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| Camping 200kms from Uluru |
Woke up to a very still cold morning and there had been very
few cars on the road through the night.
GM made another fire, coz that's what he's good at, and cooked us up
eggs and baked beans on toast.
GM had to replace the fuse for the tail lights....our first
repair job :-) But he brought enough
fuses to repair every car in the outback, so we should be right for a while ;-)
We were sitting there happily eating our breakfast while the
sun was coming up and have no idea how long we had an audience. GM told me to forward, and there about 10m
away was a dingo watching us eat :-)
It realized we were watching it, so it jumped in the air
like it was pretending to be scared and just about somersaulted out of
there. It was the funniest thing to see! especially as it kept coming back to check us
out and did the same thing every time we looked at it :-)
We packed up camp and left at 9. Saw our first flock of budgies around 9.30
and stopped at Curtain Springs Road House around 10.30. They have a free camping ground and an
awesome aviary full of cockatiels and budgies.
Not a bad spot and only 50km shy of Yulara (the Ayres Rock resort).
We saw Mt. Connor about 160km out and got a wee bit excited,
but it wasn't Uluru......It had us both sucked in at first, and I have lost a
dare to GM, which I doubt he'll let me get out of, but, I'll keep trying ;-)
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Mt. Connor
GM stopped the car a number of times so that I could take
pics.....he's remarkably patient like that, but you dare not talk when the
telly is on!!! ;-)
We got our first glimpse of Uluru about 60km out , but the
Olga's seemed just as big and stunning from that distance.
We camped at Yulara (the Ayres Rock Resort) because that is
the only place you are allowed to stay.
Their facilities include a resort, a caravan/camping park, a lodge/hostel and a few shops. Mainly tourist stuff.
We drove in and looked at the visitor centre, then grabbed a
couple of groceries, got some info on the rock and what goes on and then we set
up camp in the caravan park. While GM
was checking in, I was busy watching a woman (bless her) smash their big van
through the corner of some blokes camper trailer. I would definitely recommend buying a camper trailer....not even a broken tail
light.....the caravan on the other hand.....oops!!!!
It was a great place and they were celebrating their 30th
Anniversary as a resort, so we toodled down for a free sausage sizzle.
Then we toodled over to the cultural centre at Uluru.....I
can't believe there are no car accidents, as the whole time you have your eyes
on this massive monolith and not on the road.....it is mind blowing the way it
is one solid piece of rock just stuck in the middle of nowhere. What you can see is only a fraction, it sits
6km underground as well.
The texture is amazing.
The rock is actually grey...the colour of iron, but the rusting iron
and the dust from the red earth have
made it what it is. The black lines down
the face are fungi caused from the water that pours down it (and there is
plenty water around, with some lovely watering holes along the edge). When you look at it, it almost looks like it
should have a pulse beat, so it's almost surprising that it's so cold and hard
to the touch.
It cost us $25 each for a 3 day pass for both Uluru and the
Olga's which is pittance when you see how the place is kept.
We got our bearings and then went back to camp for a hot
shower and dinner of delicious curried sausages (GM does come in handy at times
;-) )
We went to the rock for the sunset pics which turned out to
be quite a social event. We bumped into
our Coober Pedy neighbours from Geelong....Trent, Christa, Phoebe, Morris &
Felicity.....lovely family and awesome kids!!
We had champers and nibblies with them while we took a gazillion pics,
only a couple of which will get used :-)
Back to camp, early night, early, early rise to go back and
get sunrise pics.
It was bloody freezing and I will never do that again. I have far more fun taking pics of dead
sticks and things....oh, and staying in a nice cozy bed when there's no reason
to get up for work!!!!!! We had our
breakfast out at the viewing place then made our way to the rock for the Mala
Tour. This is a free tour at 8 o'clock
every morning. Our Ranger/Guide was
Dave, a member of the Anangu tribe. He
was fabulous but we had a bit of difficulty understanding his pronunciation of
tribal names. He gave us the legend of
the Mala men who came to Uluru for a ceremony and the legend that follows. It was wonderful, especially the way the rock
depicted the tale like a picture book.
It is a place that every Australian should get to experience, especially
as part of our education.
After the Mala Tour, GM went back to camp (cause he's very
old and crippled now) and I decided to do the base walk....another tick for my
bucket list :-)
It was around 10.5km and walking around the rock enabled me
to see firsthand the sections of rock in the legend. It was the south eastern section of the rock
that I found the most beautiful.
This was mainly Sacred Women's area, so photo's were not allowed, but those who don't do the base walk, will never see this part of it. The North/west end of the rock was sacred men's site. It didn't matter too much if we didn't get pics, because there are so many other areas where you can take them.
I finished my walk and toodled over to the cultural centre where I called GM to come and get me. He turned up with a picnic lunch which we ate at the Olga's viewing area.
His back didn't allow him to walk up to it, so I went and got some pretty good pics.
Uluru looking from the Olga's
We then went for a drive around to the Olga's and spotted a
herd of wild camel :-)
We headed back to camp as both of us were unable to walk
much....I'd worn myself out.....and went out for dinner at the Gecko Cafe where
we had garlic pizza bread (awesome) Chili/Chorizo pasta and Outback
pizza.....amazing pizza with smoked kangaroo, emu & camel.....it was
delicious!!!! oh, and not to forget a lovely big jug of sangria ;-)
Then back to Barbara where we crashed!! Up, packed and on the road at 8 and headed
for Kings Canyon and the McDonnell Ranges.....but that's another chapter ;-)
The CrestedPigeon ......I
personally think they should be called the Desert Sparrow....they are
everywhere....especially the food joints!
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