2019 Australia Trip - Day 10

Well, sleeping outside on the dirt ground with just the Swag in Outback winter is not my thing. It’s so, so cold!! At first I was using my winter jacket as a pillow, but after being waken up by the cold wind too many times, never able to be warm enough to fall in sleep, I figured I could wear it instead Have you ever try to put on a winter jacket inside a sleeping bag? Not easy! I then put on my socks too. Felt some warmth after that. Finally fell in sleep. I dreamt I was Jackie Chan’s manager, had to take him to hospital after he got hurt doing stunts. Is it wired!? I guess I was really stressed.

Woke up too many times throughout the night, hearing the snoring. Steve was snoring up a big thunder in my right, Evan was snoring up a small thunder in my left, I was raining tears in the middle. I was so jealous of them that could sleep to soundly!!

Finally time to get up at 5:30 AM. We then headed back to Ayers Rock to see the sunrise and have breakfast. It’s truly a majestic sight! As the sun slowly risen, the sunshine slowly turned the rock into bright red. Amazing!

Next, we climbed a mountain called Kata Tjuta. Steve and Evan chose to do a more challenging climb that’s 4 km longer distance than the rest of us, and I stayed with the rest of the group, worried abut my heart problem, and didn’t want to slow them down. They hiked the whole 4 km of rocky road in one hour!

The best thing about this hike, besides the fact we were surrounded by red mountains and blue sky, is the fact there was no flies in the morning. Steve had a much time because of that.

But the flies returned after noon. Fortunately we were just driving to King’s Canyon which is about 2 and half hours away. And on the way there, we stopped at a small town, bought our own flynet (a net cover your whole face to keep the flies away)! YAY! Never thought we would be this happy to buy some nets!

Did you know billions of years ago, Australia has a huge inland sea? There are still many salt water lakes remaining in the Outback area. It’s kind of cool to see a large body of water in the middle of the desert!

We gathered firewood for tonight’s camp fire. As soon as we arrived at Kong’s Canyon camp site, we started a big fire.

Upon learning about Evan’s 14th birthday is just 2 days away, Rita and couple other ladies gathered some local fruits, baked an amazing birthday cake with the camp fire! The entire camp group gathered around the fire and sung happy birthday to Evan, who was completely surprised by all this. Pretty amazing birthday celebration!!

Another night under the stars deep in the mountain! This time I am prepared! I am wearing a shirt, a sweater, a vast and a winter jacket before I get into the swag. Should have a warmer night with all this preparation.Read more