The Outback, The Red Centre, Way Out Back of Beyond… You know, the middle of Australia! It is desert country. But don’t let this fool you into thinking that it is just wide open spaces void of anything. A road trip from Alice Springs to Adelaide comes with many of these wide open spaces.
It is said (don’t ask me who said it, but I’ve read it somewhere) that travelling through the outback of Australia is a bit of a rite of passage for many Australians (and probably visitors too). This is probably the time to admit that I made a pact years ago (when I was much littler and things like new grey hairs or having to watch what I eat were concerns) with a friend that we would make it to the red centre. And while I didn’t make it with that friend (who went years ago apparently), I went with my mum. The special part about this is that I’ve actually stayed in the middle of Australia before, with my mum, exactly 35 years ago – when I was just a seed, a parasite, a bun (er…you know in the oven!). So here are the wide open spaces we encountered together…
Wide open red spaces
Wide open grey spaces - Dead grass waiting for the rain
Wide open white spaces - Lake Hart (Salt Flats)
With the kilometres peeling off behind us as we headed south, the sand, salt and dead grass provided beautiful contrasts with the wide blue sky. Then of course there was the black and sometimes red road that led us on our journey.
Following the white dotted lines
And I could not resist including a photo of myself in the wide open space…
The road, the beast, the wide open space .... and me!
…Erin
