During the planning and packing stages for my four-week trek in Australia, I never once considered that I might find myself in the Outback. I had every intention of staying near the coast to catch some rays during what people from my hemisphere consider to be winter. I traveled Down Under in the months of December and January, which is actually the Southern Hemisphere’s summertime. I was on vacation, after all, and the thought of a hot desert filled with exotic animals did not sound appealing.

I spent two weeks with a friend traveling the east coast of Australia, from Sydney up through the Gold Coast. We made it north of Brisbane to a town called Rockhampton. This area is at the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef, so we caught a boat to a little island called Great Keppel. We spent five days relaxing with the fish via scuba and snorkel. After two weeks on the coast my skin was burnt to a crisp and I had seen enough fish. We flew back to Sydney and my friend caught a flight home. I had two more weeks all to myself and I had no idea what I wanted to do.

While in Sydney I wandered into the Northern Territory Visitor’s Center at Darling Harbor. Darling Harbor is a modern and futuristic waterfront development of restaurants, cafes, bars, shops, casinos, hotels, theaters, large tourist attractions and marinas. I found Sydney to be a very young and trendy city, and sitting out on a restaurant patio drinking Guinness was a favorite pastime of mine while I was there. People-watching at Darling Harbor was always entertaining, with its mix of tourists and posh locals passing by. As much as I enjoyed the city’s atmosphere, I was ready to explore other parts of the continent.

Australia is a gigantic island. While there I saw a 3D image of Australia’s land mass being placed on top of the United States and they were just about the same size. In fact, Australia is 7,686,850 square kilometers (2,967,893 square miles) compared to the States being 9,372,610 square kilometers (3,618,765 square miles). The interesting fact, however, is that while the U.S. population is at nearly 300 million, Australia is home to a mere 20 million people. Most of Australia’s people live on or near the coast. Very few people live in the Red Centre, otherwise known as the Outback. The weather is harsh, the animals are mean and there is not much in the way of entertainment. These were the reasons I figured no one lived in the Outback and the reasons I didn’t want to go there. I had no plans of visiting the Outback, so I figured I would get my fill in the visitor’s center.

While roaming through the museum/store I saw images of desert, rocks and animals such as dingos, camels, kangaroos, emus, wallabies and wedge-tailed eagles. I also saw images of Aboriginals. All I knew of these people I learned from watching “Crocodile Dundee” when I was a kid. I envisioned boomerangs, ritual dancing and starting fires with sticks. My introduction to the native people began with their flag.

I was already familiar with the Australian flag as I had seen it waving from every flagpole throughout the land. There are three main elements to the Australian flag: the Union Jack, the Southern Cross and the Commonwealth Star of Freedom. The Union Jack in the upper left corner marks Australia’s historical links with Great Britain. Australia started out as a penal colony for the unruly Brits. The Southern Cross on the right side of the flag consists of five stars in a more or less kite-like pattern. The constellation of the Southern Cross is a significant navigational feature of the Southern Hemisphere, which strongly places Australia geographically and has been associated with the continent since its earliest days. I recall hearing a story that British explorer Captain James Cook, who was the first European to discover Australia, used the Southern Cross as a directional aid while in search of the new land around 1770.

The Commonwealth Star, or Star of Federation, below the Union Jack has seven points to denote the six states and the combined territories of the Commonwealth. The seventh point was added in 1909. The six states that make up Australia are Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The seventh point represents Australia’s many territories, including Tasmania, which was acquired in 1901.

The Flag of Aboriginal Australia was first flown in 1971. It is comprised of two horizontal halves of black and red, with a yellow circle in the center. The black symbolizes Aboriginal people and the red represents the earth and the blood of the Aboriginal people. The yellow circle celebrates the sun as the constant renewer of life.

The Aboriginal population is about 300,000, which is 1.5 percent of the total population living in all parts of Australia, with a large concentration in Queensland. The official language of Australia is English, but among the Aboriginals, 500 traditional languages belonging to 31 language groups are still used. There are about 300 Aboriginal communities with separate identities.

I also learned that the literal translation of the word “Aborigine” is: the people who were here from the beginning. Much like the Native Americans, the Aborigines were treated cruelly by invaders. In 1951 an official assimilation policy by the government was implemented to eliminate any sense of a separate Aboriginal identity. All the Aboriginal people’s territory was occupied, and their rights of self-determination and their human rights were violated.

