Sheesh

Even though I've been here a week, I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that I'm really here! As I write this all out, I'm not even in Alice Springs-- I'm quite literally in a car in the middle of absolutely nowhere, somewhere between Curtin Springs Station and Alice on the way home from Ayers Rock (Uluru). The shocking red of the dirt and green of the brush (crazy for it to be so green, but they've had a LOT of rain here lately) against the blue sky is just an incredible sight.

But to catch you up...

Yesterday we took a daytrip picnic to Ormiston Gorge, which was a little over an hour from our starting point. The mountain ranges in the distance were fun to watch, but other than that, there wasn't much to look at besides dirt and brush on the way.

As we went further and further out I was starting to wonder where we could possibly be picnic-ing at since the scenery wasn't really changing. But then all of a sudden we were surrounded by beautiful white gum trees and small creeks, and we pulled into the parking lot of a nature park.

After lunch, we put our things back in the car and took off down a trail. After just a few minutes, we came to a clearing and this:

Dianne, Sam, Jaiquen, Kellianne, and Milla headed down the trail

Just gorgeous

People were swimming, but it was too cold for me!

Almost everyone climbed around on the rocks and trees, and just basically enjoyed the gorgeous day and location.

Me and Jakey climbing around

The three of us got adventurous and climbed over to this cave

Milla had a blast in the water!

It was a great day! Sam and Kellianne were surprised neither of them had been there before and vowed to go back soon.

Awesome day!

******

Today, as I mentioned before, Sam, Sue, Jaiquen, and I took a daytrip out to Ayers Rock. We left this morning at 5:30 AM since its a 4 hour (give or take) drive one way.

On the way to the rock, we passed a few slower-moving cars, one of which was pulling a trailer with a few dirtbikes on it. When we stopped at the first of the only 2 gas stations ("petrol stations") between Alice and our destination, the same dirtbike-towing SUV we had passed earlier pulled up. A lady stepped out of the backseat and yelled, "Sue!! What the hell are you doing out here?!"

It ended up being an old good friend of Sue's (Sue lived here almost 10 years ago). That friend had since moved to Queensland and was only in the area for a random dirtbike event for her son, so it was like lightning in a bottle for them to pull into the same gas station in the middle of nowhere at the same time 10 years later. Crazy, huh? As we walked off, I told Sue "Only YOU would be in the middle of the Outback, barely anyone around, and still run into someone you know..."

We got to Ayer's Rock and went toward the climbing trail, debating if we wanted to climb or not. After my less-than-spectacular performance climbing Mt. Gillen a few days ago and my lack of sturdy shoes, I was thinking I probably shouldn't, and Sam wasn't acting too much like he wanted to either.

On the way to the base of the rock

To climb, or not to climb?

After taking a few pictures at the base, we looked up the rock a little ways, decided it didn't look so tough, and set off.

It's sideways, but we're on our way up!

We are tiny dots up there!

Yeah......So..... The first part WASN'T so tough. At the point where it starts getting pretty steep, there's a chain you can hold onto that will lead you 3/4 of the way up.

"Cake-walk..." I thought to myself, grabbing the chain.

(I really must make God laugh).

The chain was there for good reason, it seems, because it gets very steep there. And with my street shoes on, it was like trying to walk up a steep hill lined with buttered linoleum. I tried for a while, feet flailing wildly under me, but to add insult to injury, I was holding my water bottle in one hand, making it impossible to hold the chain with 2 hands and give it all I had. I briefly considered sliding my water bottle on down the incline to the bottom so that I could keep going... But knowing my luck pattern, it would have hit a rock, caught air, and smashed one of the Asian tourists in the face, and then where would I be? So instead, I turned around, faced the breathtaking view, and sat down where I was to marvel at my surroundings and contemplate my possible future as spokesperson for the safe climbing-shoes PSAs.

Jaiquen and Sam went quite a bit further up than I did, wearing proper shoes and having 2 hands for the chain. After a few minutes, they came back down, and we all went back to the bottom together. Jaiquen and I went down on our butts on some of the really steep parts, getting (in his words) "the worst wedgie evahhh!" The pictures of the incline don't give it justice, really.

