Outback Excursion 2: Uluru Sunrise...

Day two got off to an EARLY start as Paul, our guide, got us up at 5:00 AM to give us time to get ready to leave to be at Uluru for the 6:30 sunrise. It was "brisk" in that it was about 50 degrees outside.

We we reached Uluru, we had 2 options: Take the long walk all the way around the rock (about 7.4k) or go to the climb and see if it was open. They sometimes close the climb if the winds are too high, and it was pretty windy on the ground when we got there. We had always planned on doing the long walk and seeing everything, though I will admit I was tempted to do the climb. The Aborigianal people HATE when tourists climb the rock, but they are more dependant on the tourism $$ so they begrudgingly allow it.

When Paul stopped the bus for the long walk, Clarice and I jumped up ready to go. Everyone else sat there probably thinking, "The bus sure is warm and it is pretty early, isn't it?" Losers! The sun was just coming up as we started and as it rose the colors changed dramatically.

I was lining up the last shot above (I swear I see Darth Vader in profile!) when Clarice says, in a boring statement voice like it happens every day, "Camels." You really had to be there! It was so funny.

Clarice - "Camels."

Jon - "What?"

Clarice - "Camels. Wait! CAMELS!!!"

I had zoomed in on "Darth Vader" and the camera setting were all wrong so when I finally realized she had seen 3 camels calmy trotting right between us and the rock...none of the pics came out. Bummer! Still, it's not every day you see wild camels up close.

From there we trekked around the rock. It is amazing how the contours change, the colors change, the slopes and curves changes, yet the rock is one giant chunk of sandstone.

I love the orange glow in the one of us. It was just at the height of the sunrise color. (And Ethan, that is a scarf on Clarice's head!) The photos above are shown in chronological order to try and give you some idea of the changes in colors and shapes. If you want more photos be sure to check out the slideshow on the right! ->

After Uluru we went back to the camp to pack and grab some lunch. Then it was off in the direction of Kings Canyon, or destination for Sunday. We stopped at a few ranchs/cattle stations, as well as several lookouts with beautiful vistas of the outback region. The stop that evening was a Kings Cross Station where we had the opportunity to ride 4-wheelers in the outback! You know we jumped at that (the only ones in our group - losers!)!

By the time we got back to camp we were exhausted, but in a great mood. Paul had made homemade bread and honey glazed chicken over the fire and the entire group ate the fill as the sun slowly set. I got up to get my camera and Paul made his big mistake. "The shot would be better if you climbed on the roof of the bus." Next thing you know, 8 people are on top of the bus!

As you can imagine, we slept hard that night. Hope you are enjoying the photos as much as we did out trip! Stay tuned for day 3!

Jon

Outback Excursion 1: The Camel Ride...

Last Thursday Clarice and I left for our much anticipated trip to the Northern Territory. Getting up before the crack of dawn, we caught our flight and arrived in Alice Springs, NT without much difficulty.

Six o'clock Friday morning, again before the crack of dawn, we were picked up by Paul - our guide for our 3 day camping excursion with 17 other people. Our group hade several French people, a couple of Germans, some Nederlanders and another American couple. Everyone was very nice and we made some new friends as the days passed.

Our trip map. Start at Alice Springs at the top right, then run clockwise.

Our first stop, a couple of hours outside Alice Springs, was at a camel ranch were, besides the needed bathroom break, we were offered the chance to go on a camel ride - a chance Clarice was happy to take advantade of:

After the ride we hopped back in the truck and drove another couple of hours to our day 1 campsite. The company we decided to tour with has permanent camping locations complete with tents, camp beds, sleeping bags and restroom facilities. Apparently Clarice did not even tell me about another option that would have had us sleeping out under the stars on the ground! Oh well, maybe next time.

Our first campsite and the ride...

Our first tent... they were all the same.

After a quick lunch, we loaded back into the truck and headed off to our first geological/Aboriginal location: Kata Tjuta. Kata Tjuta, called "The Olgas" buy the first explorers, is a formation of 36 large stones that are mostly composed of granite and basalt. To the Aboriginal people it is a "Men's Only" location. Women are not allowed. We hiked in a gorge between 2 of the largest boulders, taking in the beautiful red/orange color and the high, blue skies. The rocks are the red/orange color of the Outback desert because when it rains the rock becomes wet allowing blowing sand and dust to stick to the surface. Tremendous beauty.