Not until 1972 was the Aboriginal Land Right Commission established to investigate how land could be returned to the Aboriginals. Then the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act of 1976 established the basis upon which Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory could, for the first time, claim rights to land based on traditional occupation. This Act was the first law in Australia which allowed a claim of title if claimants could provide evidence of their traditional association with land.

In 1996 the United Church of Australia apologized to the Aboriginals for the suffering caused in the name of the church. However, the government refused to officially apologize to the Aboriginals for the genocide committed against them.

I was fascinated and became interested in seeing the Outback and its people for myself. However, much of Australia is under Aboriginal control and either permits are required to enter or access can be denied. We must respect the rights of the traditional owners at all times as much as we would respect that of a property owner anywhere. Severe penalties can be imposed for trespassing on Aboriginal land. This is particularly so in the Outback regions. Some roads pass through Aboriginal lands and no one will be allowed to enter unless they have acquired a permit.

I realized that I couldn’t just go there without a plan or a guide, so I booked a five-day tour at the visitor’s center with Sahara Tours. I was a little nervous because I hadn’t planned on venturing to the Outback and I knew it would entail camping and hiking. Luckily, the tour included sleeping gear and food, as well as transportation and access. The only item I was missing was proper walking shoes. All I had were Reef flip-flops.

I flew from Sydney to Alice Springs at the heart of the Red Center and also the highest point in the Northern Territory. Alice Springs is located almost in the direct center of Australia, just north of the border separating the Northern Territory and South Australia. Alice Springs is considered the gateway to Central Australia because it is the closest thing to actual civilization, complete with a very small airport. When I stepped off the plane I took a deep breath, and the impact of the dry heat on my lungs knocked the wind out of me. Toddy’s Backpacker Resort picked me up and took me to my home for the night. I chose to stay at this place because it had a swimming pool, laundry, an evening BBQ and a bar. It had everything I needed to get me through the night until I was to be picked up by my tour group at 6:45 a.m.

By 8 a.m. I was in hell. All 18 passengers were on board with Sheamus, the tour guide/driver. I was the youngest person, the only American, the only person without a companion and the only person, aside from the driver, who spoke English. I was on a tour of the Outback with 17 Swiss-Germans who chattered among themselves in a language I could not begin to comprehend. They were not all together, it was a complete coincidence, but I considered it to be bad luck. The first day of the adventure is somewhat blurred in my mind due to the shock I was going through over my unfortunate situation. I convinced myself that I had made a mistake by going to the Outback. Sheamus still talked in English with the microphone the whole trip about the history and details of the Outback, for what I believed to be my sole benefit.

We traveled south through the striking James and Waterhouse Ranges, stopping at the Outback Camel Farm. I didn’t ride a camel, but was quite amused to sit there and watch them. A camel stands from 6 feet to just over 6 feet 6 inches tall at the shoulders, and weighs from 550 to 1,500 pounds. Its rope-like tail is over 19 inches long.

A camel needs little water each day because it gets some moisture from its food. At times when the moisture content is high, camels can survive for several months without drinking water. For example, camels need less water in winter when the weather is cool and the plants they eat contain more moisture than in summer. I was envious of the camel’s ability to go without water. Sheamus had said we needed to drink one liter of water for every hour we walked in the Outback. Dehydration can become a matter of life and death when so far away from civilization.

The first camel in Australia was imported from the Canary Islands in 1840. An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 camels were imported into Australia between 1860 and 1907 and were used as draft and riding animals by people pioneering the dry interior. Today camel rides are available all over Australia with more than 40 camel farms operating in Australia. I found it sad to watch the tourists riding the camels because the animals had limited freedom within the farm.

We drove on toward our next destination, the Olgas, which are a group of rock domes. The Aboriginal name for the Olgas is Kata Tjuta, which means “the place of many heads.” The Olgas are made up of 36 individual domes—the tallest, Mt. Olga, stands 1,790 feet high—and valleys and gorges to walk through. We took a beautiful walk through the Valley of the Winds. I had still not had any interactions with my tour mates.

