Sentinels of the Desert - the Olgas/Kata Tjuca

The Olgas
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What is the coldest you have ever been?

I mean, really cold. So cold you can feel the chill work its way into your bones. So cold you cannot hear yourself think due to teeth chattering..

This is a camel rounding station where the beasts are rounded up and trained southwards to appear in the nations burgers. They use helicopters here to catch the camels

That was me last night. I wasnt very bright. I thought that the fire burning away would be enough to keep me warm so didnt put my sleeping bag in my swag. The temperature of the Ouback plummets after sunset. Its 36 degrees during the day but as there is no cloud cover it becomes five degrees at night. I just burrowed into my swag like a wichity grub and only got out for a call of nature which was a shivering experience.

hiking trail
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At dawn we were woken up to the sound of dingoes yowling. It does sound creepy out there in the dawn light - like wolf howls. They wont harm us and are just stretching their legs after a nights sleep. So we came too with a "billycan" of coffee and rolled up the swags and put them in the Utility truck. We were away and heading even further west by 8.00am. The idea is to hike "The Olgas" before the heat gets too hot at 10.00am.

The giant rocks loomed up before us - huge mounds, domes and mesas rising out of the flat Outback. Great domes soaring hundreds of feet into the air and broke up by high valleys and the same orange/red that makes Uluru so distinctive. Carolyn was going to lead us on a hike and on the trail showed us the native plants and how the aborignals used them. One prickly plant was especially good at getting rid of warts by inserted the thorn into the wart - it does work, Carolyn had tried it.

Feral camels
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We climbed the steep trail and with much huffing and puffing reached "The Valley of the Winds". All around us were towering monoliths and there was a natural rock balaustrade between two monoliths. She left us here and told us to take the trail around the western dome. It was hard work descending with the red scree but the floor of the valley was peppered with gum and scrub trees. We took the trail around the monster rock, stopping once in a while at drinking stations. Myself and the two girls were late back - personally I thought we had done very well hiking in such heat but uberfit Carolyn worried about us.

Then it was north to the campsite at Kings Canyon - this would take five hours across bumpy dirt tracks. Not before we stopped at Curtain Springs to use the "drop toilet" and take a track north. The landscape then was very wild. We saw kangaroos bound away from us and kept on bumping into herds of feral camels. I couldnt believe the size of these wild beasts who had grown immense in the arid desert.

After a bumpy, hot and exhausting journey we pulled into Kings Creek campsite at 5.00pm. This is a camel rounding station where the beasts are rounded up and trained southwards to appear in the nations burgers. They use helicopters here to round up the camels. Our clearing/campsite was really just a stretch of sand with views of a huge escarpmetn and a gas stove and outdoor shower.

We finished off a stir fry by firelight and then snuggled down in "swag bags" again (this time with my sleeping bag). Another night under the stars - I am getting too old for this.