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05/07/2012
Our first stop after our amazing time in Sydney was Melbourne, and we thought we would just slide easily back into backpacking life. Of course, we turned up at our motel room and immediately paid an extra $80 to upgrade to an ‘Executive room’. One step at a time!
We took full advantage of the cafe culture of Melbourne, eating at as many little cafés in narrow cobbled streets as possible. We also went to an AFL match at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) - we were told by many aussie’s that it is something you have to do before leaving Australia. It was very entertaining watching a game neither of us have a clue about, especially with so many fights on the pitch. We have renamed it ‘bundle-ball’ for the obvious reasons. It remains the weirdest sport we have ever witnessed…
We visited South bank which is Melbourne’s version of Darling Harbour in Sydney (not as nice obviously…). The shopping is amazing, especially in Bourke street mall, but there are also lots of individual shops which have a bit of a hippy feel.
Fitzroy gardens are pretty, and has Captain Cook’s cottage in. We also visited the Queen Victoria Markets which was one of our favourite parts of the trip – massive amounts of fresh fruit, delicious cheeses and meats, and lots of clothes and other knick-knacks.
We walked to Carlton where Lygon street is (Ben spent most of the time hunting for Chopper), which has lots of lovely cafes and restaurants. We also walked through Fitzroy which was similar, and gave us a real feel for what Melbourne was all about: Food, food and more food.
We caught the tram to St Kilda which is the beach town and popular with tourists. We had lunch in La Roche Café which was recommended, and was very unique! We walked along the beach (with our woolly hats on) and generally adopted the chilled out lifestyle of Melbournions.
The Melbourne museum is well worth a visit as there were several exhibits which were quite different from the usual thing you see in a museum, this could be because it is a very modern museum.
05/07/2012
Alice Springs
We arrived in Alice Springs very thankful for a bit of warmth after a very cold few days in Melbourne. We only had 1 day to explore Alice Springs, which to be fair was probably enough. It is the biggest closest town to Uluru so many people stop there before heading to Uluru the next day.
We stayed at Toddy’s backpacker’s hostel, which was a 15 minute walk to the centre which consisted of some quaint shops and a few pubs. We dashed around like madmen to find a mixture of sunhats & sun cream to woolly hats and gloves – visiting Uluru in the winter is a very confusing time.
After a very cold night at our hostel, with a plastic undercover on the bed (they obviously heard ben the bed-wetter was coming) which crumpled so loudly every time you so much as moved your head that it would wake up your neighbours, we flew to The Ayers Rock Resort. It was a nice surprise to be able to see both rock formations from our plane as we flew over.
Being on a budget, we opted for a mixed 4 bed dorm, and because they were not as busy during the winter, we lucked out and didn’t have to share with any snorers for all 3 nights. Well worth the money considering the only other accommodation at this small resort was triple the price. So long as you didn’t look up when in the shared toilets/showers to see the cobwebs in what was essentially a barn and start imagining what kinds of Australian wildlife would adopt this warm sheltered place for their home, it worked out well.
Kata Tjuta
Armed with our warm hats and gloves (temperatures dropped below 0 at night and didn’t rise much until late afternoon!) we set out to visit Kata Tjuta in a rented car. These are impressive shaped domes made from sandstone, like Uluru, calved from a heavy mixture of river washed rocks and sand after millions of years of erosion with only the harder rocks surviving. We did the ‘Valley of the Winds’ walk which took about 3 hours, and is definitely a tad windy in places! But the whole walk is beautiful, and very peaceful.
Uluru
We then headed to Uluru to visit the cultural centre to attempt to learn a bit more about the cultural significance of the rocks, and watched the sunset at the viewing point where you can see Uluru change different colours as the sun goes down. Particularly impressive is when the rock turns bright orange for a few seconds, but also when the sky is shades of pink and purple.
The next day, we were lucky enough to have another clear blue sky, and although freezing still, we mustered up the courage to get up extra early to see sunrise at Uluru. This wasn’t as impressive as sunset but still well worth seeing.
We joined the Mala walk where a guide took us around part of the rock, and shared Aboriginal stories which explained why Uluru is an important place for ceremonies, teaching, bush tucker etc, which gave us an interesting insight into their lives. The climb was closed due to strong winds, which was a disappointment, but you are told many times not to climb the rock out of respect for the Aboriginals, so maybe it was for the best.
