Sleeping under the storms

Flying into Alice Springs you can suddenly see where Aboriginal dot paintings come from, it's laid out underneath you in desert reds and oranges, with perfect yellow circles of sand punctuating the ridges.

But it wasn't all ochre shades, the landscape was studded, almost completely covered in some places, by lush green growth. This particular desert has had nearly three times its annual rainfall* already this year (although admittedly the first three months is when you'd expect the wet weather), and we became the latest group of tourists to experience what is usually an extremely rare occurence.

Our outback tour started on Sunday morning. I'd met up with Giles the day before in Alice, and at 6am we got into the 4WD drive truck and headed off on the 450km ride towards Uluru with our new tour-mates.

It's well worth the drive though, such a crazy lump of rock in the middle of nowhere, exactly as you imagine it but even better colours and textures.

We had some added excitement as sunset approached...all the tours offer relaxed sunset viewings and ours came with fizz...except it was our guide's first time, and he messed up the timing! Cue hasty U-turn as he realised we weren't going to reach the viewing point, illegal pull-up on the side of the road, and a truck-full of camera wielding travellers rushing out to snap some quick pictures before the shadows ruined the shot. Phew.

We then headed to our campsite, and after cooking and eating kangeroo bolognaise we stood around talking, admiring the fire and the stars. Oh the stars...

At about 10pm, Giles, myself and Will wandered up a little sand dune away from the camp to get a better view and to investigate the distant flashes of light. It became obvious we were watching a storm, or storms, with lightning flashing at various points across at least 70 degrees of the horizon.

So, 360 degree sky - galaxies overhead, shooting stars and satellites...

Lightning flaring like a distant alien invasion...

And then we watched the moon rise...blood orange as it sailed up over the horizon.

Incredible.

Eventually we went down to our swags (kinda like a canvas sleeping bag, with a mattress inside) which we'd set up a little bit away from the others and the heat of the fire, and lay down to stare at the sky some more. Sometime around midnight we finally drifted off, and sometime around 1am I was woken by a low, persistent rumbling...

Yep, Giles was snoring at my head, and Will was snoring at my feet - surround sound! Thankfully swags are pretty mobile so I picked mine up and headed another 20 feet into the outback. By now there were clouds appearing overhead, cutting out the stars from the east as the moon carried on its journey obliterating stars from the west. I could also hear and feel the breeze picking up...the storm was coming. Far too excited to sleep now I stayed awake, watching as the lightning show crept steadily towards us. The wind got a cold edge, the trees started to sway and rustle slightly menacingly, the clouds were blacker than the night and then I heard the sound of bottles being blown over round the fire. I was the only one awake and it was starting to get a bit spooky. I picked up my swag again to move closer to human company and felt the first drop...

Was that rain? Pause. Drop. Hmm...

'Giles?'. Drop, drop.

'I think that was rain.'

Drop, drop drop, drop drop drop.

'WILL!'. And we're both up, shouting Will awake and grabbing our stuff: 'It's here!'.

A mad dash for the BBQ shelter and truck as fourteen others also scramble to drag their belongings out of the now deluge. We huddled in the vehicle as the rain thumped, thunder rolled and lightning blazed.

Desert storms don't last too long though, and within fifteen minutes or so it had passed and by 3am most of us are back out in swags, although this time we're sardined together under the corrugated iron roof of the shelter. Will and I briefly discussed the fact that it looked as if some of the storm still hadn't reached us...and sure enough, as everyone else dozed off I again found that I couldn't tear my eyes of the amazing display. Beautiful forks of pure white light licking the sky, and when I did close my eyes - FLASH! Like the beam of a headlight right through my eyelids. Wide awake again I watched the second front reach us. The lightning came far closer, tearing jagged scars across the sky as the thunder growled deeper, lower, longer than I've ever heard. And then again, violently, more rain as it passed overhead.

Another quick scramble to the truck for me...my swag was not quite under the roof! But back out once it passed. This time I may have even got an hour's sleep before the last, storm-free, downpour in the early hours. I decided to stick it out by zipping up my swag fully and hiding my head under the flap at the top...but ten minutes later, with wet sleeping bag and pyjamas I climb back into the truck. Turns out 'waterproof' aint in the guarantee. Hunched into two seats I manage another hour of sporadic dozing before...can you believe it, it's 5.45am. Wakey wakey people, time for day two :)

*Annual rainfall is usually 250mm, they've had around 650mm already.