Lets see, where were we? Where am I?  How did I get here?

I left the east coast of Australia about three weeks ago to travel inland.  I had a hunch about Uluru. The big red rock in the desert.  I wanted to see it and get a feel for the Outback.  I thought it was time to get away from the cities and get in touch with my spiritual side. Little did I know that two weeks later I'd be feeding baby kangaroos three times a day....

I flew into Darwin from Sydney and was immediately cloaked in the tropical Northern Territory humidity.  After the briskness of New South Wales it was a welcomed heat.  I always enjoy the first impression of a place when leaving an airport.    Everything is new!  The air, the time of day, the people and even the cheesy tourist gimmicks are different.  For some reason I tend to smile when passing brochure gauntlets.  There are so many different fun ways to spend your money! Usually I object to such gimmicks but this time I was all in for a tourist bonanza.  Uluru sits behind the Great Barrier Reef and or the Opera House in Sydney on Australia's list of "must see things before you die."

The best/easiest way to get to Uluru or "The Centre" as it so affectionately called is to get your self to the small city of Alice Springs which is about 2000km from nowhere, smack-dab in the middle of Australia.  Alice has the charming label as being the "closest" to all of Australia's beaches.

So I took a brilliant train ride on the infamous Ghan Scenic Railway and 24 hours later ended up in Alice!  One day later still I was on a bus with 23 other travellers geared up and ready to see Kings Canyon, Uluru, and the slightly less known but equally impressive Olgas (Kata Tjuta).  Despite the cheesiness of the tour the guide was entertaining and the group got a long well especially after several boxes of beer and I had a great time.  We slept in swags under the stars, cooked camping meals together, and managed to get up in time to see a pretty bad ass sunrise!?

Uluru was amazing!  It took us two hours to walk around it.  It rests an estimated 6km underground and it has out of this world spiritual significance for the indigenous Aboriginal culture.  You must respect the significance of this rock. I do feel lucky to have seen it. To be connected to the earth in the way that the Aboriginal is culture is would be worthy of an entirely lifetime of study.

Flash forward a week and I visited a small horse/cattle property doing some more wwoofing helping a lovely family of five prepare their property as the family gets ready to move to 1 million acre cattle station 9hrs drive into the outback.  It is so far away that their children (Colton, Mia, and Savannah) will be getting their schooling through weekly airplane parcel drops delivered by the School of The Air.

I then spent a unique 5 days at a wildlife sanctuary helping with some home repairs and feeding baby kangaroos and wallabees (Joeys).

I am back in Darwin now and it is good to be surrounded by people again.   The last three weeks were very solitary ones.  A very dear friend of mine once said that at some point we should all be alone in our lives. And I agree. Maybe not Outback isolation but certainly to be on "ones" own is a great way to experience who you are and what things in your life are important.  I came for the Outback and while I may not have found my center I do feel a little closer to Australia's.  And now it is time to work.