ingredients put into heavy duty pots and placed on charcoal that built up in the meantime.

We even made our own dough for bread and in a pot put it to bake on fire. Between shovelling charcoal around and adding ingredients to chilly con carne that strated to take its shape, Robbie took out a mysterious piece of hairy meat that he burried into the ashes. 2 hours later everyone was enjoying the camfire yumminess that we helped to make. The mysterious meat turned out to be a kangaroo tail, a favourite delicatesse of aboriginals. Everyone took turns in search for a piece of meat by just biting into it. Between ashes the taste reminded us of lamb, pretty good!

After the dishes we gathered for a ‘swag briefing’. Swag is supposed to be a one-man tent, but the ones we used resembled bigger and thicker sleeping bags. Roll it out, place the sleeping bag inside, crawl in, zip it up and there you go, sleeping under the stars can start. Other than how to use the swag we were explained there are no dangerous insects, only venomous snakes and dingoes. Against the snakes we were told to make a magical circle around us. Sounds funny but aparantely snakes do not like to cross freshly cut ground. Ok then. And what about the dingoes? Make sure you have some anti-dingo rocks handy. The alpha male will be the one to dare to come first while the other bunch is watching him from afar. Throw some rocks into the bunch and alpha male will run away after the rest scared. Sure, that’s very calming… Although a bit cold, we had a great sleep and only in the morning we found out there was a dingo right in the middle of our swag circle sniffing around the ashes of campfire. Nobody had anti-dingo rocks handy??

We woke up again very early for another long journey, destination Kata Tjuta or Olga’s, a less known sister of Uluru. This rock formation is not as compact as Uluru, but the ‘many heads’ – which is aboriginal translation of Kata Tjuta – make up for some great views.

After a hike around Kata Tjuta we were taken to the Uluru Cultural Centre to take a walk through an exhibition with aboriginal stories of the rock and a few facts about the wildlife in the area. Next to the exhibits, an intersting book is presented to the visitors. It’s called the ‘sorry book’ and it is a collection of letters from visitors apologising for either taking a piece of stone or climbing the Uluru. According to aboriginal legends this brings bad luck and as we read in the letters many people experienced it first hand.

Let’s talk about climbing on Uluru. Even though the national park authorities kindly ask you not to climb it there are many who do. It is not forbiden and there is a path with a chain to hold on to, but you shouldn’t do it. There are a few reasons. It is an aboriginal sacred place. Secondly, thousands of footsteps already marked the rock with a white path as lower layers of the sandstone are being revealed. Aboriginals call it Uluru’s scar. The third reason is safety as there were a few deaths on the climb, or immediately afterwards, mainly due to high temperatures and exhaustion. Please, do not climb the rock!

After the visit in the Cultural Centre Robbie took us for a short walk along the rock and to show us a few special sites, ancient wall paintings and tell the stories as they are known. Aboriginal people keep their account of the stories of Uluru for themselves and only a few in a very short version are known to others.

We passed some sacred sites too which are marked and visitors should not take pictures here. Apart from the aboriginal stories, Robbie earlier explained also about the geology. Uluru reaches about 400m above ground, but that is just the tip of the ‘iceberg’. The whole rock goes down 6 km under the ground!

We had to return back to the bus so we could be on time for the sunset that shows many shades of Uluru’s red. The view was exactly same as most of the pictures you have seen. We celebrated being here with a small botlle of wine and some beer just before being served out dinner with the view. The second night was less adventurous as we slept in an official campsite with proper facilities.

These are a few shots of Uluru at sunset.

For the third time in a row we had to getup at 5:30. This time it was the most pleasant awakening knowing that views of Uluru sunrise are ahead of us. Already parked at the viewpoint we had some breakfast and then waited for the sun to arise next to the rock. What can we say, it was lovely again, and quite difficult to drive off trying to take the last glimpse of the sacred place.

Here are some pictures of sunrise at Uluru.

On the way back to Alice Springs we did 3 stops. One at a view of the remote sister of Uluru and Kata Tjuta – Mt. Conner. Second for lunch and a third at a camel farm. It is quite interesting to know that camels are not natural to Australia.

They were imported when the Europeans came in and were used for transport and construction. When replaced by machines they lost their purpose and were let into the wild where their population grew and started being a threat to native animals and plants. Recently Australia started to reduce the population among other ways also by exporting them for meat to Saudi Arabia. The camel farm we visited collects ferral camels and breads them for racing. For a small fee we took a short ride.

The final part of the programme was a dinner and drinks in Alice Springs. The next morning we packed our bags, spent some time in town and then took a shuttle to the tiny trainstation where we experienced a check-in procedure similar to the one at the airport. The Ghan is a well known train line in Australia and the train only goes once every week, twice in the high season.

