“Carrion!
In a moment I'm lost
Dying from the inside
Her eyes take me away
Tear me apart from the inside ou….”

On auto pilot, I reached for my phone and swiped the screen to disable my alarm. My eyes strained to open; eye lids heavy as if weighed down by sleep induced cement. I last had them open the night prior as I slid under my dirty travel blanket, stained by many nights sleeping in the car or in the tent in my filthy exploring attire.

I heard a bird but my brain was too foggy to even begin to guess which kind. My mind started to regain a workable amount of focus and one by one I managed to crack the concrete on my corneas to see soft daylight pouring in through the open window of the cheap, flimsy $50 tent that has somehow lasted more than a handful of gusty nights.

As the brain haze started to lift so did my spirits, I remembered where I was and the reason I had set my alarm so early. Flashbacks played in my head from the previous day.

Seeing the dunes. Trying to figure out how to reach them. The sheer scale of them growing at a shocking rate the closer I managed to get. I eventually followed the tiny, boggy road that my creaking, ticking, groaning sedan had no business driving down, especially in such a remote location.

The track led to the bushy base of the biggest, steepest sand dunes I had ever seen. The bushes were spikey, thick and menacing but there was nothing that was going to stop me climbing this pile of sand. With light fading fast I abandoned plans of driving all night to reach the nullarbor by sunrise and set up camp between the intimidating bushes and my poor over worked car.

“bwark!” I was Startled out of my reminiscing by a giant white bird with long black legs and a yellow beak, proclaiming something I did not understand. Was this his prickly bush?

I had a good 20 minutes until the sun breached the horizon so I slammed down a can of cold Heinz baked beans with vigor for some much-needed energy. Once finished I hurriedly packed up my tent and grabbed my camera gear which weighed the proverbial ton. At a brisk pace I then attacked the thinnest patch of deadly looking bush I could find with flailing spider like limbs, collecting small cuts all over for my troubles.

I broke through the other side and for the first time my thonged feet sank into pure golden velvet-like sand.  I glanced toward what looked to be the top of the dune and started a slow march toward the summit. Left foot, right foot. Left foot, right foot. Each step upward on the close to vertical incline burning holes through my thighs and calves. It felt as though I was treading water, with each huge lunge upward, I would slide half as far back down the slope., leaving a falling river of sand pouring down the trail I had blazed at a not so impressive rate.

After 3 or 4 minutes of this and travelling a total of 2 meters forward and about 6 metres upward I reached what I thought to be the summit only to realise I was far from done. The incline improved but the dune stretched on for what seemed an eternity to my ravaged leg muscles. I wasn’t on the tallest point I could see, but by this stage the sun was agonizingly close to peeking its head over the baron horizon in the distance so I decided to stay put.

I couldn’t contain my excitement with an uncontrollable smile sweeping its way across my face which would have looked pretty creepy to any passersby. Luckily I could have travelled 30km in any direction and not seen a single man-made object let alone a human. 

I also felt nervous. I had built this moment up in my head since I first lay eyes on these golden behemoths. I’d had a bad few months and had grown quite accustomed to disappointment back home and this trip was meant to make all of that go away.

Just as I thought those negative thoughts were going to take over, it happened. The first bursts of sunlight escaped the confines of the horizon and I instantly felt the warmth in my cheeks and in my soul.

Inch by inch the minimalistic landscape sprung to life before me with beauty, detail and expression. Snaking patterns in the sand leading as far as the eyes could see. Dunes rose and fell like enormous rolling waves made of earth. Every direction was endless expanse, slow dancing in golden light.

The sun kissed tops of the dunes giving way to the total contrast of the blackened, light starved valleys in-between. The sheer scale was beyond comprehension. Way off in the distance my shadow jumped around wildly, mirroring my excitement on a dune that would have to be 5 storeys tall. At this point, it was clear this morning would live with me forever.

I was just about to set up camp permanently on top of the world, but before I had the chance to do so my bird friend flew overhead once again squawking his disapproval. Surely, he couldn’t lay claim to all this too?

Could anyone?