The End, and what a way to finish. Magical.

Words fail me in describing the last 36 hours of the trip, but somehow I have to put it down in writing. I write this from Melbourne, so its Tuesday afternoon here. The bit of the trip I need to put into words is from when we reached Uluru until this morning when I left Alice Springs.

After Kings Canyon I was in really good spirits. The sunrise hike had really given our energy levels a boost. Driving from there to Uluru is about 3 hours. I hadn’t really given Uluru much thought on this trip, kind of because it was never high on my list of things to do, in fact I wasn’t going to do it at all when I planned the original trip. So to finally see it, I just wasn’t prepared for the profound effect it had on me. I have been trying to figure out why and I still can’t really say, but I can say that I never expected it to be so stunning, so awe inspiring, so magical, so spiritual, so moving for me. But it was all that and more. Catching our first glimpse of it from the van was pretty cool, even if we fooled by fooluru (a big rock but not the real thing). But getting up close to it about an hour before sunset just blew me away. I was emotional, but not upset. As the sunset on the rock, Luke surprised us all with champagne, cheese and crackers and dips. And we sat there and watched the changing colours on the rock as the sun went down. And then as darkness set, the most glorious full moon rose just to the left of Uluru. Stunning. I had a moment (that lasted for about 20 minutes) when it was just me, the rock and the moon. I managed to zone out the flies, any background noise and even thought there were quite a few people around it was literally just the three of us. And something changed in me there and then. That sounds weird I know, and I can’t explain it properly, but my life changing experience that I was looking for happened in the middle of Australia gazing at Uluru. And I know that from now on, I’m going to live my life by what I decided and thought during those 20 minutes. And I feel so positive and happy about that!! The previous few days had kind of been leading to this, but I didn’t realise it. When I read back what I wrote a few days ago it’s more obvious. I found myself in the last 18 days of this trip and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to each person who shared the last 18 days with me. Each of them will hold a special place in my heart for the rest of my life.

I’m sure that there are people reading this who just don’t get what I’m saying, and so be it. Such is life as Ned Kelly once said (his last words apparently). If you don’t understand it, then maybe you will when I return and you see a difference in me.

Anyway, there is more to tell about Uluru than just that. Sunset was pretty spectacular, but then again so was Sunrise. We watched it with Uluru in front of us and the Olga’s, or Kata Tjuta to give it its proper name to our left. Stunning doesn’t do it justice, and I urge anyone who has the opportunity to see it in their lifetime to do so. After sunrise we went for a hike in Kata Tjuta, covering roughly 7.3km. Amazing scenery, felt so alive doing it. Did the bulk of it in just under 1.5 hours, we had to wait for the rest of the group to catch up, so I guess we completed that in about 1 hour 45 minutes. The terrain was pretty tough in places, but the uphill bits were always worth it.

Following on from here, we went on a hike around the base of Uluru. Amazing to experience it. 9 km in total, 39 degrees Celsius as we did it with no shade. Tough, but challenging. And I’m so pleased to have done it. Francis, Gill and I completed it in about 1 hour 50 minutes. They said to give 3 hours; I wanted to do it in 2, so to shave 10 minutes off it was a highlight for me!!!
All that action packed hiking stuff was so good, but it can’t take away from the magical effect Uluru had on me and until the day I die I will never forget my experience there.

After Uluru, we had to drive back up to Alice Spring for the last night of the trip. Such a long day. We had been up since 4.30am again. Most of us had hiked 16 and a bit Km. But we found energy from somewhere (red bull in my case) to end the tour in style. I repeat that as a group we really did bond so so well and it was so difficult to say goodbye to them all. There were lots of tears (and allot of them mine). I’m so privileged to have shared 18 to 30 days of my life with these guys, and I’ll say it again, they will always be close to my heart!! Luke made a lovely little speech for us and everyone, including him, was moved by the emotions of saying goodbye. Great friendships have been forged and distances are not going to get in the way of that.

Got a bit teary again today as I was leaving Alice Springs. Considering that I had such an aversion to the outback about 2 weeks ago, for it to have such a pull on my heartstrings now is all the more poignant for me personally. Arriving back into Melbourne was cool, don’t get me wrong, but a part of me will always be somewhere in the middle of Australia from now on!!
So, and this bit is addressed to all the guys on the trip, and of course to Luke also. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart for the most amazing set of experiences. For the fun, for the laughs, for the highs and for the lows, we survived them all together. I found me somewhere out here and in doing so I made some fantastic and lasting friendships. And to each of you I wish you nothing but the best for the future. And if I could have one wish, it would be that all tour groups experienced what we did. And that in no small part is due to the hard work and effort that Luke put into ensuring that we all got the maximum out of it. Personally I will be forever grateful to him for everything and I really do value his kind words at the end of the journey. Your one of life’s good guys dude!! And it was a pleasure to spend 30 days being shown around your country. Thank you!! I can’t say more than that!!

And now begins the next stage for me. I have a week to chill out in Melbourne, but I think it’s going to be pretty busy for me. I have lots to do and people to see. And then it’s back to Sydney for one night, and then New Zealand. NZ, now, doesn’t have anything to prove to me if that makes sense. I’m not looking for something anymore, I found that here. So I can take from NZ whatever it has to offer me, without being preoccupied with stuff. Bring it on!!!!