We booked the cheapest but still very expensive day/night seats in the Red Class. As we expected, the travelers were divided into two groups: pensioners traveling in the luxury compartments and backpackers sitting in the last wagon of Red Class. Regardless, the ride was probably our most luxurious one so far with modern and clean facilities including a shower. The seat was perfect for sleeping too as it reclined quite a lot and the leg space was tripple of the one of most of the economy class airlines today.

There were two very new things to us on the train. There was a radio programme on in convenient hours explaining about the area the train is passing and pointing out what to look out for on your left or right. How great! Secondly, the train had a 4 hour break in the town of Katherine where we got a choice of booking a tour. Fancy people could go for a plane ride above the Katherine Gorge and we could book a shuttle to take us there and back for a two hour hike.

The hike was pretty nice with some views of the gorge and the Katherine river, but the most memorable experience happened already in the bus on the way there. As we mentioned earlier all along Australian roads there are poor dead kangaroos. Here there was even more  of them and voulchers and eagles eating their dead meat. Our bus was approaching such a party when scared eagles began their escape. Unfortunatelly one chose a wrong direction and didn’t quite make it. The huge bird of 2 metres when wings spread banged straight at the windshield leaving the glass cracked all across. The driver who would have been dead if the glass broke kept his calm and continued driving without blinking an eye.

We spent our last night in Darwin, the capital of Northern Territory and a nice seaside town. After an atempt to check into the local branch of YMCA we concluded it is not so much fun to stay here, especially with no roomkey and questionable cleaniness of the room, and ended up staying at YHA hostel on the main road.

Our last supper was truly Australian: kangaroo steak, crocodile sausage, buffalo sausage and a fillet of barramundi fish. Goodbye Australia, we had the time of our lives!

Take a look at our top pictures from the Red Centre here.

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Uprimne povediac, australske Severne Teritorium by sme ani nenavstivili, keby Uluru, zname ako Ayers Rock, nebol Luckin sen. Dostat sa sem je totizto aj na australske pomery celkom drahe a okrem Uluru tu nebolo nic moc, co by nas tak zaujimalo. Ale napokon sme si povedali, ze ktovie, kedy sa k protinozcom znova vratime a tak sme sa rozhodli ist.

Stastena stala pri nas a nam sa podarilo najst dobry deal na takmer vsetky casti vyletu: vyhodnu letenku spolocnosti TigerAir zo Sydney do Alice Springs, specialnu ponuku na The Rock tour vylet s ubytovanim pred a po vylete zdarma a k nasmu velkemu poteseniu sme vychytali aj akcny listok do Darwinu na palube legendarneho vlaku The Ghan.

Pristavajuc do Alice Springs si kazdy vsimne ako sa cervena pust pod nim zrazu zmeni na zelenu dolinu, ktoru si europski usadlici vybrali a postavili to mesto. Alice Springs je zname ako hlavne mesto Cerveneho Centra (Red Centre), startovaci bod pre vylety do tzv. ‘outbacku’ (co slovnik.sk preklada ako ‘australske vnutrozemie’) a tiez centrum Lietajucich Doktorov (Flying Doctors). Okrem maleho vystupu na pametnik ANZAC, pocas prveho dna sme navstivili aj ich muzeum. Vdaka Markovym spomienkam z detstva na serial o Lietajucich Doktoroch Australie sme muzeum museli navstivit. Flying Doctors pouzivaju lietadla aby sa mohli dostat do vzdialenych casti vnutrozemia nielen v pohotovostnych pripadoch, ale aj vramci preventivnych navstev, kedy vysetruju pacientov priamo v kabine lietadla prerobenej na ambulanciu.

Toto mesto bolo prvym, kde sme videli viac domorodcov nez kdekolvek inde predtym. Desatrocia utlaku a dnesna podpora vlady, ktora nemotivuje k praci, si vzali na tychto ludoch dan a alkohol je tu velkym problemom. Okrem toho sme zistili, ze pred tym, nez do Australie prisli Europania, v domorodej diete nebol takmer ziadny cukor a tak ich tela ho dodnes nevedia spracovat. Fast food a alkohol teda sposobuje u vela domorodcov problemy s cukrovkou a pecenou viac, nez u inych ludi. Okrem toho, Alice Springs nie je nicim moc zaujimave.