All in all, it has been a great experience being in the Northern Territory and visiting something on the word heritage list, as well as learn a little about the way of life for people in what we can only see as an inhabitable desert!
However, we are still on the hunt for (and will not be leaving Australia until we find):
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A deadly spider (preferably several meters away – that’s what the zoom lens is for)
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A snake (any will do, even a dead one)
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A kangaroo
30/10/2011
The Inca Trail
After flying from LA, sunny sunny LA, we landed tired and confused, in a country quite different from what we were used to! It dawned on us, after about 2 minutes, that we didn't speak a word of Spanish. Then suddenly the word 'Adios' came to mind, and we thought we cracked it, no need to worry!
Another phrase that we picked up quite quickly was "No Entiendo" or "Don't understand", this was said by many a shop assistant as we spoke English, slower and louder to them!
We spent some nights in Lima, the capital of Peru, where we explored the city in nervous anguish after a traumatic experience trying to buy bus tickets to downtown Lima, and a Peruvian girl who spoke some English took pity on us, helped us, and repeatedly told us to be careful as it is dangerous and there are lots of pickpocketers!
We stayed in Mirafloras, which is a nicer part of Lima and much safer as its a more touristy area. After 3 nights, we left with our Inca trail group to fly to Cuzco, high in the Andes. We had to stay there 2 nights to acclimatize ourselves to the altitude, which was very necessary as we felt pretty awful!
The Inca trail began with a day spent in the Scared valley, looking around ruins, and again, getting used to the altitude, this time with a bit of hiking.
Day one of the actual hike began early, and was the easiest day (they lull you in to a false sense of security!). We were excited to have completed day one, getting to know the group and guides and generally having a good time - then, we saw the toilets!!! Or should i say the whole in the floor of a hut. All excitement gone! Camping every night on the trail was good fun, and although it got very cold at night, you are reliant on a flash light, and the floor is very hard.... it was part of the whole experience! It was amazing to open the tent in the early hours of the morning to see the wildlife and panoramic mountain scenery.
Day two was well known as being the hardest, and the response to telling anyone that you had done the Inca Trail was "How was day two?". The walk on day two felt more like a climb then a hike, and we wanted to die. We kept back with the 75 year old Norwegian man, who to our defense, has spent his whole life in the army, so we didn't feel too ashamed... Once we reached the highest point of the whole trail - "Dead women's pass" - it soon became clear why it is called this as Abi fell dramatically to the floor while shouting "Tell my family I love them....".
Day three was a beautiful day as the scenery change every hour, and at times it was like walking through a rainforest, if the rainforest was located on the sheer edge of a mountain..
Day four began at 3.15 in the bloody morning! This was the day that we were hiking to Macchu Picchu, and even though we were tired after four days hiking and camping, it was completely worth it. Machu Picchu is one of the seven wonders of the world, and it is easy to see why!
Our guide "Percy" was great, and continually gave us interesting talks about the Inca's.
One of the biggest amazement of the trip, was the porters. They are locals who would normally be farmers, but have part time jobs as porters to earn a bit of extra cash. These guys range in age from 23 to 65, and carry 25kgs packs on their backs, walk in old sandals, and still do the trek in half the time it takes normal trekkers! They carry all of the trekkers tents, food, propane gas bottles, and everything we needed to survive for the four days.
We were never so grateful for a shower and a normal toilet then that evening we arrived home! But the whole journey was incredible, and we felt a great sense of achievement at the end. The small things in life became so luxurious!
Amazon
It takes almost a whole day to travel from Cuzco to Peurto Maladona, and then 3 hours down the river on a water taxi further into the rainforest. The cabin we stayed in was AMAZING as it had a hammock, and only 3 walls, and no door! One side of the cabin was open to the rainforest. Unfortunately, both ben and I became ill the next day and missed out on some of the activities. but we managed a short trek to the lake nearby and saw various animals and wildlife. In a space of a few hours we saw monkeys, macaws, a toucan, and lots more. We even ate a huge termite each!
Inca Trail Photos
Amazon Photos