JAH Trinity - Australian News

I'd long had a burning desire to visit Uluru (Ayers Rock) and experience Australia 's wild outback, writes Brit Milton Westcarr.

My chance arose when my close friend Asher came over from Bristol to stay with me for a three month holiday) We decided to explore Southern and Central Australia using a culturally aware tour operator. ‘Groovy Grape Getaways' was one such operator and proved great value for money.

Asher and I loaded our large suitcases into the trailer of the 18-seater, air-conditioned bus, which was to be our transport from Adelaide to Alice Springs. I was surprised to find that there was just four men; the two of us, Steve our driver and our tour guide, plus an Irish backpacker called Don. The other backpackers were 14 gorgeous girls, from around the world, including the UK, Europe, USA and Japan. Apart from the driver, none of us were Australian.

We set off due north to the beautiful Flinders Range Mountains and passed through small country villages along the way. We stopped at Quorn for lunch, where I incorrectly presumed we would be dining at a hotel. I wondered why the girls were unpacking cutlery and food from the trailer and setting up deck chairs on the picnic site. I was then told by Steve: “this is the way that we do things in the outback, bring your own everything. Relax Milton. No worries!” The jokes flowed in the camp when everyone realised that we were city boys with big suitcases -not ‘real' backpackers like the rest of them. We soon learned this was not going to be a normal holiday!

We spent our first night in the central Flinders Ranges at Angorichina. There are numerous bush walks in the area, including the famous Heysen Trail. We also stopped at Yorambulla to view the rock paintings, which are around 50,000 years old. After spending a cool night in the dormitory we all went for a two-kilometre bush walk in the Warm morning sunshine and saw numerous wombats. We travelled in the bus along the notorious Oodnadatta Track, which follows the Old Ghan railway and is very isolated. It's a very long dirt road, leading to the driest part of the continent - definitely not a good road to break down on.

Ochre Cliffs was our next port of call. Here we saw the red and orange clay soils, which are used for body painting and art by the various Aboriginal communities in the surrounding districts.

We also drove to Lake Eyre, which has huge salt deposits and was very flat and dry. The whole area is only recommended for 4WD vehicles and people with outback experience, due to the Simpson Desert's hostile environment. We swam in Mound Springs, a natural hot water pool on the way to William Creek, our final destination for the day and SA's smallest town. We set up camp in the open air and ate a large meal of lasagne, veg and delicious chips around our campfire. The night was spent in sleeping bags and swags, staring into space at the magnificently bright Milky Way; with shooting stars and satellites clearly visible.

Our next destination was Coober Pedy, the opal mining capital of the world, where we slept underground just as 70% of the locals do. This helps them escape from the fierce heat of the summer and the extreme cold of the winter. It's a fascinating town and many feature films such as Mad Max and Priscilla Queen of the Desert have been shot there.

A stunning sunrise greeted us as we departed for Uluru for a long drive across the state border into the Northern Territory up the Stuart Highway. It started to rain heavily; in fact we didn't see any sunshine until our eighth day!

Camp was set up at Yulara (Ayers Rock Resort), during the evening. The resort has plenty of mod cons such as a laundrette, large entertainment complex and shops. The next morning we set off for Uluru. It was very overcast and still raining, causing occasional floods along the road. The desert soil was a vibrant red, surrounded by a burst of greenery from the vast amount of trees and shrubs, brought on by the unseasonable weather.

On the way to the rock the bus came alive when we all saw Atila (Mount Conner), which was mistaken for Uluru. When we eventually did arrive at Uluru, it was a majestic sight With spectacular waterfalls cascading straight off the top, forming large streams and knee high lakes to wade through. We rolled our trousers up and gave the girls piggybacks through the water. Fortunately we didn't see any snakes, crocodiles or spiders!

The surface of Uluru seemed to have scales and felt as if it was alive; there was also a mystical atmosphere as we walked along the pathways. The Aborigines who manage the National Park gave us an interesting talk on the history of the area and the Rock, which is very sacred to them.

The Cultural Centre was very busy due to the heavy rain and we purchased several souvenirs there. Some of the backpackers were a little disappointed that they didn't see Uluru in bright sunshine where it changes colour, but the fact that the waterfalls are so rare made the experience feel very special.

We travelled on to Katu Tjuta (The Olgas), bushwalking through the valley of the winds, before driving to Watarraka (Kings Canyon) in the afternoon for more hiking. Both locations had marvellous views of the ancient landscape, including deep gorges, which made your heart sink and head spin! There was breathtaking scenery in abundance, but you had to be quite fit to do the various walks.

After leaving Kings Resort, we travelled to Alice Springs along the Stuart Highway and spent a couple of days there at backpacker hostels. The town is located in the heart of The Red Centre of Australia, surrounded by the McDonnell Ranges. Alice has been highly developed with large shopping centres, restaurants, hotel and a variety of Aboriginal Art galleries and shops aimed at the large amount of tourists that visit. There were plenty of things to see and do while we were there. Loads of tour operators are based here for trips to the outback.

We explored Alice at leisure and teamed up for dinner at a local restaurant, which also provided live bands and entertainment for the night. Many new friendships were formed along the way and we all bonded well during our expedition into the great outdoors.

Some of our group said goodbye as they departed to various parts of Australia, but the majority, plus a few other travellers, returned to Adelaide over the next two days along the Stuart Highway. Driving through the vast outback is a wonderful experience I will never forget. But the one memory I will always treasure is when looking out into the distance, I saw the land meet the sky all around and three kangaroos hopped in unison in their natural, unspoilt habitat.