There are so many dogs barking.
We arrived back from day 7 of 9 days of buffel grass removal at 3:30 and now I am sitting outside in the 4:30 sun (which out here presents the possibility of burn) in one of very few locations where I get a small enough bit of service to send some emails. I am not moving. The volunteer accommidations here consist of 5 trailers surrounding a wooden deck area with these really awesome permanent tarp type things hung from metal poles to provide shade on the deck. There is a trailer that is a kitchen, one that is two bathrooms, and 3 that are split into two bedrooms with 2 sets of bunch beds each. The trailer complex is located inside a fenced-in area that serves as the equipment storage space for the Uluru/Katajula Parks department. Surrounding the storage area is an Aboriginal community. We have been told it is not a good idea to leave the fenced area, not because of the people we might encounter, but because of all the dogs. Apparently, (and I heard this first from an Irish backpacker in Alice Springs who is a veterinarian) there is a pretty large problem with dog populations getting out of control because the aboriginees don't neuter them and they let them run wherever. Good thing I know all about pack mentality from The Dog Whisperer. There are packs of dogs everywhere and at least once a half-hour someone in that pack must be challenging authority because you'll suddenly hear a commotion of what sounds like 15 dogs all barking together... and sadly there is usually one whining in a "please don't hurt me" voice.
Today is day 8 of 10 working. We worked through the weekend making Saturday, Sunday and Monday "light" days by only working two shifts. We spent the extra time doing various hikes at Uluru and Kata Tjuta. It was at Kata Tjuta that I encountered my first wild Kangaroo! Or it might have been a wallabee... we weren't sure. But either way, it hops and has a pocket... which makes it awesome in my book.
The sunsets and sunrises here are AMAZING. When you are standing so that you are facing the rock and the sun is setting behind you, it casts all different colors on the rock as it goes down. And since it is a desert you can see the horizon in all directions to see how the sky changes. On the way home from Kata Tjuta on Sunday we stopped to see the sunset. There was a full moon on this night rises from the opposite direction as the sun was setting. Because the moon was so low it was really big and really awesome. Pictures can't accurately capture this experience.
And once the sun is down, there are sooooo many stars. Not even out in the midwest did I see so many stars. When you look up it looks like it could be snowing. AND you can see the Milky Way... easily. Last night we went on a star tour. This meant we stood out in a field and this guy told us about what we were looking at. Apparently you can see more stars from the southern hemisphere than anywhere in the north because the difference in the amount of light pollution is just that extreme. The guy also had two big telescopes set up for us and we looked at the moon, Saturn and several stars that look like just one star to the naked eye but are actually many stars close together. The middle of our star tour was interrupted by a crazy noise that had I been alone would have sent me running. It sounded like a growl from a dingo of giant mythical proportions. Tina reassured me that I was probably a camel. And the next day we did discover that there indeed was a camel farm not to far away.
A camel. Ha.
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