Our stay at the Rock!!
Trip Start
Aug 14, 2009
1
Trip End
Aug 17, 2009
Where I stayed
Ayers Rock Resort
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory, Australia
Thursday, August 20, 2009
We were pretty darn excited about leaving "The Alice" being only the entree of this red centre trip, as the main was just about to happen. The main being the rock! The heart of Oz! What we all call Uluru. To finish off this glorious feast of adventure we will have our all important dessert being the one and only “Kings Canyon”. Funny enough we are always thinking about food, so this is our way of describing the red centre.
For those people who think Uluru is close to Alice Springs, it isn’t! That morning we left Alice Springs very early as the drive was around 440km to Uluru. Throw in a fuel stop and a few pit stops and we arrived just after lunch. We stayed at the Ayers Rock Resort which is situated around 15km from Uluru. That afternoon we were champing at the bit to see the world famous sunset at Uluru and its many changing colours, and may we say the photos don’t do it justice.
Uluru standing 348m high and with its main bulk being hidden underground is certainly one of the most dramatic natural wonders we have seen on our great trip around this beautiful country. After taking in its sunset that afternoon, we decided to do the base walk the next morning. The base walk around Uluru is 9.8km and has a great wide pathway, so we decided to pram it all the way around which took us around three hours. After lunch we drove to the cultural centre which is close by, to truly appreciate the Aboriginal way of life in the park, both traditional and current.
That night was spent with our travelling companions, the Leary’s from Tassie. It was Andrew’s birthday and as it was the girls turn to cook, Cherie whipped up her famous Indian Butter Chicken which was well consumed with a red or two!
After the fuel we consumed the night before it was time to walk it off with a trip to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) which is around 45km from the resort. We decided to do the famous walk named The Valley of the Winds with the loop walk being a 7.5km trek. We finished the walk in three hours and could not believe we had walked around 18km in two days, I guess you just don’t realise it when you are in a place like this! We decided to call it a day as the weather was pretty hot and the winds were strong and dusty.
We arrived home for lunch that day, but Dave wasn’t finished, he was anxious to walk to the top of Uluru. You see, for two days the walk had been closed because of severe winds on top of the rock, and he was looking for completion. Dave took Jacob for a walk to reception later on that afternoon to find out if the walk had been opened, as the winds has died down quite a lot. The answer was yes! The receptionist had just got off the phone with the Park Ranger, and it was all go!!!
Dave quickly threw down a xxxx mid and a couple of chocolate iceblocks and headed for the rock for this was the main event. There is talk that they might be stopping people in the future from climbing the rock, so it was a must do! On the way up I quickly found myself gasping for air as the lungs were burning, and after a few stops I finally made it to the end of the chained fence which was the steepest and hardest part, but not the finish. To finish the walk you had to follow a white painted line that took you over large camel humps to a final destination with a 360degrees view over the plains below. The legs were feeling a bit stiff later on that evening, but to walk around the rock and climb it was truly an all inspiring experience.
To finish off we drove back out to the rock with our friends for our second sunset over Uluru, and with good company it was a fitting end to probably the best experience so far on our trip around Oz.
A special goodbye to the Leary family as we thoroughly enjoyed your company, and look forward to seeing you in Tassie one day soon.
Next stop, Kings Canyon.
Bye for now.
Comments
Hello Travellers
Hi guys,
Congratulations on walking Uluru, an achievement. You're having terrific weather and again, your photos are just wonderful to see. I loved the one of the owl flying towards the camera in Alice Springs! Fantastic!
Keep 'em coming! Stay safe!
Love
The Skinners