Katherine and Litchfield National Park

In Katherine we visited the Nitmiluk National Park with the Katherine Gorge. In the river you aren´t permitted to swim because of  saltwater crocodiles.

The Aboriginal People of that area believe that they´re ancestor Nablibli a dragon creature was hiding in the mountains. He was carrying a bag of water with him and there for an other flying fox ancestor approached him and killed him.

As he died he dropped the water bag and the Katherine River filled up with water.

We walked around there for the whole day and camped later close to the Nationalpark.

From Katherine the next stopp was the Litchfield National Park.

We went to Buleys Rockhole for a jump in the water and worked ourselves from waterholes down towards the waterfalls.

After a short walk we came to the Florence Falls and it was permitted to swim there as well.

The Tollmer Falls were stunning at sunset and we camped at the Wangi Falls. The next morning we went for a swim in the Wangi Falls and met a sweet freshwater crocodile for a photo session. No don´t worry it was dead :D

But before we finally headed to Darwin after 5 days we went for another swim in th Cascades.

On Wednesday night we arrived in Darwin and were impressed how busy it was everywhere.

Roadtrip to Darwin

When I first came to the Hostel in Alice Springs they were two australian guys Lewi and Joe in our room. They wanted to go to Darwin as well and after my 3 Day Tour they were still in Alice and ready to leave on Saturday.
The first day wasn´t really eventful. The only exciting part were the rock formation Devil´s Marbles before we camped in Tennant Creek after a nice sunset.

On the next day we started off to Mataranka where we went for a swim in the beautiful crystal clear hot spring water. Later we even had some live music and nice people.
On the way we stopped at the Pink Panther Bar and talked to the parriot how was saying ¨Good Day Mate!¨ and a few other sentences.
While we were driving I was always wondering what the big rock mounds were and learned that they´re Termite Mounds.
It was quite exiting because I just knew Termites out of Asterix&Obelix Comics. They are amazing creatures building Mounds up to 5 meter high.

Sunrise at Uluru or Day 3

On day three I guess I have to admit it´s not even a real dessert... It´s a semi-arid area that means that it rains every couple of weeks and that there´s a lot of water underground.
It is possible to see the black algues strains where the rain flows down occasionally.

The sunrise was stunning to watch and very chilly so that I was very happy about the beany Amanda made me on the horse farm.
The pictures can never catch the whole beauty of Uluru but we tried of course. On the photo at the sunrise there is Jane, Julia and me.

To get warm we did the whole walk around Uluru. So because it was cold we even walked faster and after 10 minutes Ash, Charles,Robert, Thomas and I lost the others behind us.
We learned about a female serpent living in Uluru and heard about her nephew coming to Uluru. He was running away from Anagnu warriors because he did something wrong.
One of the warriors hit him with a speer and he should look after his injuries.
The warrior didn´t and when the serpent saw it she got very angry and made this warrior to stone.
To save her nephew they became the rainbow serpent who lives in the waterhole visible on the photos which must have an awesome waterfall after rain.

The best thing about walking fast? You´re the first ones who get food (and the most).
After these amazing three days it was time to drive for forever to get back to Alice Springs.

The Uluru and Kata Tjuta were just sandstone layers underground back in the days. But then the Alice Springs earthquake came across and Kata Tjuta was horizontal lifted up with a little shift to tje right.
Instead Uluru turned upside down so that we actually just see a side of the sandstone which was 6000 m deep underground. The left side is an older layer than the right side in conclusion.

In the Rock Bar we had the after party with lots of fun later that night.
Julia and I were the only people coming from the other hostel and we really turned that bar into a party.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta or Day 2

In the morning we rolled the swags up and had breakfast in the moonlight.
On the way to Kata Tjuta with the english name the Olgas we could se a stunning sunrise.

To explore the many mountains of Kata Tjuta we did the whole walk around the Valley for a couple of hours.
In my super nice group we had of course faster and slower people so that it was the same people on the second day who were walking in the fast group.
We were always around 6 people hanging together.
Next to Julia and me we had Ash from the UK, exchange students in Brisbane were Thomas,Robert and Charles.
On the group photo in the Olgas Ash is missing so we have Julia, Cora, Robert, Charles and Thomas.

After the walk we went to the cultural center for lunch and lots of information about the Aboriginal people and especially the Mala Tribe.
The Aboriginal people have the Tjukurpa (Tschukupa spoken) which is their believe system and their laws.
Every Aboriginal Tribe has their own Tjukurpa and language.They can be very similar or totally different.In most of their languages the word ´palya` means hello,how are you, I understand and good bye.With this word you can have a whole conversation on your own.The people living in Kata Tjuta were the Anagnu and the people around Uluru were the Mala people.                         
There is the Mala Walk which is a special walk at Uluru which goes along the places of the story.

So once upon the time the Mala men had a very important ceremony at Uluru. The 4 senior men climbed up Uluru to place a ceremony pole.
That showed the start of the ceremony. There were another tribe around aproaching the Mala people and asking if they want to celebrate the ceremony together. Unfortunately in the Tjukurpa of the Mala people it is law that you can´t interupt a ceremony. So the men said no and continued their ceremony.
The other tribe was very angry about that and they took all their magic together and created a monster.
At Uluru you can find the teachers cave were the young boys learned the Tjukurpa, the mens cave and the womens cave next to it. In the womens cave they were just about to prepare all the food for the ceremony as the monster attacked the women and his footprint is still visible.
The women ran to the mens cave and all together they escaped the monster into the dessert.

