Off to Uluru

Saturday June 24th – This morning we hopped on yet another plane heading for our last adventure before we return to Melbourne. We flew from Cairns to the Ayers Rock airport and shuttled into the resort where we would be picked up later that day by our tour company. The Ayers Rock Resort is about 20km from Uluru and is the only location that people can stay at while visiting Uluru which is located inside the National Park area. The region is called Yulara which means “Howling Dingo”. Our tour would include both sunset and sunrise at Uluru (Ayers Rock), and walks around Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), and Kings Canyon over the next several days. We arrived at the resort and fortunately were able to store our luggage as we had several hours before pick up. We toured the visitor’s center which was very informative and gave information both about the geology, history, and the flora and fauna of the area. We wandered in to the ‘town centre’ to check out the few shops and grab some snacks. While we waited for our tour pick up I had a closer look at the brochure for our tour. As I idly read the brochure my eyes drew to a line of fine print I had not seen before, “Luggage limits apply”. Oh No! Our bags, which did not start out small by any stretch of the imagination, had only grown with all the souvenirs we had purchased. I spent the next hour thinking of the possibilities. What if the bus showed up and they refused to allow us on? Our bus finally pulled up and we confessed our sins to the tour guide. Much to our relief our guide graciously allowed us to load our mammoth bags and we were off.
Our guide’s name was “Bullfrog”, a nickname actually, but a very descriptive one which made total sense once you heard him speak. Bullfrog had just dropped off the rest of the group, which began at Alice Springs, at camp. He drove us over to camp which consisted of a screened in eating area, a fire pit, and about 10 little huts which had actual beds and electricity! Our group of 12 was comprised mostly of young American girls with a couple of Canadians and one Japanese fellow. They were a fun, outgoing, chatty group who promised to be engaging traveling companions.
We first drove out to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) for a walk/climb and learned about some of the geology from Bullfrog. This area of Australia is referred to as “the Red Centre” and it’s obvious how it got this name. All the rock and fine sand are a vibrant shade of red. This is due to the high content of iron which literally rusts, causing the red color. Kata Tjuta (meaning “many heads”) is a bizarre collection of smaller more rounded rocks about 30km west of Uluru. The tallest rock, Mt Olga actually stands 200m higher than Uluru and the area was captivating. We walked for aver an hour before heading back to Uluru to catch the sunset.
Uluru is the world’s biggest monolith standing 348m above the surrounding area and is 3.6k long and it is believed that 2/3 of the rock is still below ground. As the sun sets it illuminates the rock in burnishing orange then a series of deeper reds before fading to charcoal. You can almost see it change before you eyes. Uluru is sacred to the aboriginal people of the region and there are several areas where they request no photography. There is a steep (and I do mean STEEP) arduous path which leads to the top but again the Aboriginal people request that you do not climb as this path has deep spiritual significance to them. Many folks ignore this request and climb anyway, and there are deaths that occur as a result. When this happens the Aboriginal people of the region mourn and close the climb. The mourning period for their culture is 12 months and this is another reason for the request not to climb.
So we arrive at Uluru and our most excellent guide, Bullfrog, whips out champagne, and a few platters of cheese and crackers, now this is the way to travel! The sunset was spectacular to say the least and while we snapped tons of cool photos, I think it’s one of those things that need to be seen to be really appreciated.
Once the sun went down, the temperature which had been a pleasant 22 degrees Celsius plummeted and we were happy to go back and start a big bonfire. Our cook, Kylie, had prepared a sumptuous steak (or fish) dinner for us complete with wine. Again, this is my kind of “camping”. We all hung around the fire drinking wine until hitting the sack. It’s an early start tomorrow to see the sunrise.