FIELD NOTES: PRESERVATION & EDUCATION IN THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK
Extreme heat, relentless sun, dry riverbeds, endless red sand, and complete isolation make even simple tasks physically taxing, forcing you to rely on your gear, your team, and your ability to adapt. For photographer and expedition guide Connor Lau, this expedition across Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon, and beyond was more than just travel. It was an immersion into one of the harshest and most culturally significant landscapes on earth. Through long days on foot, nights spent sleeping under the open sky, and firsthand experiences with Indigenous history and remote living, the Outback became a lesson in resilience, perspective, and what it means to truly engage with a place, as well as share it with others.
Photos by Connor Lau.
Introduce yourself — who are you and what is your background in going on multi-day expeditions in rural places?
I'm Connor Lau and I was born and raised up in Kaimuki, Hawaii. I'm a photographer and filmmaker currently based in San Diego, California. I've always been drawn to anything outdoors, which led me to study Environmental Management in college. Since graduating, I've worked jobs in conservation, education, marketing, film, and social media before settling into filming and editing full-time in San Diego. Outside of that work, I also guide international expeditions for high school students, with the most recent being in the Australian Outback.
What is the goal of these expeditions, and what do you and your crew do daily to work towards accomplishing that goal?
These expeditions are an opportunity for students to positively engage with both local and global communities. More importantly, it exposes them to authentic, immersive, and often challenging learning experiences that many would otherwise never encounter. The goal is to encourage honest reflection, environmental awareness, and a stronger sense of community through shared experience.
The goal of this particular expedition [in the Australian Outback] focused on immersing our students in indigenous history, contemporary culture, environmental awareness, and intentional storytelling. We traveled through Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon, Alice Springs, Canberra, and Sydney, engaging with Indigenous narratives, landscapes, and ecosystems. Each day was shaped by lessons from local guides, learning about Aboriginal people's history, hiking on sacred grounds, cooking bush meat, and sleeping under the Milky Way.
Walk us through a day camping remotely in the Australian Outback – from the moment you wake up to going down for rest. How many different types of terrains, conditions, weather did you experience throughout the trip, or throughout each day.
Our days started early and ended late. We would wake up between 4:30 and 5:00 am, roll up our bush swags (traditional Australian bedroll), and scarf down a quick breakfast before loading into the van to catch the sunrise behind Uluru. From there, the days unfolded across Uluru, Kata Tjuta, and Kings Canyon. As we hiked through these places, our local guides shared stories of how Aboriginals connected with these sacred places and lived among them. We learned the history of their people, their beliefs, and the ongoing realities of hardship that still exist today. On the way back to camp, we would stop along the road to collect firewood. We watched wild kangaroos and camels roam the red sand hills, searching for a place to rest before nightfall. At camp, we would light a fire, cook dinner, and watch the sky turn from blue to orange, to red, to purple. We ate dinner around the campfire and traded stories from our day before the night cooled enough to unroll our swags. One shooting star became another, then another, until the sky felt like it was in constant motion. The fire crackled till it turned to coals and we fell asleep to the sound of dingoes calling in the distance.
Before arriving in the outback, there had been a month of unusual rain. We were welcomed with a rare sight of verdant shrubs contrasting with the red sand of the desert. A river bed that is dry most of its existence tries to direct rainwater like a teenager learning to drive. The locals say if you see that river flow 3 times in your life, you are now a local. I guess we are a third of the way there.
Even with that rain, the land does not stay soft for long. The window between wet and dry is measured in days. Soon enough, it returned to its usual state, vast, sun-scorched, and seemingly endless. So expansive that if your car breaks down out there, it is often cheaper to abandon it and buy a new one than to tow it back to the nearest town.
With only grasses and shrubs breaking up the endless sea of red sand, your chances of finding shade are close to zero. The sun tracked us from the moment it rose to the moment it disappeared. Breezes were far and few between, but the inexorable plaguing of the flies almost made us forget about the sun's incessant nature. The nights were warm enough to sleep outside, yet cool enough that you did not want to leave the shelter of your swag once you were in it.
When faced with harsh conditions in the Outback, you have to be able to fully trust in your gear to get you through. What gear did you lean on most during this expedition?