It was very fascinating to see the places of the story and to feel the aura of Uluru.
In an example we learned how senior women were once allowed in the mens cave. That was on the occasion to find a man for her daughter.
So in our example were 3 guys lying on the floor heads down and I was picked at the senior women. Usually they looked for the best breedable men and were beating them with a stick to see who isn´t moving. That was to drastic for me so I just had to sprinkle some water on their backs and decide for a man for my daughter Jane, a very nice girl from Scottland.

After the walk we went to the Uluru sunset area and because its usually quiet crowded we should be build a wall with backpacks around our area. Since we had a lack of backpacks we started using empty beer cans and bottles and it really worked. Nobody tried to come very close to us so we had lots of room for beautiful photos.

Kings Canyon and Day 1

Very very early the next morning we got up and ready to be picked up at 5:25 am.
Julia and I grabbed some very good places behind the driver with a little more space.
We picked up some more people from another hostel and the journey began.
In our bus were 20 people and from the company were again 3 other busses on the same routes.
Our irish tourguide explained us the 3 most important rules:

1. When we drive it´s always for FOREVER so that he doesn´t get questions about the distances all the time.
2. Don´t ask if we can do anything special in the National Park the answer is always NO. ( Was of course the running gag if we can climb or basejump from every cliff)
3. For every walk we had to have 3 L of water.

Around Midday we came to the Kings Canyon National Park and stretched our feet out ready for the first walk.

Kings Canyon was pushed out of the ground millions of years ago because the tectonic grounds had tensions pushing against each other and lifted tons of sand out which became sandstone.
Before that there was a saltwater ocean in the middle of the country.
Examples for that were find everywhere on our walk.
The erosion makes the cracks in the canyon bigger so that you could see some cliffs which just fell apart.
We had perfect weather and I got some pictures with Julia and me during the walk.
While having a break on one of the cliffs our tourguide wanted to be in the photo as well.

After the walk we collected fire wood and were driving for forever to our bushcamp place.
Apart from all civilication we camped in the bush with our swags.
Swags are pretty simple one person tents with a matress in them. But tent isn´t really the word because it´s more like a sleeping bag.
So that I fell asleep watching the full moon, the stars and listening to dingo crys.

Alice Springs

On Monday I went with the train from Nambour at the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane Airport.
I´m very relaxed with planes and flying by now. I was very happy when they upgraded me to the Emergency Seats so that I have more space for my long legs.

At 20:40 pm my tigerair plane started to Sydney where I landed at around 22:30.

My flight to Alice Springs started at 7:25 and the check-in was at 5:25 am. So I decided to stay the night at the airport and the McDonalds next to it.

With my plane where 4 other girls arriving in the same room in the hostel with me. While we were chatting we found out that we are even all on the same tour around the Outback.
One of them was the swedish girl Julia who instantly won all my sympathy.

With her I explored the little town around Midday and to check-in to the tour.
After lunch we prepared our luggage and went for a coffee before we watched the stunning sunset on Anzac Hill after we´ve done the Lion´s Walk.

Last Week at the Sunny Coast

Thank God it´s Friday was my first thought and then I realised it was my last day and I didn´t take a lot of horse pictures the whole time.

The time was just running past and so on the first photo you see the beautiful chestnut Stallion Rex And one of the stunning views while we were riding.

Three weeks ago I came here and on my first day we caught the 19 horses and It seemed impossible for me to tell them all apart. Now I can see the different colour shapes and faces and can say which horse it is and what it´s name is.

Even while the routine is everyday the same with feeding, cleaning and riding I still enjoy it a lot.

Every Day we go for a long ride over 4 hours or two shorter ones for 2 1/2 hours.

And it´s always a little bit crazy as well. We went for a ride and came into deep forest and just a small path, so that Lizzy got stuck in a tree fell of her horse and E.T, the one in the photo above cantered as hell. He was at the back of the group and I´m right in front. My horse Ambition thought there is danger behing and ran off. My only thoughts were to stopp and stay on the horse. I managed both and just got some nasty scratches from the trees.

Friday came Brool and took us for a 5 hour ride in the Conondale National Park.

The funny thing was that we all had grey horses so that we took this nice poser picture.

Left is Marie on Commander, Lizzy on Leia, me on Ambition, Del on Defy and Taro on Quartz.

Quartz was the smallest on the horses we had with us and as we passed through a quite deep creek pour Quartz even had to swim.

It was a really lovely time with the girls and I learned a lot about horse riding thats for sure.

Friday Matt came over and we had a little party in our kitchen with a funny game called the box. It sounds very simple But not if u try it out.

So u have the cardbord box of cereals and u have to pick it up from the floor with your mouth. Just your feet are allowed to touch the ground and nothing else. When everyone got through we cut one inch of the box so that it gets harder and harder and the floor comes closer and closer. Most of us even made it till the end.

Saturday morning Amanda, Taro, Paul and I went to the Eumandi Markets and to Noosa in the afternoon. 

Nathan paid me his last visit on Saturday and we ended up watching Eurovision Song Contest.

Sunday I packed everything and had a last beach day and swim in Noosa.

Monday was really finally my last day at the Sunshine Coast, my second home.

Inhaling the sea breeze for the last time at Point Cartwright with Matt and enjoying the Sunshine.

But even then you can feel that it´s autumn so just 25° degrees. bibber

I will really miss all my lovely friends here and will keep all the good memories! Love you xoxo