Po noci stravenej v internatnej izbe – prvykrat aj s inymi ludmi – sme o pol siestej rano vyrazili na dlhoocakavany vylet do outbacku. Nasa vyprava pozostavala z 19 mladych, postarsieho francuzskeho paru, vodica/kuchara/sprievodcu Robbieho a minibusu s privesom plnym batohov, zasob, spacakov a swagov (vysvetlime neskor). Po dvoch hodinach cesty sme sa zobudili ked autobus zastavil na kraji cesty. Defekt. Cierny palec na nohe a nejake odreniny boli vysledkom Markovej snahy pomoct zvesit prives z autobusu. Dufajuc, ze palec nieje zlomeny sme potom svorne pozorovali, ako sikovne Robbie vymiena koleso. Az do ciela dnesneho dna sme jeden za druhym chodili dopredu autobusu, aby sme sa ostatnym predstavili. Skupinka pozostavala z dovolenkarov, cestovatelov a ludi, ktori si pred odchodom domov chceli este pozriet krajinu, kde nejaku dobu pracovali.

Prva zastavka bol Kings Canyon, okolo ktoreho sme si dali trojhodinovu turu. Pocas mnohych zastaveni nam Robbie vypraval o geologickom povode miesta a o tu zijucich zvieratach a rastlinstve. Vedeli ste napriklad, ze cervena farba australskeho vnutrozemia je vlastne oxidacia (zhrdzavenie) zeleza, ktore je vo velkom mnozstve pritomne v tunajsom piesku a pieskovcovych skalach? Cim cervensie, tym dlhsie na povrchu a takisto starsie su skalne formacie. Prechadzali sme popri niekolkych eukalyptovych stromoch, ktore sa obaluju prirodnym kremom na opalovanie a odlamuju si sami niektore svoje vetvy, ked potrebuju viac zivin do inych. Pocas tury nam Robbie predstavil zaklady domorodeho prava Tjukupra. Vysvetlil nam napriklad dva sposoby, akym sa trestali previnilci. Jeden sposob zahrnal otvorenie stehna a strcenie ostepu medzi svaly na nejaky cas. Ranu potom pomohli zahojit, ale vinnik zostal navzdy ochrnuty. V druhom sposobe trestu sa vyuziva mliecko z jednej rastlinky, ktore sa namaze vinnikovi do oci. Na par dni ho tato tekutina oslepi a ak si najde cestu naspat, potom co ho slepeho nechali niekde v divocine, je mu odpustene. No uzili sme si aj prijemne veci, ako napriklad vyhlady nad kanonom, navstevu jazierek v ‘zahrade Edenu’ alebo pozovanie na skale, ktora bola udajnou inspiraciou Eltonovi Johnovi pri skladani piesni k Leviemu Kralovi.

Pred prijazdom na kemp, v ktorom prenocujeme, sme mali pred sebou dve ulohy: pozbierat drevo na ohen a nakupit alcohol na cely vylet. Za zapadu slnka sme zastavili uprostred buse s jasnymi pokynmi: priniest co najviac slusnych kuskov dreva. Vsetko drevo je tu super suche, takze doporucene nam bolo zlomit aj stare zoschle stromy. Chlapi toto privitali s velkym nadsenim a medzi skupinkami sutazili, kto prinesie vacsi strom, ktory potom nalozime navrch privesu. Druha uloha tiez nebola lahka, kedze objednavka chlastu mala byt po celych bedniach a tak sme museli vyjednavat, kto si este prida nejaku flasku, aby sa dalsia bedna zaplnila.

Okolo 7 vecer sme dorazili na miesto noclahu. Okrem velkeho ohniska a starej kadibuky sirokodaleko nebolo nic ine. Musime povedat, ze tento ‘kemp’ bol na uzemi dobytcej farmy Curtin Springs, ktora ma rozlohu ako cele Holandsko a 15 stalych obyvatelov. Bola uplna tma, takze zapalit ohen rychlo bolo dolezite. S pomocou celoviek dievcata pomohli nakrajat zeleninu, ktoru s dalsimi ingredienciami Robbie nahadzal do velkeho plechoveho hrnca a postavil na uhliky, ktore sa zatial pod ohnom urobili. Dokonca sme umiesili aj cesto na chleba a v hrnci ho nechali na uhlikoch upiect. Pomedzi prehadzovanie uhlikov lopatou a miesanie surovin na cili con carne stihol Robbie odniekial vytiahnut zahadny kus masa este s chlpami a zakopal ho s uhlikami do pahreby. Za dve hodiny si vsetci pochutnavali na pochutkach, ktore sme spolu pomahali vytvorit. Zahadny kus masa sa ukazal byt klokani chvost, oblubena delikatesa domorodcov. Robbie s nim koloval medzi ucastnikmi, ktori si ustami po jednom dolovali kus masa zpomedzi kosti a slach. Popri popole, maso chutilo ako jahnacie. Celkom dobre!

