One dead kangaroo later . . .

WARNING: Graphic Images in this blog . . . Consider yourself warned

3 Germans, 1 Swede and a lil van named Jucy . . .

I waved the boys out of the driveway about 4 or 5pm on Friday Sept 25. After hitting up Mackers (McDonalds) they were on the road about 6pm. They drove until 1am until they finally stopped at a campground to sleep. The first night they stopped in the town of Morven.

Saturday they drove to Cloncurry and then slept in another campground.

Sunday they drove to Alice Springs which is a big city surrounded by National Parks. They didn't get time to stop, but they did stop on the way back.

Monday they drove the rest of the way to Ayers Rock which is also known as Uluru. They tried to climb the 1,142 ft high mountain. Eugen and Viktor failed horribly and Ivar and Wolfgang almost made it to the top. After about 40 minutes they realized they were way too dehydrated and ended their journey.

Tuesday they did the base walk around Ayers Rock which is 9.6km. They got back, had dinner and showered and then tried to go to the only bar. It closed at 11pm so they only got one beer. They tried to buy some beer but a 6-pack was $36AUD. We normally pay that for a 30-pack.

Wednesday they went to The Olgas/Kata Tjuta. It is 36 mountain formations that are really important to the Aboriginals and they have been there for about 22,000 years. They did the Walk of Winds and Ivar said the winds were blowing about 20m per second.

Thursday they drove back towards home to the West Macdonnell National Park. They also traveled to the Ormiston Gorge and took some amazing pictures.

Friday morning they went for a 3 hour walk around Ormiston Gorge and then drove to Alice Springs for supplies and a shower and then continued their journey.

Friday night they tried to stay at a place and police stopped them and said it was too dangerous to stay there because the Aboriginies get too drunk. They sent them to an even sketchier campground and when they arrived there was only two campers and nothing else.

Saturday they continued their journey home. Ivar was driving and then after they reached a city, he switched with Viktor. Viktor had only driven about 40km when it happened. They had been following a "road train" which is a truck about 50m long. Usually they're so loud and big that they scare away the kangaroos. The reason the kangaroos hang out by the roads is because of the rain runoff which makes the grass by the roads much better. They were driving about 100km per hour and a kangaroo jumped right in front of them. Viktor braked but they still hit it going about 50km per hour. Eugen and Wolfgang heard the crash, but Ivar looked up when Viktor screamed and saw them hit it. It hit directly in the middle of the front of the car and completely crushed the radiator. They looked around in the van but had nothing to put the kangaroo out of its misery. It kicked for about a minute and then finally passed away. (Thank GOD I was not on this trip with them. I once hit a racoon and cried for a good 30 minutes and now that kangaroos are my favorite animal, I would have been an absolute wreck) Of course they were inappropriate and took some pictures with the kangaroo and waited for people to drive by. There is no cell phone service in the Outback.

Absolutely sad . . . poor lil kangaroo . . .

People stopped on their way to the next town and said they'd call for help and a tow truck. They waited 2.5 hours and no one came. Finally they started the car drove about 6km before it overheated. When they tried again later it made some scary noises so they stayed the night and decided they'd try again in the morning.

Sunday morning Wolfgang went a little crazy and messed with the car to get it running again. They drove slowly into town. They got back to Blackall and were at the repair place but it was closed. The police also came. The guys called the rental company and they gave them two options. They could wait until Monday until their repair man could get out there but they knew they'd probably have to order parts which could take most of the week. Their other option was to find their own way home. They chose option two.

After failed attempts at catching a bus, they split in twos to travel easier. Viktor and Wolfgang got a ride right away 2 hours to Augathella. They rode with Bill from Bill's Fences. He was a really cool guy who for the past 10 years has been the World Champion of sheep shearing, shearing 200 sheep per day. Ivar and Eugen waited 3.5 hours in the sun and then a bus driver told them they could probably get a ticket to Roma. There is a railroad there so they assumed if they could get there, it'd be easy to get home. They got on the bus and then the bus driver forgot about them. They were taken all the way to Miles and then had to get off. Oh and they hit 2 kangaroos while on the bus, which didn't even phase the bus driver.

From Augathella Viktor and Wolfgang caught a ride with 2 guys who were traveling from Cairns (Northeast coast of Australia) down to Adelaide (in Southern Australia). These guys were crazy Australians and were driving about 130km per hour. They weren't even worried about kangaroos. They laughed about the kangaroos on the side of the road while my roomies prayed for safe arrival. The two guys took them to Charleville. There they had some beers and then went to try to catch the bus. They saw Ivar and Eugen, but their bus was full so they had to wait until the morning. They went to a hotel and the guy (who was raging drunk) said it'd be $120 (they would only stay there from 11pm-7am). They told him that was way out of their price range and started to leave. The guy then asked how much they could pay. They said $79. They had a $50 and two $20s but the guy had no change so they ended up paying only $70 for a really nice double room with its own shower.

Monday Viktor and Wolfgang took a bus at 7am all the way to Brisbane. Ivar and Eugen checked the railroad times and were told there was only one train per week and it came on Thursday. They decided to hitchhike the rest of the way. At a gas station they talked to a truck driver who drove them all the way to Toowoomba. Eugen went to the bathroom and Ivar pulled out the guitar and started playing. A couple stopped and asked if they needed a ride. He said he wouldn't have noticed them except he heard Ivar playing the guitar. They said the couple was very strange but at least they were friendly.

Needless to say, they had some grand adventures. I baked cupcakes last night to celebrate our return, but they were just as good tonight. We exchanged stories about our trips and I'm so glad they're back. Now I can stop sleeping with a knife by my bed. :)