Undara Outback Experience

As we crossed over the mountains into the outback the roads became less than par. Bus driver Hewen had to keep pulling over for the freight trains that take up the one lane road. The roads seemed to stretch on for miles and we frequently saw kanga road kill on the side of the road. We were still waiting to see LIVE kangaroos in their natural habitat since we had only seen them in a reservation habitat so far.

Adam had a play some silly games before arriving at our national park. A few highlights were Carol from Paris who sang her national anthem and poor Emily who had to look like a mouse all the way to our destination. As we drove into the park we saw kangas hopping in the grass and laying in some shade under the trees. We were now in the grassy savannah and it was a sight to see. Every few feet were small and large termite mounds. Adam told us that some mounds can get to be about 3 meters high.

So... swag tents. What are these, you ask? We wanted to know as well but found out soon enough. Kristen and Francesca stayed together in this tent-like hut. It is about 2 feet off the ground and has a basin so no snakes can crawl up into it. The two checked ever corner and slept with the light on for fear the spider at the top would crawl down! Matt and Paul stayed just across the way but didn’t seem as worried about creepy crawlies.

After we dropped our things in the swag tents we jumped in vans and took a sun set tour. We saw kangaroos, wallabies, and wallaroos everywhere we looked. Our guide let us get out and walk down to a waterhole so we can be up close with them. We hopped back in the van and continued up to the top of a mountain where we sat on the rocks, ate cheese and drank champagne as we watched the sun set. It was amazing! Just as the sun set we went to a special cave to see another spectacular sight.

After our guide checked the cave opening for snakes....yes, it’s true... we stood in the opening and watched as millions of fruit bats left their sleeping area to explore the night sky. They flew all around us but surprisingly used their radar to navigate around us and not touch us at all. Apparently we came during their colder season so the snakes aren’t hanging from the trees ready to catch some bats flying out of the cave. Thank God!
As we drove back to our camping area we watched some more Olympics in a room and ate some dinner as a group. We enjoyed our tents that night (not really) and the next morning was fun.

It was like we had traveled back in time because we had to walk a while to a clearing in the woods for breakfast. When we finally got there we sat on tree stumps and ate on others. We used metal hanger looking things to toast or bread over the open fire and the crew at the campsite cooked a traditional Aussie breakfast on another open fire.

We all headed back to the bus and got ready ready for our last bus ride - to Cairnes.