Po umyti riadov sme sa zhromazdili na ‘swag brifing’. Swag je typicky australsky stan pre jedneho, no ten nas skor pripominal vacsi a pevnejsi spacak. Vyroluj, strc don spacak, zalez, zazipsuj a hotovo, spanie pod hviezdami moze zacat. Okrem navodu na swag nam bolo vysvetlene, ze sa nemusime bat hmyzu, len jedovatych hadov a dingov. Rada nad zlato proti hadom bola, aby sme si vytvorili okolo seba magicky kruh. Pripadalo nam to vtipne, ale Robbie nam vysvetlil, ze hadi neradi prechadzaju cez zeminu, ktora je cerstvo narusena. Tak fajn. A co dingovia? Proti dingom su ucinne antidingove kamene, ktore je treba mat v noci poruke. Alfa samec totiz najprv pride okuknut nas sam, zatialco zbytok svorky pozoruje z opodial. Ak kamenim odozenieme svorku, osamoteny alfa samec v strachu ujde tiez. Jasne, upokojujuce… I ked bola trochu zima, vyspali sme sa vcelku dobre a len rano sme sa dozvedeli, ze zvedavy dingo nas v noci navstivil a stal priamo uprostred kruhu, v ktorom sme spali. Nikto nemal antidingove kamene!?

Rano sme vstavali zase skoro, kedze pred nami bola dalsia dlha cesta, tentokrat k skalnej formacii Kata Tjuta alebo Olga’s, menej znamej sestre skaly Uluru. Skala Kata Tjuta nie je taka kompaktna ako Uluru, ale prave ‘vela hlav’ – preklad domorodeho Kata Tjuta – tvori velmi pekny obrazok.

Po turistike okolo Kata Tjuta nas odviezol autobus do Uluru kulturneho centra, kde sme si pozreli vystavu s pribehmi domorodcov a prirodnych faktoch okolia Uluru. Sucastou vystavy je aj jedna velmi zaujimava kniha. Vola sa ‘sorry kniha’ a je to zbierka dopisov navsetvnikov, ktori sa v nich ospravedlnuju za to, ze si vzali so sebou kamienok alebo liezli na Uluru. Podla legiend domorodcov to totiz prinasa nestastie a podla toho, co bolo v niektorych listoch, musi to byt pravda.

Zastavme sa u lezenia na Uluru. I ked vedenie narodneho parku pekne prosi navstevnikov, aby na skalu neliezli, najde sa stale vela ludi, ktori neodolaju. Zakazane to nie je a chodnik je dokonca lemovany retazami na pridrzanie, no my suhlasime, ze liezt by sa hore nemalo. Je k tomu niekolko dovodov. Poprve, skala je posvatnym miestom australskych domorodcov. Podruhe tisicky ludskych krokov za desatrocia uz vyslapali na skale biely chodnicek, ktory je dosledkom odkryvania nizsich vrstiev pieskovca. Domorodci ho volaju jazva Uluru. Tretim dovodom je bezpecnost, kedze mnoho umrti bolo zaznamenanych pocas vyslapu na skalu alebo tesne po nom, najcastejsie dosledkom horucav a vycerpania. Prosime vas, nelezte na Uluru!

Po navsteve v Kulturnom centre nas Robbie vzal na kratku prechadzku pozdlz casti skaly, kde nam ukazal niekolko posvatnych miest, starodavne stenne malby a povedal nam par pribehov. Domorodci si nechavaju svoje pribehy o Uluru pre seba a tak len kratke verzie niektorych sa dostali na verejnost. Niektore posvatne miesta pri skale su oznacene tabulami a je tu zakazane fotografovat. Okrem pribehov nam Robbie vysvetlil aj nieco z geologie skaly. Uluru sa tyci asi 400 metrov mad zemou, no co vidime je len vrchol ‘ladovca’. Cela skala totizto siaha az 6 km pod zem!

Museli sme sa vratit do autobusu, aby sme prisli ma cas na vyhliadku, z ktorej sme pozorovali meniace sa odtiene cervenho Uluru pri zapade slnka. Vyhlad bol presne taky isty, ako vidite na vacsine obrazkov. Oslavili sme tento moment malou flaskou vina a pivom predtym, nez sme k vyhladu dostali veceru. Druha noc bola uz menej dobrodruzna, kedze sme prespali v oficialnom kempe s poriadnym vybavenim.

V anglickom texte najdete galeriu fotiek zapadu slnka.