The Australian outback is an unforgiving landscape with rapid temperature swings, from extreme daytime heat to brisk nights, transient water sources, scarce canopy cover, harsh terrains, relentless insects, and formidable UV exposure. The gear I leaned on the most was the Airtex Long Sleeve Hooded Shirt, Cordura Covert Short, Polartec Alpha Direct Hooded Fleece and Pant. The Airtex Long Sleeve Hooded Shirt did what every sun shirt aims to do but often fails at: allowing airflow without compromising sun protection. The Cordura Covert Short gave me the freedom to move without worrying about the fabric breaking down on the sand, rocks, or brush we maneuvered over, through, and around. The Polartec Alpha Direct Hooded Fleece and Pant performed unlike any fleece I have worn before. They are incredibly lightweight, to the point where I initially questioned whether they would be warm enough. I was wrong. They held warmth well while stationary around camp, yet remained breathable enough that once I started moving, airflow through the material prevented overheating.
A few other pieces of gear I depended on were my Black Diamond head lamp, bush swag, and Jocko Fuel electrolyte powder. A headlamp is a non-negotiable while camping anywhere. Being in the center of the Australian outback, not having a headlamp is a death wish. The bush swags were a new piece of gear for me. I've cowboy camped before, but sleeping without a tent in the outback, with snakes, spiders, and other critters looking for a warm place to den, had me a little hesitant at first. After hearing from local guides that they had never experienced critters crawling in the swags, my fears were slightly eased. In practice, they proved warm, comfortable, and protected you from the elements. Better than any other cowboy camping I've done in the past and no critters joined me inside. Jocko Fuel electrolyte powder was something I consumed every day. During our hikes, I would dump so much sweat that you could see salt drying on my clothes. Replenishing my electrolytes/hydrating was tantamount to getting good sleep and fueling, so I could be prepared for the next day.
What were your favorite moments of this trip & why? What is the importance of doing these expeditions – spending time outside, camping, hiking, connecting with the land and with like-minded individuals – to you? And why would you recommend doing something similar to others?
Guiding these expeditions each year has allowed me to see some of the most incredible places in the world. But my favorite moments have shifted the landscapes themselves to the moments when students experience something entirely new for the first time. Watching their nerves as they leave the country for the first time. Watching them marvel as a kangaroo runs alongside our train. Seeing them squirm while trying camel meat, stand mesmerized beneath the Milky Way, or push themselves farther on a hike than they ever thought they could go. It's a privilege to witness those moments firsthand and to watch experiences become lifelong memories in real time.
I could go on forever about why these expeditions matter and why I believe more people should experience something similar. Travel forces you outside of your routine and your assumptions. You begin to see how other people live, what they value, what they believe, how their countries are governed, what they eat, the music they listen to, and the stories and traditions that shape them. Slowly, places stop feeling like stereotypes or headlines and begin to feel human.
These expeditions illustrate how diverse the world is. In Australia, we witnessed landscapes, ecosystems, flora, and fauna that are drastically different than the ones back home in Hawai'i. At the same time, it's scary how easy it was to draw parallels between the histories of Aboriginal people and Native Hawaiians. The loss of sovereignty, the suppression of native language, introduced diseases that devastated populations, land dispossession, and the lasting impacts of colonization. The world is vast and incredibly diverse, but often the people within it share many of the same struggles.
More than anything, these expeditions give students perspective. Perspective of the world, of other people, and of themselves. They offer lessons in resilience, empathy, discomfort, curiosity, and community that simply cannot be replicated inside a classroom.
Any final thoughts, moments, memories that you want to share?
One thing that stayed with me long after leaving Australia was learning that, as of the publication of this article, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are still not formally recognized in the Australian Constitution as the First Peoples of the country.
In 2023, the Australian government held a national referendum that proposed formally recognizing Indigenous Australians in the Constitution through the creation of an advisory body known as the Voice to Parliament. Roughly 60% of Australian voters rejected the measure.
Despite Aboriginal peoples having lived on the continent for tens of thousands of years prior to British colonization, they are still fighting to be simply recognized in the Australian Constitution.
Travel often leaves you with more questions than answers. This expedition certainly did for me.
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