Hey FANZ families, and fans, this is Connor trying to update you on our groovy recent trip happenings. So our first day of the Groovy Grape, we woke up early, and met our wacky driver Robert, a purple haired Jack Sparrow look alike. We also met 3 Germans, Hanz, Franz, and Ahnold, just kidding, Henrick, Sabina & Yens, 2 Swedish girls, Jo and Jenny, and 2 Scottish girls, Hannah and Vikki. Each group was a team, we, of course, TEAM America, Team Germany, etc. And then we were off. The first day we stopped at a WWII memorial for lunch, and then took a short hike to look at some Aboriginal cave art. After that we headed to our lodging for the night, a refurbished infirmary that was originally used for tuberculosis. We had an amazing barbecue; kangaroo, beef, sausages, salads, and the veggie kebabs for Heather.
Next day, we woke up somewhat early, and took a hike on the main road, while some road bikes. Robert picked us up afterwards, and we stopped at a hostel that had a shady pool and we made our lunch for the day. We drove some more into the wild wild Outback and we arrived at our oasis in the desert, a famous bar with many driver's licenses, business cards, assorted women's underwears, that were along the walls. There was even a business card from someone at Fordham University in NYC! That night we made a huge bonfire out of old railroad ties, and slept under the stars in comfortable swags, I'll explain those later.
We woke up to the sun rising and flies on our faces, what a nice wake up. We then headed off to Cooper Pedy, a mining town that was widely known for it's opal mines. We went to the mining mueseum and saw the thrilling movie The Story of Opal, award winning to say the least. We toured through the mines, and then went to a kangaroo rescue, where we got to feed older kangaroos, and hold younger ones. That night we went to the famous pizza place, John's Pizza, where we were greeted with a barrage of pizza pies that filled the whole group up. Some headed off to the underground hotel and some went to our underground hostel built into the side of a mountain.
We woke up early the next day, 4:30 to be exact, ouch, and went up to a lookout point that Rob knew about to see the sunrise. We were in for a long drive, since we were headed to Uluru, formerly Ayer's Rock. We arrived in the afternoon after lunch on the road, and we quickly unpacked and hopped into the pool. That night we watched the sunset on Uluru, with cheese, crackers, carrots, and hummus. We slept another night under the stars.
Next morning was another early one, 4:45, to see the sunrise on one of the adjacent large pebbles. We hauled up coolers, and had pancakes, cereal, and coffee as the sun rose. After that we headed to our hike of the day, which was a 6k walk around the base of Uluru. We got up close and more personal with the rock later when Robert took us to some of the notable Aboriginal ceremonial spots. After the hike, we went back to the site, to prep it for the other Groovy Grape driver's birthday, who would be staying there that night as well. Then we went on a secret mission, to sneak into the local resort's pool. To say the least, no one was wounded in action and the mission was a great success, very NICE. That night, we had another huge barbecue, sung happy birthday to J.P., the other driver, and had a great time with our fellow Grapers. Before we fell asleep though, we hauled our sleeping gear, swags and sleeping bags, up to another lookout point to see the sunrise on Uluru.
The sun rose really early, some of us might not exactly remember, but it was a beautiful sight. We came back, ate breakfast, and set out for an 8k hike through a series of large rock formations, the most famous of which is Kata Tjuta. Robert informed us of how they formed, and the legends that were behind various areas of it. He also told us about the local plant and animal life that lived around our hiking trail.
We had an uneventful evening in Alice Springs last night. We rested up, got most of the dirt from the outback off our bods, and had a last group meal. Some of the group went out to a bar, Bojangles (to have gingerbeers of course) and some headed back to the hostel for an early night.
Tomorrow we head for the beach at Noosa!
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