Tretiu noc za sebou sme museli vstavat skoro rano. Tentokrat to bolo ale asi najprijemnejsie zobudzanie, kedze nas cakal vychod slnka pri Uluru. Zaparkovani na vyhliadke sme dostali ranajky a potom uz len cakali, kym vychod slnka zaplavi okolie skaly. Co vam k tomu povieme, bolo to znovu nadherne a nebolo lahke odchadzat a mysliet na to, ze na skalu pozerame nazivo mozno naposledy.

V anglickom texte su fotky aj z vychodu slnka.

Cestou naspat do Alice Springs sme si urobili tri zastavky. Jednu pri vyhlade na vzdialenu pribuznu Uluru a Kata Tjuta – horu Mt. Conner. Druhu na obed a tretiu na tavej farme. Zaujimavostou je, ze tavy nie su prirodzenym obyvatelom Australie. Doviezli ich sem prvi Europania a vyuzivali ich na dopravu a stavby. Ked ich v tychto cinnostiach nahradili stroje, boli vypustene do divociny, kde sa velmi rychlo premnozili a tak zacali byt hrozbou pre miestnu faunu a floru. Nedavno sa taviu populaciu podarilo zacat znizovat mimo ine aj vyvozom na maso do Saudskej Arabie. Farma, ktoru sme navstivili zbiera tavy z divociny a vychovava z nich zvierata ma preteky. Za maly poplatok sme si dali jedno tavie kolecko.

Posledna cast programu bola vecera a drinky uz v Alice Springs. Rano sme si pobalili batohy, poobzerali si naposledy mesto a poobede nas autobus odviezol na miniaturnu vlakovu stanicu, na ktorej sme ale zazili odbavovaciu proceduru podobnu tym na letiskach. ‘The Ghan’ je velmi znama australska vlakova linka a premava len raz za tyzden, dvakrat pocas sezony. My sme mali tie najlacnejsie, i ked stale drahe, listky s ‘denno-nocnymi’ sedadlami v tzv. cervenej triede. Ako sme ocakavali, cestujuci boli rozdeleni do dvoch taborov: penzisti cestujuci v luxusnych kupe a cestovatelia ako my sediaci v poslednom vagone v cervenej triede. Napriek tomu, tato jazda bola asi najluxusnejsiou, aku sme na tomto vylete zazili. Vagon bol velmi moderne vybaveny s cistymi zariadeniami a dokonca i sprchou. Sedadlo bolo poholne aj na spanie, kedze sa dalo sklopit celkom daleko a miesto na nohy bolo tak trikrat vacsie nez v ekonomickej triede aeroliniek.

V tomto vlaku sme zazili dve nove veci. Pocas cesty vo vhodnu dobu vysielal vo vagonoch radio program s faktami o krajine, ktorou prechadzame a dokonca nas z radia upozornovali na zaujimavosti, ktore si mame za oknami vsimat. Skvele! Druha novinka bola stvorhodinova prestavka v mestecku Katherine, kde cestujuci mohli vyplnit cas vyletom. Ti, ktori si to mohli dovolit si mohli vo vlaku objednat vylet lietadlo, ponad dolinu Katherine a my sme si zaplatili za transport do doliny autobusom, co nam dalo akurat dve hodinky na turu. Prchadzka to bola pekna a naskytli sa nam pocas nej pekne vyhlady, no to najpametnejsie sa stalo uz cestou tam v autobuse. Ako sme uz spominali, Australske cesty su plne zrazenych tiel klokanov. Tu ich bolo este viac nez inde, a supy a orly si na nich pochutnavali. Nas autobus sa blizil k jednej takej hostine, ked vystrasene orly zacali odlietat od mrtvoly. Bohuzial jeden z nich si vybral spatny smer a uniknut nestihol. Obrovsky orol s rozpatim kridiel asi 2 m si to napalil priamo do celneho skla autobusu, ktore v momente prasklo na niekolkych miestach. Vodic, ktory by bol mrtvy na mieste, keby vtak prerazil sklo, nemrkol ani okom a pokracoval v ceste akoby nic.

Nasu poslednu noc sme stravili v Darwine, hlavnom meste Severneho Teritoria a malebnom primorskom meste. Po snahe prespat v lokalnej YMCA sme usudili, ze bez kluca od izby a s pochybnou cistotou miesta to nepojde, a skoncili sme na noc v YHA hosteli na hlavnej ceste. Nasa posledna vecera bola typicky australska: kenguri steak, krokodilia klobaska, klobaska z byvola a filet z ryby barramundi. Dovi, Australia, mali sme sa tu perfektne!

Vyber naj fotiek z cerveneho centra najdete tu.