Jonestralia: The Red Centre, part 3/3

Around 5-6 am the next morning we were standing watching the Uluru sunrise, and we sure got a nice sky accompanying the Rock.

The sun was literally smiling at us as it floated out from behind the rock.

It's quite astonishing how the piece of rock changes color as the sunlight even slightly changes.

Later that morning we headed in for a closer inspection. We did the approximately 2-2,5 hour walk around the base and came across some really weird shapes and caves scattered all around the rock. Certainly the place is much more diverse than I'd initially expected.

The half-filtered side-sunlight did it's own thing in enlivening the reddish surface every time it appeared.

And then came the total surprise that caught us with awe. It started raining, which in itself would have sounded stupid a few days ago when the forecast and all other images one has about the Red Center promises 40 degree sun bombardment. But that wasn't the thing that made us stand there like aliens would have landed from the sky. Instead it was how the water almost immediately, right in front of our very own eyes transformed Ayers Rock to a glistening, almost desaturated bluish-grey sculpture. It felt like someone was playing with the hue/saturation/lightness slider in Photoshop, but in real life!

No less amazing was the sights that appeared right after the rain stopped: Water started coming down in every little fold in the rock, and they blended together to form yet larger waterfalls. If you went to Ayers Rock, this is not exactly what you'd be expecting! It was awesome, and even more impressive when the sun appeared afterwards!

Here's probably my favorite photo of the bunch, the Rock really looks more like a giant tree than anything else here. Definitely one of the most surreal moments and views I've experienced in my life.

After the base walk we said "seeya later" to the national park and started making our way back to Alice Springs. No worries though, we still had a few goodies waiting for us along the road. The first one, digging worms from some roots of bushes for lunch didn't work as well as we'd expected: Not a single worm accepted to come out of hiding. Well, I don't blame them. What we did then to cheer up was parking the bus at a farm along the road and go for a short camel ride. Yay you heard me right, camel ride! It was really good fun, and as I mentioned earlier these creatures must be some of the funniest on earth: They're smart, very stubborn(especially so towards their trainers) and these particular ones were(if Dave is to believe) among the top racing camels in all of Australia!

Meet Goldie and another cheery camel whose name I've unfortunately forgotten by now. Goldie was easy to remember as she never did what the trainers wanted. Now, riding a camel this way is easy: Just hold on, and lean back when he/she gets up/down. When they do rise up from their kneeling position and you're on top, it feels very strange, as their legs would bend in three places like a machine! The riding itself was pretty comfortable, until we started running. I can't imagine what my lower body would say after a hour or so on these guys, nothing good that's for sure. Good fun though, good fun!

I'm also a new fan of camel feet. They look so... I don't even know how to describe them. See for yourself.

After the slightly strenuous but incredibly fun experience of the tour(and a shower) we all met in the Rock Bar in Alice Springs in the evening. As we were heading back to the motel we got word of taking the cab, even if it wasn't a long way to walk. Apparently, Alice Springs is not the safest town in the world, and we had noticed that already earlier: Windows are barred, and no house without a fence exists. Rumours of robberies are heard and "Stop the violence" -signs can be seen in the streets. I don't know the reasons behind all of this, and I won't speculate too much either.

It is clear to me though that Alice Springs is a very young town, and it is a major collision point between native and western cultures. I got the feeling when we walked the streets that many of the aborigines there, strolling around almost aimlessly on the streets and sitting in the parks for hours and hours, seemed lost, out of their own habitat, even if home might be exactly where they are. Then again, native teenagers hanging around in the shopping malls seemed fully westernized already. It seems the cultural collision of some of these people will only last for a generation, and then much of the old ways might have changed. For better or for worse, but definitely worse if we're talking about preserving valuable traditions and cultures.

Again one might ask, why are you here, Alice Springs?

The next day, our last day in Alice, we had dinner in a locally famous steakhouse where Markus and me both had the "Drovers Blowout", a menu consisting of soup, a platter of bit of kangaroo, camel, emu and crocodile meat, a big steak and some delicious apple pie for dessert. Now, camel tastes a bit like sandy bratwurst in my opinion, emu is pretty chicken-like but is darker meat, but the croc was the strangest and perhaps therefor my least favorite: it's like eating chicken and fish at the same time. Try it and you'll know. By the way, the biggest dish they serve here is a 2 kg rump steak "The mother of them all!", and the advertisement outside on the porch leaves little unclear about that.

Killing some time in Alice Springs, we headed lastly for the reptile center where we were greeted first by this goana on the floor. We got to try holding a number of lizards and snakes and these guys were all used to being handled by humans, so it was once again, good fun. I didn't even care about the snake trying to strangle me at times, it was so exciting. Wouldn't get one home though, I prefer the more usual (and active )dogs as pets instead of a 7 meter snake or sneaky blue tongued lizard who just relax all day long.

I want to end the Red Centre with the last image. Imagine walking on the streets of a small town in the middle of the Australian desert, in the middle of the summer. It's about 35 degrees outside, and you seek shelter in an air-conditioned shopping mall. When you get in, this whole Christmas display complete with tree, sledge and white kangaroos opens up in front of you. I don't know about you folks, but I just can't help getting a funny feeling in my gut...