And so I find myself jumping on an Adventure Tours bus leaving Alice Springs very early one November morning.  Today, we are travelling deep into the desert to see some of Australia’s most stunning landscapes.

Kings Canyon
Although the tour has a maximum of 25 people, I’ve lucked out and have an even smaller group of only ten.  This means that everyone gets a seat to themselves, and on the almost five hour drive to our first stop, Kings Canyon, everyone catches up on their sleep.  We arrive just in time for lunch, and after refuelling our bodies, and the bus, we begin our first adventure. 

Kings Canyon, a magnificent formation of sheer walls measuring 100 meters high, is even more beautiful than I have been led to believe.  The colour red dominates; there is no doubt in my mind why the area is called the Red Center.  Our tour guide, Mark, explains the dramatic red color of the sand with one word – rust.  The sand in this area has a higher iron content, which causes it to rust.

We start our six kilometer hike around the canyon with a jaunt up Heart Attack Hill. “If you can make it up the hill, the rest of the walk is nothing,” Mark says, as we eye the steep hill with trepidation.  Luckily, there are stairs cut in the side of the hill which makes the going slightly easier.  I put emphasis on the slightly here; think Gollum climbing up Mt. Doom in Mordor on his hands and feet, and you have a good idea of what it takes to get up Heart Attack Hill.  But the view from the top makes it all worthwhile.  The red limestone of the canyon is punctuated by plenty of greenery; not what you expect to find in the desert. Small green shrubs and petite trees dot the rim, and the canyon is sparsely carpeted by lush gum trees.  The contrast between red and green is striking; you don’t need to decorate for Christmas around here!

Mark points out a tiny lizard sunning itself on a red rock.  The lizard is so well camouflaged that I can hardly see it.   As we get nearer to the edge of the canyon, my stomach starts doing flip flops.  It’s a long way down.  The sheer walls of the canyon make the drop seem even farther than it is.  Mark draws our attention to a clump of Spinifex grass - the straw-like grass sticks straight up, like candles on a birthday cake.  I tentatively touch the tip of the stiff grass and am surprised by its sharpness.  I make a mental note to stay as far away from the stuff as I can; landing on that would be the equivalent of upsetting a porcupine. 

We make our way around the canyon until we come to some stairs, and start to descend.  Walking along the bottom of the canyon gives us a whole new perspective on the area. We stop for a rest at The Garden of Eden, a fresh water swimming hole, and some take a dip in the cool water.  After that, we climb up another set of stairs and make our way back to the bus.  Our final view of the canyon comes with a surprise thunderstorm.  A sudden burst of rain cools us and the dark clouds somehow deepen the red of the canyon.

After another few hours of driving, we arrive at our camp for the next two nights.  This is the part of the tour I was slightly apprehensive about; camping in the Australian Outback.  am pleasantly surprised by the facilities at Yulara, the village that services tourists to Uluru.  The permanent tents have wooden floors raised above the ground.  We also have a full kitchen with a refrigerator and only a short stroll away lies a bathroom block with plenty of showers and toilets.  We all pitch in and help Mark cook an excellent meal, and after the washing up is done, we gather around the table for a swag demonstration.  A swag is a piece of Aussie camping gear that very much resembles a gymnastics floor mat with a canvas covering.  The sleeping bag fits in between the canvas and the mat, and you have an instant one person tent.  Normally, most people sleep outside under the stars in their swags, but as luck would have it; it’s raining in the desert that night.  So we haul our swags into the tents and settle in for a short sleep.  We have another early start the next morning. 

Uhuru
In order not to frighten you, I won’t go into the details of our early morning start.  Suffice it to say that it’s still dark out when we’re stirred from our slumber.  But Mark is not just being cruel; there is a good reason for our lack of sleep.  We’re about to witness the sun rise over one of Australia’s most famous icons – Uluru, or Ayers Rock. (Since ownership of the land was returned to its traditional owners in 1985, the monolith is now referred to mainly by its Aboriginal name, Uluru.)

Wearily, we climb onto the bus and make the short drive to the rock.  I am amazed by the amount of traffic on the roads. Buses, cars, campervans and even motorcycles are making their way to the world’s biggest monolith.  Even though we’re still several kilometers away, I can see the huge rock looming in the distance.  It’s light out now, but the sun has yet to show itself.

Uluru is much closer to the road, already packed with camera laden travellers, than I expected.  The huge rock is a dark brown colour in the early morning light.  It looks exactly like it does in every postcard I’ve even seen – a giant rusty rock surrounded by emptiness.  I can see lines running both horizontally and vertically across the giant structure.  Massive holes in its side appear as dark shadows.

To the East, the sun is peeking at the desert. The sky is turning pink and everyone turns their back on the rock to watch the sun’s arrival.  When I turn to take a photo of Uluru, I’m stunned by its transformation; the rising sun is turning the rock a brilliant orange, which slowly deepens into the famous red. Uluru is absolutely gorgeous, and yet it seems mysterious, as if it’s hiding something that we’ll never know.

The huge outcrop is 3.6 kilometers long and 348 meters high.  Many people climb to the top, and this is permitted, although it is highly discouraged.  Uluru holds great spiritual significance for the Aboriginals and it is their wish that you do not climb the rock. Instead, we walk around the base of it, and Mark tells us fascinating stories about the history of the area.  As we walk, every view of the structure is different, and up close, it’s hard to believe I am looking at the same formation. We see cave paintings decorating one part.  To the Aboriginals, some sites have special significance; we walk to a site sacred to women and Mark points out how the rock is shaped similarly to that of a wallaby’s pouch. This is where females come for activities of a feminine nature. Photography of sacred sites is forbidden; men aren’t allowed to see the women’s sites and the women aren’t allowed to see the men’s.  Mark lets us wander around the base at our leisure, and though it’s not yet 8 a.m., the sun’s heat is relentless.  Every corner we turn provides yet another view of the mysterious rock, and if I didn’t know what I was looking at sometimes, I’d never recognize it as Uluru. 

After a visit to the cultural center, we head back to camp for a break and some lunch.  The campground is equipped with a pool and I forgo a nap in exchange for a refreshing dip in the cool water.  After that, I’m ready for our next adventure.

Kata Tjuta
Before planning this trip, I had no idea that there was so much to see in Australia’s Red Center.  I had barely heard of Kata Tjuta (otherwise known as The Olgas) and my first view of them quite literally leaves me breathless.  Though not as formidable as Uluru, this collection of smaller rocks is very similar to the single monolith that draws most tourists to the area.  We embark on a 5.5 kilometer walk to the Valley of The Winds.  Again, I’m surprised by how much greenery survives here.  We clamber up and around the scattering of huge rocks, and after a steep climb we finally arrive at the Valley of the Winds.  I feel as if I’ve suddenly stumbled into another world.  All of the other climbers have the same sort of stunned look on their faces and no one is saying much.  This has to be one of the best views on Earth.

I’m standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down into the valley.  On either side, two massive red walls slope down and meet in the middle, forming a sort of picture frame.  In the distance, the green valley spreads out until it meets another scattering of smaller, but equally red, rocks.   Just enough clouds float along to break up the dazzling blue of the afternoon sky.It's almost more beautiful than Uluru, maybe because I haven’t seen a thousand postcards of it before coming here. Discovering something for the first time with your own eyes is magical.  Yes, there’s so much more to the Red Center than Uluru. - Article Continued Below -