uluru (ayers rock) - kakadu NP

Hi everybody,

Finally the time and possobility to write another report. It is about my travels around Uluru or Ayers Rock.

On my first of many days on the famous Stuart HW (after finishing the oodnadatta track) I met the family again. A groupe of young backpackers which formed while working in the harvest in Victoria(?). They call themselves the family. I had met them in the flinders range NP and some were impressed or interested in this way of travelling. I got some coffee and now we ride to a rest area and again there is coffee for me. It is very much appreciated in these colder days and with the headwind but Luka : not everyone is Italian and drinks it like a very strong expresso. My stomach was disagreeing with my decision.
The family is on their way to Perth where they will work again and than travel north to Darwin. I will be cycling south than coming from Darwin on the same road so I hope to meet them again.

On friday, may 18th, I finally reach Uluru. The most photografed spot in Australia. There is an mythe created around Uluru but for me it does not live up to it. Uluru is a monolith formed by ancient see about 550 miljon years ago. There are 3 monolits in this area but all 3 are formed in another period. So they consist of other minerals and so the erosion is different to. Mount Connor is smaller and has a different shape but sometimes is mistaken for Uluru.
The olgas was once a supermonolith but did consist of weaker material and is now eroded to 36 different rocks. The biggest is still bigger than Uluru and 200m higher. I walk between them and I am very impressed with the size it once must have had.

I do a ranger guided walk near Uluru and learn a bit more about Aboriginal rock art and habits but I will make a separate report about Aboriginals. I do climb up Uluru which is very steep in the beginning. In the desert summer heat this can be very hard and about once a year somebody dies of a heartattack. Wel, if you come from an airconditoned bus and do such big activity in 50 degr you are asking for problems. These days the rangers close the climb when it is more than 36degrees.

This is also the area with wild camels and I see some of them and also some dingos. I hear them howling in the night and enjoy the sound.
I also see trucks transporting the captured camels. It is a funny sigth those big animals on  a truck.

From here I cycle to Kings Canyon where I do some hiking and swimming in a pool. I just stay in there for a minute. The pool does not get any sunlight and is pritty cold.
This is also the area where spinifex grows. A very hard kind of grass. It consist for 80% of wood and has very pointy tips. I learn very fast not to camp on them. The points go through my tent and damage my airmatras.
The grass is so bad that even goats do not eat them. The only animals who eat them are termites and I see a lot of the termit hills. Here they are still small but more to the north they become up to 4m high.
The hills are very strong to keep all the predators out. Termits are basicly defenceless and so need this. Even I can not open the walls.

I reach Alice Springs after cycling through the west mcdonald ranges. They are beautifull and I decide to a 4 day hike through them. I am hoping to find some peace and quiet but on day 2 I meet 3 young grils who have the same route as me. There are not many campsites so we camp together. No more peace and quiet but they are good company.

I also visit the desert park. A combination of a zoo, learning centre and museum. I am very impressed bye their birdshow. Parots, kites, an eagle, falcon,....   
There are also some reptiles and snakes in cages. It is a bit frightening. You see the cage and you know their is snake in it but because of their camouflage you can NOT see them immediately. I wonder how many snakes I passed by without noticing when I am hiking. So far I have seen 27 snakes. The last one was the famous agressive tigersnake. I must admit. He was in no hurry to get out of the way when I approached. He is the top of the foodchain so why should he?
There is also a emu with a nest of eggs. Although the nest is not much. The eggs are so big and so strong that the native animals can NOT eat them and so they do NOT need to be hidden or protected.

I leave Alice Springs and visit the renovated telegraph station just north of it. Beautifull and here you start to understand how remote some people lived. They only got resupplied once a year. They had to grow their own food. So it was  a farm to with vegetables and catlle. It was also the  postoffice for everyone in a very wide region. While constructing the line the workers found gold and so a goldrush started bringing some people to the region. Even now the northern Territory is the most uninhabeted state. Well, it is not a state. Just a territory and some laws are voted in Canberra and not in Darwin. Not everyone is happy with that. They are getting the nuclear dump site because they can not refuse it. The other states can.

From here I cycle to Tennant Creek and than to Catherine. This region is in my guidebook described as a turistic no mans land. There is nothing to see. Nothing spectacular but slowly the vegetation changes from desert to tropic. First only the river and creek areas. They only get water in the rainseason. The rain does not fall here but in the north. It is so much that the rivers and creeks transport it to here before it vaporises. It is more than 500km. So I see an interesting mix of desert plants next to plants who can resist high amounts of water. These are growing in the creeks like the gum trees. At the same time they have the quality to survive 6 months of drought in the dry season. Very amazing.

I also visit Kakadu NP. A protected nature area that is half the size om my country. It contains an intire river and its floodplains. In the rainy season it is one giant swamp. This is the area where the corcodiles live. I see some of these amasing animals on a cruise and also when travelling.
Kakadu also gets al the rain that falls on the Arnhem enscarpment. This is a plateau on a higher altitude. It gives spectacular falls. Some are remote and only reachable on a 4WD but others I can reach. I spent some wonderful days with 2 cyclists from Perth.
I am impressed with the fauna here. Thousands of birds, snakes, the crocs and so on.
Kakadu was also the home of the aboriginal and there is a lot of rock art. Some I am allowed to visit.

This was it for now. I hope you enjoy it.

nico