tom's travel blog

Ik ga het hele verhaal niet opnieuw doen, maar hieronder is een uittreksel uit de brief die ik gestuurd heb naar de reisagent die me deze nest verkocht heeft, met het vriendelijke doch dringende verzoek m'n geld terug te geven en er gerust een schepje bovenop te doen. Niet dat ik dat extra schepje ga krijgen,maar wie niet vraagt, is euhm, mja, een dikke jeannet. Ge kunt maar proberen! Ter info: de fotookes zijn exclusief voor u, eerzame lezer van deze blog. De reisagent heeft die uiteraard niet gekregen. Teerste fotooke is trouwens van onze ongelukkige eerste stop (zie verder). Let vooral op de olie!

Komt ie!

Day 1:

We were only 60 km out of Alice Springs, when the engine of the minibus exploded. There was no way to drive any further and while the oil was leaking out of the damaged engine, we were stuck for several hours in the desert. After a while, the new bus brought us to the Aboriginal Cultural Center in Uluru. Although we were way behind on schedule, our guide let us wander around at the center for one and a half hour (most tours apparently foresee 30 minutes, maximum 1 hour, which would have been more than enough time). While the complete group was waiting already for 30 minutes for the driver (Mikah) to come, he let us wait another 30 minutes as he was too busy chatting to friends so he forgot the time. At 5 PM we finally left the Cultural Center and drove off for the Uluru base-walk. As the time was (too) short, the driver told us to hurry up. In a rush we tried to get around the Rock, but not everybody managed to walk that fast,so due to the terrible planning of the guide and his chatting around, we missed sunset at Uluru. Even his crazy driving to make up for the lost time did not prevent missing one of the main events for which reason we joined this trip. (de wijn die ik vasthoud is trouwens gepikt van een andere reisorganisatie, hehe)

As a former soldier, I am used to outdoors conditions and I can survive the fact I can't have a shower every evening. Being on a tour though and having to pay for it, I do expect at least a quick shower after a day in the desert. Right before we were driving to our sleeping place (a field in the middle of nowhere), the guide gave us the message that the 5 minute toiletstop at a gasstation would be the last chance for the ladies to use a proper toilet. As there was only 1 toilet for both male & females,it resulted in a 1,5h queu of people wanting to have a quick wash up at one (1!) small sink. The result was that basically everybody ended up sleeping dirty in filthy sleeping bags of other people who didn't showeron previous tours.For this great pleasure of renting these filthy things, we had to pay another $15. Having to wait such a long time made us miss the campfire with the other group of Rock Tours, so we basically immediately went to sleep. The day after, after all, we were supposed to get up at 4 am for the Uluru sunrise and it was already very late.

Day 2

At 5.15 am we were woken up by the guides. Yes, they both set their alarm clock but ow ow ow, they both didn't hear it. After a major rush out of the swags and another crazy ride to get at least somewhere near to Uluru (about 40 km), we missed sunrise as well. Ok, from a very far distance we saw somewhere the sun at the horizon and if you looked closely, you could see the Rock on the other end of the horizon. Brilliant. (ge ziet dat ik niet overdreven heb, he)Fortunately, we ended up in the empty camp of Adventure tours (they obviously made it to get on time to the sunrise) so we could have a decent shower there. As this tour was so far a non-stop failure, some of the travellers and myself decided to inform our guide in a quite firm way that we were not very much impressed with the tour so far,not to mention we were all very angry with him. After breakfast, it seemed like he understood our message and he made a little bit more effort to explain things about the region, the nature and the culture. Basic things that can be expected from a guide. After a very hot walk in the Olga's, we got back on the bus, seeking some refreshment from the airconditioning. Unfortunately, after a short ride, the airco broke down with a loud "bang" and that was the end of cooler moments. At that stage, everybody was really very very angry with the guide, He decided though that it was a right moment to joke a bit and sing some songs. When nobody reacted on his questions "who knows a song, who knows a joke, who can eat a veetabix in one minute?", he started shouting at us that "There are 21 people on this bus,so if I ask you something, I demand that at least one of you gives me an answer. I can take a lot, but I can't take bullshit". His actual words.

After a long, hot and silent ride,we reached our second camping ground. Fortunately,there were showers and toilet facilities. The guide asked us what time we wanted to eat, and we told him that 8 pm would be fine. At 11.15 pm, the food was finally "ready". The rice was a bit of a challenge though: the bottom part was burned black, the top part still raw. Not to mention that the meat & vegetable mix tasted like plastic. This must have been the only moment during the whole trip there was enough food for everybody(nobody wanted it), as during previous meals most of the guys left the table hungry. It must have been close to midnight when we finally made it to bed and we had to get up very early again (3.30am).

Day 3

This time,we had learned our lesson and set our own alarm clocks. At 3.30 we jumped out of our swags, started packing and woke up our guide (he overslept AGAIN !)so we could make it on time to the Kings Canyon. There the guide really made an effort, so no complaints about the Kings Canyon-trip. Over lunch, he decided to go repair the airconditioning so he left us preparing the meal. No problem, except for the small detail that he forgot to unload the cooking pots which are quite essential if you want to make pasta-salad. With another hour delay, we finally hit the road to go back to Alice Springs. I almost forget to mention that after a short ride the airconditioning broke down again and that the engine made such strange noises, that everybody expected to be stranded again in the desert. We almost did, after the driver nearly drove in to some wild horses on the road. Then I must admit it is also very difficult to drive with one foot on the dashboard while you try to take pictures of your sleeping passengers. By pure coincedence, we survived his driving skills and after an extreme hot and long ride, we finally finally got back to Alice and rid of "Rock Tours".


Strange enough, after all what happened, the guide and myself have quite a lot in common. Just like him, I can't take "bullshit" either, therefore I demand a full refund of the money I paid for this miserable trip and a financial compensation for all the problems this company caused. I expect as soon as possible the sum of $500 refunded to my credit card (Peter Pan Cairns has my details) and I sincerly hope that Peter Pan and other travel agencies will no longer offer this tour. It is a pure rip-off, NO value for money and the unqualified and rude staff is just the cherry on the cake.