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Tags: On Walkabout / Australia Travel / Uluru / Dumb Tourists / → All Tags

Cell Phone Saves Desert-Wandering Romanian

That great Australian outback has nearly fooled another tourist. A Romanian guy set out on a long hike from Yulara, near Uluru, and ended up lost in the desert.

He called himself an experienced hiker but only took a gallon of water for a 28-mile hike in temperatures well over 100 degrees. Without food or even water from the third day of his blind wanderings, he was extremely lucky to stumble into a rare outback zone of cell phone coverage and he called his family back in Romania.

His folks got onto the Australian police, who searched for him by helicopter. He’d survived six days in the outback before he was found, but police say in the last few years there have been three other hikers who haven’t been found.

Need we say it again? Take water and be prepared. We don’t want the Aussie Outback to be the last you see of the world.

Related Stories:
· Tourist Rescued From Outback After Calling Family in Romania [The Age]
· Getting Out To The Aussie Outback [Jaunted]
· Won’t Get Fooled Again [Jaunted]

[Photo: Paleontour]

Tags: On Walkabout / Australia Travel / Qantas / Tiger Airways / Train Travel / Driving / → All Tags

Getting Out To The Aussie Outback

The Australian outback is a strange beast: Part desert, part simple empty land, it covers most of the country. But it's also, some say, one of the most beautiful places on earth, and we want to tell you how to get there.

The first thing to remember is that you can't just take a day trip to the outback, like many tourists plan. It'll take a day just to get there. The easiest way is to fly into Alice Springs, pretty much smack bang in the middle of the country. Aussie airline Qantas flies in from all major Australian cities and curiously, Tiger Airways has started up a Melbourne to Alice Springs route.

A great way to get into the Outback without flying is to take the Ghan Railway from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs--a great way, but not a cheap way.

And for stubborn travelers who insist on driving into the outback themselves, the motto is to be prepared. Stock up on extra fuel, a lot of extra water, make sure your car's reliable and basically get a ton of advice or you'll risk frying up in the middle of nowhere. No matter how beautiful it is, you don't want it to be the last place you see.

Related Stories:
· And Now, An Even More Expensive Way to See the Desert [Jaunted]
· Won't Get Fooled Again [Jaunted]
· Australia Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: anniemullinsuk]