13 Tourists at Ayers Rock 14 June

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Tuesday at Kings Canyon. It has rained all day and its cold. Talked to the neighbours. Campground is dirt, no grass so have to be careful not to track mud inside. Next day we packed up in a respite from the rain and traveled round to Ayers Rock. Weather so bad we couldn’t see Mt Connor on the way.
Thursday rained all day again. No grass here either. Temperature got up to 8deg!! We could have stayed home and been warmer. Found we had NZers on both sides. Family from Inglewood on one side and Pukekohe on the other. There are quite a few NZers traveling as we are and we come across them frequently as we fly an NZ flag on the front and have an All Black spare wheel cover on the back of the van. They are good conversation starters.
Friday 10th. Bad weather over, thank goodness. Clear, and very cold through. We drove out to the Olgas and did the Valley of the Winds walk - about 3 hours. Went to what used to be called “Kodak Alley” to watch the sunset on Ayers Rock. Good, but the colours came and went very quickly. Sunset is about 6.00pm. We are told that sunrise is about 7.20am.
On Saturday we got the bikes out and rode around Ayers Rock. Everyone who was walking around told us we had the best way to do it. Got a few offers to buy the bikes and only one call of cheating! On the way we saw a caterpillar road train – 16 little caterpillars in a line! Really great to see.
We wanted to climb Ayers Rock, but the high winds closed the Rock. The locals say they don’t want you to do it, but charge $25 for a National Park Pass. There is a chain for the first bit which is very steep. It looks steeper than when we climbed it several years ago, but we didn’t get a chance to test it! We’re about 15 years older too.
Geology lesson: Apparently both the Olgas and Ayers Rock are the product of river fans from a large mountain range to the west (the Peterson Range). One fan contained only sand and the other had rocks in it. Over time these fans were submerged, compressed and lifted up and eroded as most of Australia has been. As a result the Olgas area conglomerate: old sandstone with older river stones embedded in it, uplifted straight. 40 km away, Ayers Rock is pure sandstone which in addition to everything else has been turned 90 degrees. Neither of them has anything around the base indicating recent erosion, unlike lots of other mountains, so are quite unusual. The local names for the Olgas is Kata Tjuta, and for Ayers Rock is Uluru. We were here several years ago, and nothing has changed. The abos are not running anything or even doing anything!
Temperatures are forecast to remain very low so we’ve made the decision to head north for a while.
12 June 2011. We have driven east to Erldunda on the main north south road and managed to see Mt Connor on the way this time. Erldunda is a major stopping point for buses etc on their way to and from Ayers Rock, so we got a beer and watched the (tourist) world go by. Next day we drove north to Alice Springs and are back in the MacDonnell Ranges Camping Ground. It’s a holiday today as it is the Queens (and Don’s) birthday. Celebrated with dinner at Overlanders Steak House.
14 June 2011. Repair day. We bought a new jack extension, caravan battery, changed the TV, more wine and some groceries. A lovely day, started at -1.5 deg but is pleasant at 14 deg. North to Darwin tomorrow!

P n D
14 June 2011

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Photos

Cold tourists
At Ayers Rock

The Olgas
Valley of the Winds - quite spectacular

Sunset at Ayers Rock
Great position on top of the car - wine in hand

Sunset 2
Ayers Rock changing colour at 5.55pm.

Caterpillar road train
There are 16 in this line. Why do they do it?

Caterpillar train 2
Close up of leaders. Are they elected or hereditary?