Although we did this in a 4x4, but for the inexperienced ( with the term "outback"), most of the major destinations in this trip are reachable by most modern town cars. For example, we did most part of this trip up to Lake Eyre South in a little Honda Civic back in 2009. That trip included Lake Menindee, Broken Hill, Flinders Ranges, Marree on Oodnadatta Track and Lake Eyre South, Mungo National Park, Lake Cargelligo etc.
Anyhow, let's get back to this trip.
So after we crossed the border from South Australia into Northern Territory north of Mt Dare Station, and visited the Lambert Geographic Center of Australia, we reached back onto the major highway running through the center of Australia in the north-south axis, Stuart Highway, named after one of the great explorers of Australia who, in the mid 1800's, first traveled inland Australia from south to north ( and returned!), John McDouall Stuart.
For the next three weeks, we'll be following this highway somewhat, going towards Darwin, a similar trip that was done in a motorhome in 2001, when I first discovered the magical lure of the Milky Way and the many stories along the highway, especially its significance in the counter offensive against the Japanes WWII.
We left the Stuart Highway at Ernest Giles Rd and turn west towards Yulara, the home of the famed Uluru ( Ayers Rock ), It was a 230 Km detour in order to explore the Henbury Meteorite Craters which I missed in 2001 with a 2WD car. We had the crater(s) all to ourselves, under the cloudless sky, but it was a mild day for a walk amongst these space invader marks, millions of years before the biblical age.
There was no
establishments, of any descriptions for miles, to enquire about the time
zone we were in, but it was good practice to stay off the road when
approaching Sunset. Dusk is the wake up time for nocturnal animals like
Kangaroos, wombats etc., a head on encounter with one of them, even
with a steel bull bar that Langi's equipped, isn't for the faint
hearted. So we pull up behind a sand dune off the main road, and setup
our tent for the night. No other car was seen on our side of the dune
that night.We left early in the morning to get to Yulara airport to pick up a friend of ours, a keen photographer who had never been in the Outback despite having been in Australia for over 20 years. We are going to have her with us until reaching Alice Spring a week later.
After settling into the camping ground at Yulara, picked up our friend, we dashed for the World famous Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, where the Big Red Rock Uluru is, and also Mt Oga.
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You are invited to view David's photo album: 2011 4x4 Outback Australia ( Red Center )
Message from David Tam:
Day 17 - 20 Crossing the Australian Outback in a 80 series 4x4
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For the next two days, we did all the tourist things around the Uluru ( Ayers Rock ) , sunset, sunup, climbed, walked, and also explored Mt Olga, which is 30Km away. In my opinion, I think Mt Olga is more beautiful than Uluru, though almost unknown to outsiders.
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| Uluru at dusk |
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| Mt Olga from the distance |
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| A different angle of Mt Olga |
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| hiking into the back of Mt Olga |
On the way up, I dropped the walkie talkie that we used to communicate, and it slided to the edge of a very steep drop, a young lady ahead of me saw it, and jumped away from the chain, despite my pleading against it, she went and picked up the unit and returned to me. A big thanks to her, but really, I rather preferred she did not do it, it was quite hairy. It is worth mentioning that, Aborigines do not wish people to climb the Rock as it is sacred to their culture, I did not climb in 2001 for this reason, but this time, I thought, only this time!
We also ran into quite a few travelers on Working Holiday visas, and interestingly, a number of them were from Taiwan and Hong Kong, mostly females. I asked them why, it appears that young men from Taiwan and Hong Kong are more preoccupied with the burden of conformance; a career, establishing a new family etc. We took on a hitch hiker from Taiwan, who's been doing this for over a year around Australia. Lying on the back of our wagon's floor as there are no more seat is quite illegal, but the thought of leaving him behind in Mt Olga to try his luck, a traffic offence is the better devil. We also had a joyous encounter with a young Taiwanese cyclist, who was traveling with her German companion all around Australia. On tow behind each of their bicycle, is a small trailer of their belongings and more importantly, countless containers of fresh water in 1 L sized bottles, what a spirit !
Looking beyond this Red Center of Australia, I was plotting the next trip through here, it would be going west into Western Australia via one of the notorious outback highways; the Old Gun Barrel Highway and the Great Central Rd. While their terrains are not difficult ( I think !), but a lot of preparations will need to be done, to ensure there are fuel supplies along the way at the right time, permits for crossing the different aboriginal land tracts, and the mechanical health of the car to ensure it can last the near 2000 Km of corrugated and dusty roads. May be next time! For this trip, we'll be satisfied with just going west via Darwin !
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