After arriving and setting up camp at Ayers Rock Resort, also in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, we headed out to watch the sun set behind the majestic rock, which the Aboriginals call Uluru. Ayers Rock is arkoses, a course-grained sandstone rich in the mineral feldspar, and at least 1.5 miles thick. Approximately 500 million years ago, it was part of the ocean floor at the center of Australia. The Aborigines believe that it is hollow below ground, and that there is an energy source that they call “Tjukurpa,” the “dream time.” The term Tjukurpa is also used to refer to the record of all activities of a particular ancient person from the very beginning of his or her travels to the end. As I was on my own journey, I could relate to this concept.

In the 1980s, the Australian Federal Government decided that giving Ayers Rock and the Olgas to the indigenous Aboriginals and then leasing it back would best serve the future of Australia. It is now under Aboriginal management and is a National Park. Like the Olgas, Uluru is set within the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, and the same pass that you use for the Olgas also allows you to visit Ayers Rock.

Sheamus told us that during sunset and sunrise the rock changes colors, from grays, to browns, to reds, to oranges, to yellows. I had to see it happen for myself and it was amazing. The sky turned the most amazing color of purple and pink with swirls of light puffs of white clouds. The view made me believe that heaven must exist. I could not help but be moved by the beauty. There was another tour group there, which looked a little classier than ours. They had popped bottles of champagne and were toasting the Uluru and the end of the day. I said my own private cheers under my breath.

At camp that night, I shared a two-person tent with a young woman named Zoë (Pictured at right. Zoë on left, Shannon on right). Zoë was touring with her sister and her sister’s boyfriend so she was the odd duck out, like me. Luckily, Zoë had been learning English while living in Sydney, so she was happy to have me around to practice the language. This was a breakthrough for me because I didn’t feel so alone any longer. Through Zoë I was introduced to two more people, but there was little verbal interaction beyond that.

The next morning we got up before sunrise and went back to Ayers Rock. It was a magical moment to watch the sunrise after I experienced it setting the evening before. It came up behind the rock and set the sky on fire with swirls of orange, yellow and pink. After the sunrise a few members of our tour opted to climb Uluru. Uluru is its Aboriginal name. Ayers Rock is 1,148 feet above the desert floor. The hike up is about a mile and takes about three hours.

Uluru is a sacred sight to the Aboriginals and they would prefer people not to walk up it, but they also don’t stop them. There were people visiting from all over the globe on a mission to the top. Several people have died from climbing the rock, mainly due to heart attacks, although some by falling. There is a chain that helps you on the steepest section, but I guess it ends nearly half way to the top. It didn’t sound like fun to me, but I had several hours to kill, so I walked the 5.8 miles around the base of the rock.

I was happy that it was early in the morning because the sun was not too bad. It was actually quite pleasant out and I couldn’t beat the view of the landscape. All I could see was the massive rock right next to me and all around there was nothing but wide-open desert. I had expected the Outback to be all brown and red, but there was surprisingly a lot of green around. There were trees, bushes and grass. Around the base I saw numerous Aboriginal paintings on the walls of ancient caves. As the sun rose higher in the sky, it became unbearable to be outside in the suffocating heat. We spent the rest of the afternoon driving further into the Red Center.

That night at camp, I learned that a couple more of the people on my tour could speak very broken English and were too shy or uncomfortable to talk to me. Little did they realize that I was craving conversation, some human interaction. It was very strange to experience the day with these people and see amazing sights together, but not communicate beyond nods and quiet “hellos.” Because no one could communicate with me properly, I was left out of the meal preparation and clean up. I tried to do what I could, but they shooed me away with smiles. I had never been so lonely while being surrounded by so many people. Everyone else had bonded and formed new friendships. Zoë was a small source of companionship, but she spent days with her sister and only nights sharing a tent with me. Her fractured English became exhausting to keep up with when we did talk. After a few conversations with Sheamus, I discovered that he was in La-La Land when he wasn’t behind the wheel. I never found out if he was getting stoned or drunk once we set up camp, but he lacked any professionalism once we were done driving for the day.

Early the next morning we traveled out to Kings Canyon nestled in the George Gill Ranges. We explored by foot in the Watarrka National Park, which contains many waterholes and pockets of lush vegetation, and more than 600 plant species in the otherwise dry, red environment. Millions of years of erosion have formed the sandstone gorge, now known as Kings Canyon, with walls more than 330 feet high. We saw walls that contained the fossilized tracks of ancient marine creatures and the ripple marks of an ancient sea.

