Uluru, which until 1994 was known as Ayers Rock, is the largest rock in the world, it is huge, 885 meters above sea level at the top. It is massive, but more than that it is primeval, sacred to the aborigines, and very special. It takes your breath away, even at first site, when it is more than 50 kms away.
We arrived from the Western MacDonnell Range around 5,30 pm on Wednesday and were magnetically drawn to Uluru - we watched the sun set on the Rock, displaying an ever shifting display of glorious red light. In a word, it was magnificent.
This morning, we woke up at 6am, before dawn and drove from the Uluru Resort town (20 kms from Uluru, where we had slept at the very rustic Outback Pioneer Hotel) to watch the sun rise - another display of spectacular color. We then visited the cultural center, and then climbed to the top, up a steep rock face, at times more than 45 degrees, supported (at least sometimes) by a chain rope. Halfway up the chain stopped and we were on our own - it was an arduous, and at times a scary climb, but it was worth it, both for the satisfaction of hard effort and the spectacular view.
We then drove back to Alice Springs, 350 kms from Uluru via the Lasseter Highway then the Stuart Highway, both two lane roads, nothwithstanding their names. Yesterday we drove from Glen Helen Gorge to Uluru via a different route, through the West MacDonnell Range, 600 kms through a combination of sealed (paved or what the called bitumen) and unsealed (dirt roads) - the unsealed are a deep red, they call this area the Red Center.
One thing that surprises me is the amount of vegetation, mostly scrub, low bushes and grasses. Not what I expected from what is essentially a desert. It is probably at least in part due to the amount of rain they had from November to March - the Aussie summer, what they call the Big Wet. We haven’t seen any kangaroo or crocs yet - but we have eaten plenty. There are a lot of wild horses - we haven’t eaten any of those. We saw a dingo crossing the road.
Tonight we are in Aerilon, a gas stop / roadhouse / campground on the road from Alice to Darwin - a real outback roadstop, with some noisy and drunk aboriginals, a geology team prospecting, a few outback characters, dingoes and not much else. We are camping out. living the outback life.
Somehow they have an internet connection, but too slow to upload photos.
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