I've got a beautiful wife

Last up for the day, a magnificent sunset at Uluru (Ayers Rock) - probably the most important Aboriginal site. Uluru is a giant monolith - made up of 1 large rock. While Kata Tjuta, less than 20 kilometers away, is a comglomerate of basalt and granite held in a sandstone matrix (cement), Uluru is one, single, large (HUGE) sandstone. The Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjara Aborignial people now "own" the entire park and run/care for the park in cooperation with the park rangers. Visitors love to climb the rock, but the Aboriginal people ask visitors not to climb it. The climb traces the route Aboriginal young men have traditionally taken to a ceremony/rite of passage. The Aboriginies do not share very much of their beliefs, so it is not entirely certain what the significance of the climb is to their beliefs, but they genuinely do not want people climbing. They allow it, probably because they get the income from park entry fees, but the frown on it. For this sunset though, we were there to take photos and bask in the gorgeous sunset.

Truely magnificent. If you do not see God's glory in His creation you are not looking. The pictures came out wonderful, but the pale in comparison to actually being there. My only "complaint" was there was no puffly clouds to broaden the colors.

After sunset we trekked back to camp for dinner and a frigid night. I slept just fine, Clairce was a little cold. We went to be tired and needing a good sleep in preparation for Saturday's 5:00 AM wake up call.

More tomorrow...

Jon

Feet: The Follow-up

I know, "Again?" Bear with me. I was not planning this post at all, it is just coming from something I just read.

I know the "Feet" post was fun. I was going to add an update about a couple of City 2 Surf runners I saw running the 14k barefoot! I heard from a lot of people on that one - and I have future editions of "Livin' the Aussie Life" already swirling in my head. Its getting to be something I like thinking about. But this post is serious.

Last January, Ron Hunter, head basketball coach at Indiana Universtity/Purdue University - Indianapolis (IUPUI) coached a game in his bare feet to raise awareness for Samaritan's Feet - a charity whose goal is to get 10,000 pairs of shoes on children's feet in poorer countries. It made headlines in sports sections, got play on ESPN, and thousands of shoes were sent in. More than they ever hoped for when coach Hunter first offered to coach shoeless. Well, they delivered the shoes. Everyone should read the experience. Then, send Samaritan's Feet a pair of shoes.

Jon

City 2 Surf 14k...

Sunday was the annual City 2 Surf 14k run. It starts from Hyde Park downtown and runs east to finish at Bondi Beach. Clarice had tried to talk me into it, but I remembered the 5k she forced me to run last summer (with 2 days notice) so I opted to be the race photographer. I should have just walked it...

Clarice, along with good friends Paul and Amber, itching to get started...idiots.

As they make their way to the starting area I decided to leave and try to get ahead of them. I found a place to park fairly close to the finish line and trekked down Bellevue Hill (at this point I should have noticed something...) to a point that I thought was in front of them. We'll never know as there were hundreds of people running. I looked for a bit, but never saw them. Afraid I'd miss them at the finish, I packed it in and started towards Bondi Beach. At this point I noticed I now had to go UP Bellevue Hill.

The race has a hill that is about 1.5k and is nicknamed "Heartbreak Hill". That road skirts the side of Bellevue Hill and must be a killer to run up. Paul and Clarice, running together, decided to walk a bit when they hit that point. My route to the finish, according to the GPS, straight over the top of the hill. (insert weeping and gnashing of teeth...)

Long story short (you're welcome), I made it to the finish before my phone rang. Clarice had her mobile strapped around her arm in case of emergency and to call me when she was finished in case we never found each other. I was very fearful of walking down the hill towards the beach only to have my phone go off meaning I missed her finish. She would have killed me. By the time I got to the beach I had hiked 4.5 miles from the car (according to my pedometer) and my clothes were soaked with sweat. The race was 8 miles...I should have just walked it!

I found a good spot to take pictures just where the runners make the final turn down to the finish line about 500 meters further down the beach. With hundreds of runners turning the corner every minute I was resolving myself to never seeing her when I caught a glimpse of her pink running shirt turning the corner. I had my camera set to "continuous shoot" and fired off 10 photos before yelling encouragement. She told me later she was excited to see me, but the look on her face was more, "I think I'm dying!"

If you look closely to the second photo you can see Clarice in the right and Paul (in the white hat) trailing on the left. He told Clarice later, "You started to go faster and my body couldn't keep up!" Apparently the "kick" was not discussed earlier.

Another interesting part of the race was the number of people who felt the need to dress up for the occasion. I saw Mr Incredible, the Flash, Batman and Robin, several Supermen, 6-7 guys who painted their bodies to match the color of the speedo they were wearing (shirtless, or course), a couple wearing horse costumes... It was often hilarious, but in the case of the speedos - too much information.