We drove to Finke Gorge National Park less than 124 miles’ journey from Kings Canyon. The Finke River is the oldest riverbed in the world. Finke is home to Palm Valley, an unusual tropical oasis in the dry heart of the country with a host of rare and ancient palm species. Palm Valley is the home of the ancient palm, Livistona mariae, and is the only place in the world they can be found. Walking over beds of rocks caused blisters on my feet from my unstable flip-flops. My walking ability was inhibited for the rest of the trip.

Our camp that night was at Wallace Rock Hole Aboriginal Community, home to the Arrernte people. The Eastern and Central Arrernte people live in Central Australia, which is their traditional land, including the area of Alice Springs and the East MacDonnell Ranges. Arrernte country is rich with mountain ranges, waterholes, and gorges. There are roughly 1,800 speakers of Eastern and Central Arrernte, making it the largest spoken language in the Aramaic family, and one of the largest speaking populations of any Australian language. We were guided to the local store, which sold local Aboriginal art and basic supplies. We were encouraged to purchase art and other souvenirs.

The next morning we were guided on a tour of Wallace Rock Hole and viewed Aboriginal rock art. We went for a swim in a waterhole near our camp, but other than passing some of the native people in the street, we had no interaction. The Arrernte people prefer to be left alone and for spiritual reasons it is absolutely forbidden to take their picture.

I walked past a man playing a didgeridoo and slowed my pace so that I could enjoy the sounds of nature. The didgeridoo is a long wooden flute and is perhaps the oldest musical instrument on earth. The wind instrument is made from limbs and tree trunks hollowed out by termites. It is cut to an average length of 4 feet and cleaned out with a stick or hot coals. It produces a low-pitched, resonant sound with complex rhythmic patterns. Aboriginals believe that if the Earth had a voice it would be the sound of the didgeridoo.

We traveled through Tyler’s Pass to our overnight camp in the Western MacDonnell Ranges. About half a mile from our campsite was a little bar, which consisted mostly of locals. At last I could have a drink and loosen up around my tour mates. I had a few beers and spent the entire night talking with the bartenders and local English-speaking Aussies. They told me that I was the first American to pass through the doors in more than four years. They asked me what life was like in America post 9/11 and I reveled in the company and the attention. It was the last night of the tour and I was finally feeling comfortable. I played pool with one of the guys on the tour and we communicated our plays with hand maneuvers. I felt like I had finally bonded with my tour mates, but still didn’t know any of their names.

Our last day on the tour was spent relaxing in the Western MacDonnell Ranges visiting Glen Helen. The gorge is cut by the Finke River, which left a waterhole for us to swim in while we were there. As we swam in the refreshing water the scenery of the MacDonnell Ranges inspired me. The magnificent orange- and red-colored rugged gorges and rocky ridges reminded me of the walls of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

By mid-afternoon we were back at the hostel in Alice Springs. My flight to Melbourne was leaving early the next morning. I spent the evening doing laundry and swimming. Most of the tour group was meeting at a local restaurant for dinner so I went and ate a silent meal as everyone was chatting about our completed adventure. At least, that is what I assume they were talking about. We dined on emus, buffalo, crocodile and snake shish kabob. I was nervous to try the different meats, but it turned out they all tasted like chicken. Sheamus and I discussed the trip and the irony of my being in a country where the dominant language is English, but feeling like I was in a completely foreign land due to the diversity of languages and landscapes.

After dinner we all headed to a nightclub, where everyone drank too much and danced on tables. One by one each member of the tour came up to me and started talking to me in clear yet slow, precise English. They introduced themselves and expressed pleasure in having spent time with me on the tour. I was shocked and irritated. They had waited until the last hours of our time together to talk to me, and in English no less. They had understood everything Sheamus had been saying over the loudspeaker the entire trip. The delusion that he had been talking for my benefit alone had been shattered.

Their silence toward me remains a great mystery to me. They could have been too shy to talk to me until their inhibitions were lost to the alcohol. They could have been intimidated by me being an American, but they didn’t really communicate with Sheamus either. All I know is that for one night I didn’t feel so alone.