Ayres Rock and Uluru

Friday, October 2 (continued). We arrived at the tiny airport in Ayres Rock ( akaUluru), retrieved our rental car and headed to Yulara – the only place to stay in the Uluru region. Essentially there is absolutely NOTHING for miles in every direction except for this one compound that was created for the tourists visiting Uluru. It is all owned by one company and the compound offers 5 or 6 different places to stay ranging from a campground to a 5-star hotel. There is one grocery store, one gas station, a small post office and several restaurants. Keith and I checked into our hotel, the Lost Camel, and headed out to Uluru-Kata Ttjuta National Park to check out Uluru. I'm not a religious person, but seeing Uluru – oh my god! In the middle of nowhere is this GIANT rock - I think I read somewhere that it is the largest monolith in the world (348 meters high and 9.4 km around). Sadly I don't think words or pictures can adequately described Uluru – with its sheer size, caves, colors and textures, it is truly one of the most impressive sights Keith and I have ever seen. The best thing we can equate Uluru to, would be the Grand Canyon. While driving around Uluru, Keith was excited to discover that you could climb to the top of it (though the Aboriginals ask that you don't). Apparently the climb to the top is often closed due to the heat, winds or cultural rites - so if you are able to climb to the top, it's something else. Sadly all Keith had with him was flip flop and me being the voice of reason said he was free to climb Uluru in his flip flops but that I would wait for him at the bottom! Hence we decided to wait and hoped that the climb to the top would be open the following day. We caught sunset at Uluru – a truly spectacular sight as Uluru turns beautiful shades of red and orange as the sun sets. After catching sunset, Keith and I headed back to our hotel, grabbed some dinner and called it a night.

Saturday, October 3. Other than sunset, the best time to view Uluru is sunrise – so Keith and I were up before dawn to see sunrise (along with several hundred other people). Sunrise was beautiful, though not as impressive as sunset. We headed over to the place where you could climb to the top and happily for Keith, the climb to the top was open – so by 6:50 am in the morning, we were climbing up to the top of Uluru. The climb is a bit deceptive in that there is about a ½ mile climb with a chain to help people pull themselves up (as it's a pretty steep climb); however once you get to what you think is the top, where the chains ends, you then discover you have a ways to go until you reach the top – with no chain or anything to help you along the way or to prevent you from falling (I read afterward that it's another 1 ½ miles to the top). Every time you scaled the wall in front of you and thought you were at the top, you had further to go. After much huffing and puffing and many scary moments for me as I absolutely hate heights, Keith and I did FINALLY make it to the top. It was a feat, though I couldn't wait to get back on the ground. The climb back down wasn't that much better, but we made it – all by 8:30 am!. After climbing Uluru, we headed to the other part of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Kata Tjuta. Kata Tjuta are a series of 36 domes of various shapes and sizes – also known as the Olgas or “many heads.” Despite being exhausted from climbing Uluru, Keith and I took the 7.4 km hike – called Valley of the Winds – through the domes. Walking through the domes was like walking through, what we would think to be, a prehistoric landscape. We half expected to see dinosaurs roaming through the plateaus between the domes. After the domes, we headed back to the cultural center to grab some lunch. There I purchased a piece of Aboriginal art, something I had been wanting. Next was walking around part of the base of Uluru to check it out up close and personal. As a side note, the flies in the desert are HORRIBLE. After experiencing the flies the day before, we purchased full on safari hats with nets that you wear around your face. They proved to be invaluable though not much of a fashion statement. After walking around the base for a bit, we were all hiked out and headed back to the hotel for a little relaxation. Keith took a dip in the pool and I spent some time reading my book. Keith and I hadn't a “fun” night out in awhile so we decided to “rip it up” (despite being a bit tired). We started with a bottle of wine (as an aside if you ever see it on a wine list, the Saltram Savignon Blanc from South Australia it's delicious) and then headed out to a steak dinner. After dinner we decided to check out the one spot with live entertainment – the Outback Pioneer Bar. The Outback Pioneer Bar was a long shed with a tin roof, picnic tables, a few pool tables and a guy playing the guitar. After having a bottle of white wine before dinner, red wine with dinner and a couple of beers at the Bar, I decided it was time for some dancing. Sadly, though understandable, after all the hiking we had done, Keith didn't feel much like dancing and opted to play pool. I decided to be a one-woman dancing machine though one local character, named Buzz Buzzby, did me the honor of dancing a few songs with me. All and all it was a great day/night (even though we were in bed by 11:00 pm).

Sunday, October 4. It was a slow start for me, though Keith was anxious to get the 475 km drive to Alice Springs over with. After trying to pull myself together and checking out of the hotel, we hit the road. The drive to Alice Springs was quite an experience. The roads are very narrow with barely enough room for two cars to pass each other (though fortunately it was rare that you would see another car). There are no guard rails, no breakdown lanes and absolutely nothing for miles and miles and miles. We saw a couple of burned out cars, shredded tires and an abundance of road kill. It seemed like a scene from something out of the movie The Hills Have Eyes. Keith and I thought that if anything were to happen to one of us or the car, we would for sure be doomed. As an aside, Keith attributes all of the flies in the area to all of the dead animals along the road. Generally people do not drive at night because of the dangers of hitting animals (in particular 'roos). We were explicitly told by the car rental company that we were not allowed to drive the car on the main roads at night. Fortunately, every 75 or 100 km you would come upon a “roadhouse” - sort of a one stop shop in the middle of no where. They would have gas, a tavern, a small store, maybe some pool tables and a few rooms where people could spend the night – all in one building. After not being able to get any radio stations (as again we were in the middle of no where) and me not saying much as I was nursing my hangover, Keith purchased a Creedance Clearwater Revival 2 disk CD at one of these roadhouses to get us through the drive across the desert. The highlight of our trip to Alice Springs was the Henbury Meteorite Craters. After a 15 km drive on an unpaved road (with me white knuckled all the way as the drive was meant for a 4WD drive vehicle of which we were not in), we hit the craters which were formed from meteorites hitting the earth 4,000 years ago. We finally hit the town of Alice Springs around 3 or 4 after what it seemed like many hours of driving. Alice Springs is situation in the the middle of the MacDonnell Ranges. It's really just a jumping off point for people to travel to Uluru. It seems like a pretty poor area and there are many Aboriginal people here. Keith thinks he found the missing link. Through the middle of Alice Springs runs the Todd River – though it's dried up most of the year. After quickly checking out the town (though not much was open since it was Sunday), we headed up to the top of Anzac Hill to see sunset over the MacDonnell Ranges. After sunset, we had a delicious dinner at the hotel and called it a night.

Monday, October 5. It was a bit of a lazy start for Keith and I. We did laundry and had breakfast in town (again with all of the flies though they weren't so bad that we had to wear our hats). We decided to check out the MacDonnell Ranges, once again put on our fly hats and went to Emily Gap and Jessie Gap – two gorges that have watering holes during the rainy season. On the walls of the gorges, there are Aboriginal paintings from 3,000 years ago. Next we headed back to the hotel. I sat out by the pool and Keith headed back to town to play the penny slots. After a few hours by the pool, I headed into town as well to do a little window shopping. After town we enjoyed a few glasses of wine by the pool. Next was dinner in town and a movie – Funny People. As a side note, my thighs are still sore from climbing Uluru. I think since I didn't stop to rest until I was at the top, for fear that if I looked down I would freak out and wouldn't continue the climb, I may have over done it a bit!