It was a fun morning. We were all exhausted and it was starting to rain as we caught the bus back to where I parked the car. After dropping Paul and Amber off at their place, Clarice and I went home to shower and relax. Thank goodness for the Olympics. Neither of us moved for hours!

Jon

Livin' the Aussie Life: Vol 2 - Feet

Wanted to post some photos from our hike up to the Palm Beach Lighthouse a while back. We had an unplanned Sunday and just trekked up to Palm Beach at the north end of the Northern Beaches. Beautiful day, fun hike up to the lighthouse (though steep), and just a nice time to spend together.

Now, onto Livin' the Aussie Life. This week's topic (I know I missed last week): Feet

I'm sure you're asking yourself, "He's gone half way around the world, seen quite a bit of Sydney and New South Wales, and he's posting about feet?!?!" Hey, its ME! Things I noticed, and things you should keep in mind if ever visiting Sydney.

1) Shoes are optional. It is the middle of winter, granted every day is mid-60's, but I've never seen so many people walking around barefoot. Everywhere! Today Clarice went to one day of the Women's Retreat (sorry, Jay - "Advance") at church, so I am entertaining myself. I walked down to the bakery, got a couple of choc mud scones (where have these been all my life?!?!) and sat on a bench and watched people. I'd say 1 out of every 6-7 people was barefoot. One woman, dressed very nicely with a black dress and light jacket, hair all done, looking for all the world like she was going to work...no shoes. I'm sure they were in her bag if she was actually going to work, but what?

2) Shoes are optional...no matter where you are. Emphasis on #1, this cannot be overstated. Every time we go out, to the movies, the mall, the footy match, we always see someone barefoot. When we went to see the Manly Sea Eagles a couple of weeks ago it got down to around 50 degrees that night...and some bafoons were barefoot. I could understand if it was summer and hot, but 50 degrees?!?!?! Odd. We've even seen people barefoot at church...but that is another post altogether. :-)

3) Ugg Boots. If you missed the Ugg Boot fad a few years ago, and most of us in rural Warsaw probably did, you didn't miss much. Ugg Boots are made in Australia (why they are still here) and were first designed as slippers. Some young girls decided to start wearing the high-ankle versions to school...and now they are a plague. I've seen them so worn down toes were sticking out...yet they were still being worn out of the house. The soles are stiff and solid, but they we not designed to be worn out on cement all day, every day. I'm sure the Ugg people are happy that they were out fast since it forces the wearer to buy another pair. I'm not against them for their intended purpose - no one loves slippers more than me - but don't wear them with jeans...with the jeans tucked in! Or the ones that go up to your knee...partnered with shorts or a skirt. I've never been a slave to fashion (I wore cranberry red pants in junior high - thanks mom), but this is nuts. I may get a pair since my slippers are wearing out, but they will be used for their intended purpose...slippers.

4) Thongs/Sandals. If you think they are everywhere in the US (and it being August I'd be wearing them) come to Sydney. If you are not barefoot, you are probably wearing sandals - even if it is cold. I have 5 pairs of sandals, 2 pairs of tennis shoes, 1 pair of nice shoes. I don't like cold feet so I don't wear the sandals much, but I will once it gets hot. I guess by then the sandal-wearing public will be going barefoot!

5) Shoes cost a lot. I'm currently wearing a wonderful pair of New Balance tennis shoes (my preferred brand - they fit my feet well) that I got from Khols for about $45 before I left. Here, the same shoes are $100. I know everything is more expensive here, mostly due to the fact a lot is imported, but shoes are at the extreme end. Maybe that is why there are so many barefoot/sandal wearing people...huh. Anyway, Clarice needed new shoes for work and, while they are wonderful, they cost almost $200. I had to talk her into getting them because they cost so much, but they were very nice, comfortable, and about the same price as anything else elsewhere. If she is going to work 12-15 hours a day, she needs nice, comfortable shoes. Between those, and the new running shoes she needed to get for training for the City to Surf 14k run she is doing, we spent $350 on 2 pairs of shoes for her. Me? I'm wearing these shoes until the literally fall off.

That's what I've noticed about feet. If you are coming Down Under, don't pack a lot of shoes - but make them almost new if you are coming for a while, get a pedicure, and don't expect to buy any here without paying an arm and a leg. If you need to make room for shoes, do it. But the clothes here instead!

I'm off to watch the Aussie Wallabies kick the All Blacks butts in Rugby Union again! Just starting on one of the 5 channels we get...

Jon