All right, so the trip was phenomenal—absolutely perfect in every aesthetic and emotional way. I left on March 19th for Adelaide and the very next morning I woke myself up at 5:30 to go on a tour of Kangaroo Island. Have you ever had a wish-list destination that you built up in your mind to be this magical mystical place? Well, Kangaroo Island is one of those places for me…and I wasn’t disappointed with the place by any stretch of my elastic imagination. As we stepped onto the tour bus, the driver/tour guide joked, “Although this is Kangaroo Island, you won’t see any kangaroos here…because they’re all sleeping under the trees.” We laughed and smiled and the tour began on a slightly cloudy, very chilly morning. And then it drizzled…which was spectacular (I love drizzle). This ten minute rain shower’s finale, however, foreshadowed what a great day I would have. The rainwater puddled on road surfaces and because Kangaroo Island receives so little rain each year, all the Kangaroos came out from the bush and began lapping up the water as quickly as they possibly could. This, obviously, means that I saw TONS of the illusive namesakes. They crowded their awkward (and yet so graceful) bodies onto the roadways and enjoyed their natural treat. Then we were taken to Seal Bay where a large colony of sea lions can be found; they were beautiful camera hogs, mugging for the camera like D-list celebrities (though they get As in my book). Over the course of the day, I saw a short-beaked echidna, koalas, seals, birds, climbed a big rock, saw a magnificent arch, and made a nice friend with another one of the tour-ists.
Kangaroo Island view; those are the Remarkable Rocks in the distance.
Kangaroos!
“Please take my picture, sir.”
Hubby and wife…
When I returned to Adelaide I was dirty and cold and sleepy but so exhilarated by the day that I dreamed about it that night. The next morning I had to get up again at 5:30 to join my group for our Outback adventure. We drove for at least ten hours from Adelaide to Coober Pedy where we stayed in an underground hostel. Our group room (to fit all twenty two of us) was appropriately entitled “The Dungeon”.
If you ever wanted to know what an opal mine looks like…here’s one in Coober Pedy.
The Dungeon…muwahahah! Ahem, excuse me. I left it dark on purpose…that was the amount of light in there.
On the 21st, we took a tour of Coober Pedy guided by one of many eccentric locals. We visited a cemetery to watch the sunrise, took a time-out in a cave church, and visited another eccentric local’s underground home and opal mine. His name was Crocodile Harry and apparently he and his land were used to film Mad Max. If ever I saw a lost boys hideaway, this was it. As the sun descended on yet another lovely day (after another 10 hours of driving), we camped in the REAL outback near Mt. Connor—a big mesa near Uluru (Ayer’s Rock).
Then next morning, we were woken again at 5, drove for an hour and watched the sunrise over Uluru. I took so many pictures (it was pretty ridiculous but wonderful). This day was reserved for walking around the entire base of the giant red rock. Unfortunately (really unfortunately) we were not allowed to climb it because the winds were too fast at the top. They shut down the trail at eight in the morning and that was that. But I did take a great picture of the trail! Oh well; all the more reason to go back, I suppose. Hehe, 
This is Uluru–my favorite picture that I took on the trip.
Here is the trail to the top…very steep but I wish I could have climbed it.
King’s Canyon was our challenge on the 23rd. We climbed up to some high cliffs and then descended into a valley aptly titled the Garden of Eden and swam in the most pristine pond I’d ever seen.
Then we began our two night bush walk where we took everything on our backs for two nights on our own. We saw a death adder, a frog, a bunch of birds and one of the most beautiful valleys I’ve ever visited.
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On the second to last day of the trip, we were able to camp in an Aboriginal town were I met really nice people. I was also able to play with a bunch of puppies and a kangaroo joey. And in the morning the aboriginal women showed us how to dot paint (mine was a snake!) and one of the men cooked us damper (pretty interesting bread).
The trip was so fulfilling—and I met a lot of really nice people in the process. But now I’m ready to work hard in my classes—midterms are quick around the corner.
Spirited away,
Jordan
Quote of the week:
“The wind is old and still at play
While I must hurry upon my way,
For I am running to Paradise;
Yet never have I lit on a friend
To take my fancy like the wind”
-William Butler Yeats, “Running to Paradise”