Post-climb

Fatherly affection.

Next time, Uluru, you and I are gonna boogie.

Tomorrow is the Desert Park! Should be awesome! More later! :)

Mountains, Camels, and Expensive Dinners!

The family barbeque on Thursday night went great! Pretty much the same as our American variation, except they favor sausages (made from various animals beef, pork, or lamb), kebabs, and mignon over burgers and hotdogs. But the bs-ing, wine, beer, and laughter is exactly the same.

The grub

Chef Sam

John (Kellianne's dad) and Miss Milla

Kellianne and Dianne

Poor Jaiquen got sick right before the barbeque started and so was on couch patrol for the evening.

It was definitely a good night!!!

The next day was SOOO busy! But friggin' awesome too! Lots of memories. Speaking of....

Dude! Have you ever wanted to find out JUST how out of shape you really are??

Try climbing a mountain on a whim.

Actually don't. Cuz you may or may not die.

Anyway, we climbed Mount Gillen on Friday, 9/24 early in the day. It was so tough, but entirely worth it! And I definitely learned how out of shape I am. Sam and Kellianne were bopping on up the mountain like it was nothing, and here I come, 30 feet behind them (but never quitting!) wheezing and puffing and trying to psyche myself up mentally for what I was doing.

Mt Gillen. The beginning of the trail. Looks easy, huh? Don't be fooled.

Determined.

"Iron Man... You've got this..."

The last stretch was just breathtaking! Made you forget you can't breathe!

It was really pretty embarrassing, because halfway up the mountain I'm giving myself this internal pep-talk: "Devyn. You got this. You OWN this. This is absolutely nothing, because YOU. ARE. IRON. MAN. Not the superhero guy, the friggin' awesome muscle-y dude who wins the Iron Man competition and laughs at mountains like this. So come on, Devyn. You are a rock star. Think of all the people that couldn't do this..."

As fate would have it, right as I'm thinking these immortal words, I look up the trail to a steep part and see a family coming cheerily down the steep path. A man, with a tiny baby strapped to his chest, followed a ways behind by the mom and 2 little girls about 5 and 6.

Maybe.... just maybe.... "Excuse me, sir? Did you go all the way up?"

"Yeah! It was great! Gets a bit gnarly at the top with the rock climbing."

"Um... Did, uh... Did the girls stop half-way or so?"

"Ah no! They went all the way to the top! They loved it!"

You could almost hear the whoopee-cushion sound of my pep-talk deflating. But then it became a gauntlet that had been thrown down by the little doe-eyed, mountain-climbing girls. They did it. Therefore, what kind of adult would punk out?

Booyah.

Kellianne and I on the vertical portion. I LOVED this part!!

Look how eroded the path was in places!

The higher up we went, the more gorgeous the views and colors became. Truly, by the time I reached the top, I forgot about the fly that buzzed around my face the whole time, the fact that my right lung had collapsed, and the smell of the rock wallaby poop that was sticking to my shoe. Instead, I was blown away by this:

So worth it.

Sam and Kellianne

We had to hustle down the mountain after a walk around the top, because camel riding was due to start very quick. Which meant no breaks the whole way down the mountain (except for the 2.5 times I landed FLAT on my butt due to the combination of wearing street shoes and being on gravel basically at times). Its a good thing downhill is easier!

After quick showers and a change of clothes, we arrived at the camel ranch in the nick of time. Jaiquen and I hopped on Trillion, the lead camel, and we were off!

Locked. Loaded. Ready for lift-off.

Jaiquen's so excited!

We stopped mid-ride for a photo op against the awesome background

So cool.

The gate for the cattle station we rode through

Milla was so excited to "go see camool!"

Some of the views

Me and my homegirl, Trillion

 After the ride we once again took off like bats outta heck for dinner at Overlander's Steakhouse. It was a cool atmosphere but EXPENSIVE!!!!!!!!! I tried a tasting appetizer of a small piece of camel, emu, kangaroo, and crocodile (just for the experience) and that alone was 25 bucks. A little piece of me died when I saw those prices. So, I stuck to "bangers and mash" for dinner, which was one of the cheapest meals coming in at 20 bucks. Ouch.

