Slept OK, up at 05:30 to go out for the sunrise walk around the base of Uluru. I headed out to breakfast at around 06:00, Song said she didn’t fancy anything.
Couldn’t see any staff so sat down at a table and got some toast to start, a waitress came over, asked me my room number and told me breakfast was $45 per person. I debated spitting the toast out and leaving, but was committed now.
Made sure I got my money’s worth, had toast, sausage and beans, waffles, orange juice and tea, and made a couple of ham and egg muffins to take away for Song.
Coach arrived, was almost full after picking people up from other hotels, then drove about 30 minutes in the dark to Uluru. Soon there was an orange glow on the horizon, which was amazing. The coach turned, and luckily we were sat on the correct side of the bus to see Uluru silhouetted against the sunrise which was now a bright orange going to red. After a while the glow turned yellow, and details of Uluru could be made out, and the colour of the rock became apparent. Of all the photos you’ve seen, it doesn’t do the actual sight justice, it was incredible.
I didn’t do this last time, and I missed out, it was an amazing sight. By the time we got to the base it was light, although the sun hadn’t come up. It was pretty cold, probably around 5C, but we were suitably dressed, as was everyone else.
We were split up into 2 groups, probably to make it easier for the guides to manage, and headed off led off by our guide Chloe, about 20 and from England.
The colour of the rock was now a bright orange, and throughout the day it changed – different hues of orange and red as the sun rose.
We started off a bit of a distance away, which allowed some amazing views, then headed in closer. When we got in close, the scale of the rock was more apparent, and also how steep the sides are, practically vertical all around.
The rock is obviously closely linked to the heritage and culture of the local Aboriginal people, and some areas they consider sacred and ask that people don’t take photos, so we didn’t (ummm, for the most part; but I doubt I’d ever be back so….).
We were shown some caves where the locals would shelter from the sun and also cook, grind seeds etc and also places that were reserved for “Secret Men’s Business” and “Secret Women’s Business” which is a tradition of the Aboriginal people.
We were also shown some cave art that has been dated as being around 5000 years old – I was surprised that it wasn’t protected in any way, it was just by the path and only separated by a low fence.
We stopped occasionally and the guide would point out some rock feature and tell us the Aboriginal story about how a tribe was attacked by a shape-shifter and the feature was the face of the person who was killed, or how this line on the rock is the snake trail of a shape-shifter and the cracks are the blows she struck on someone after she turned into a woman. Not really my thing to be honest.
The temperature was improving, probably nearer 10C, and the pace of the walk was faster than I expected so we were warm enough.
Carried on, then soon arrived at a car park where the coach was waiting for us with a rudimentary breakfast of cereal and muesli bars plus tea and coffee. I asked the driver if he knew where the spot was when people could climb it, and it turned out it was just near where we were standing, which I thought was the case. He pointed out where the start was, and it was much steeper than I remember – although I’ve always said it’s the hardest physical thing I’ve ever done. The guide told us it took about an hour to go up, and it was the same way up and down, and that 37 people died from falling from the rock, heat stroke and also back at the hotels from exhaustion and heart attacks. That’s one of the reasons they stopped people climbing it, plus the Aboriginal community said it is a sacred site.
Back walking again, it had only been a couple of hours but it was pretty tiring at the pace she was setting. There were quite a few people walking around, also some cyclists and even some joggers. The route is about 11KM, which is a bit more than I walk in a day.
Stopped off at a few more sites, some more traditional stories and some more cave art, and also a water hole.
I was still amazed at how steep the walls are, almost vertical in places. At one stop the guide (finally) explained how the rock got there – look it up on Wikipedia, it has to do with how mountains are formed. There are actually 3 rock formations in the area – Uluru (Ayer’s Rock), Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) and Atila (Mount Connor), all examples of Inselbergs.
Feeling really weary now, but on the home stretch. Coming towards us was a group of people on Segways. I asked our guide if they went all the way around where we had walked and she said yes. Now she tells me.
Back on the coach and back to the hotel, looking at the rock as we headed back, really glad I did the walk because it was spectacular. We’d been out about 6 hours, it seemed longer.
Back to the room, I thought if I laid on the bed I wouldn’t get up so headed to the town to get lunch, Song decided she wasn’t hungry. I tried the cafe but it was closing in an hour and they had one pie in the case and not much else on offer. The place we ate yesterday had more but we had booked the posh restaurant for dinner so I only wanted something light, but they didn’t have anything like that, so I gave it a miss and just had a coffee.
Back to the room, decided to have a bath, which was very pleasant. Just watched TV and spent time on the internet, looked at Uluru again for a while then went to dinner, out into the cold, the temperature had dropped again.
Dinner was good, we had the Chef’s tasting menu which meant we could choose select dishes from the menu. I had pork belly to start, Song had scallops. I had kangaroo for main, Song had salmon (see a pattern here?), and potatoes and sprouts as sides. We both had a lime thing for dessert. I also had a beer.
The food was really good, and bigger portions than I expected. Cost $95 each, which wasn’t too bad considering where we were and the amount of food.
Back to the room to crash and sleep, we don’t have anything planned for tomorrow until 17:10 when we head out to the rock for a sunset viewing.
Great day, Uluru is really spectacular, and seeing it in photos just isn’t the same as being here.