But the company was great, so I can't complain. AND I've tried 4 new types of meat!

From the left is emu sausage, camel, crocodile vol-au-vent, and kangaroo. Camel was best, but I wasn't a huge fan of any of it.

From left is Irene, Jamie, Sam, Kellianne, Milla (can't see her in her chair), Jaiquen, John, Dianne, me, and Sue.

Well, that's all for now! More later!

(Hopefully.)

Update #2

Whew!

This has been such a fun trip so far! Let's see... where did I leave off last time?

Ah yes, the hospital and locals.

The hospital here is, as you can imagine, very small. It has lower ceilings than in the states, and its a lot less flourescent white. They used more brown tones for the exterior and interior and have a gorgeous large mural in the entrance, directly across from the "Aboriginal Liaison Centre".

We went through a few hallways until we came to the window that Dianne usually mans, only to find a brunette sitting there instead. When we asked for Dianne, they told us she had called in sick that day and they didn't know what was going on, then looked inquiringly at Kellianne.

As we walked away I whispered to Kellianne "Hope you didn't blow your Mom's cover..."

After we left, Kellianne drove me around town a little bit and pointed things out:

The golf course

These ranges surround the town. Plus, we're driving on the wrong side of the road. Which I can't get used to.

The Todd River, which runs through town. It hardly ever has water in it, but it's over the road right now.

See?

The front of the casino, plus the ranges and the sky (can't get over these views!)

My lovely tour guide, Kellianne!

More of the riverbed.

View from the top of Anzac Hill (their armed forces memorial), overlooking the town, the ranges, and the gap.



The view from the top of Anzac Hill, looking toward the right.


When we called Dianne after getting back home, she told us she stayed home and went to the doctor because of a bad foot problem. But I should get to see her and the rest of the family tonight and tomorrow.

In the midst of all this, everyone was throwing around what they wanted to do and when, discussing days, rearranging plans and everything. So I, being a visual learner and a planner-type by nature, got my notebook and started writing down these various plans so I could keep up. The agenda we all came up with looks something like this:

Wed. 9/22 (yesterday): Milla has daycare, Kellianne works til 3, Sam works 5-9p.  (Yesterday was pretty chill. Sue and I took Jaiquen to the Todd Mall area-- where most things are at, it seems like-- where we did a little bit of shopping and saw "The Last Airbender" while Kellianne worked and Sam had a doctor appointment).

Thurs. 9/23 (today): Family barbeque at night. Sue wants to buy some seeds. Lunchtime picnic at the park.

Fri. 9/24: Jaiquen and I are going on the sunset camel ride by the MacDonnell Ranges. (So pumped. Hope I don't fall off, land on my face, and forever become internationally known as "That Uncoordinated American". Its a completely legitimate concern.) Afterward, we're meeting up with Kellianne's family again for dinner at Overlander's, where I'm going to get to try camel (which will be sad, since I would have just ridden one), crocodile, kangaroo, and emu. Allegedly. We'll see. And then after dinner, Sam's taking me to a "pub" to have a "pint". Even though I don't like beer. But I want the full experience.

Sat. 9/25: Daytrip/picnic to _______. They're still deciding.

Sun. 9/26: Ayers Rock (Uluru) with Sam, me, Sue, and Jaiquen.

Mon. 9/27: Desert Park.

Tues. 9/28: Nothing planned yet.

Wed. 9/29: Sue and I leave for Brisbane, where we'll be until we leave for home a few days later. From here, the plans are all up in the air again, which is fine by me!

Sometime in there, Sam and I want to go see "The Other Guys", which has just been released here. There's plenty of time, obviously, since we left the basic schedule wide open as much as possible. I also want to do as much more shopping as I can!

Since this post is long enough, I'll end it here and write more about the locals and the other things going on later. And I'll attempt to figure out how to incorporate pictures on this thingy. Score!