Alice, Uluru and the Red Centre

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Soon after school term resumed I flew up to Alice Springs for my tour with WayOutback. The local Shuttlebus dropped me at Alice Lodge Backpackers, who had booked my tour, and were extremely helpful. After I got settled into a comfy little dorm I met up with a lovely 5W member who took me to her home for lunch. I discovered there was an Aboriginal festival happening that weekend, which I sadly missed; still she took me to a gallery to view some gorgeous paintings by local people.

Later I walked into town searching for food for supper, passing several groups of Aboriginal people clustered along the dry river banks.



The following morning I woke far too early, having forgotten to alter my phone clock... Melbourne time change to daylight savings, which doesn't happen in Northern Territory. Still, eventually I met the tour pickup bus at 6 a.m.for the very long drive to Uluru. Our motley crew consisted of several young women in their 20's, including 3 delightful French girls; a chap who kept very much to himself, and later on a dour German couple (who only lasted one afternoon, then left), and a Dutch couple who constantly grumbled; thankfully a German Canadian older woman joined us, kept me sane! Our sweet young tour guide had to be our driver, story teller, cook... The list goes on. He was on duty nearly 24 hours each of the 3 days.



After several pit stops at cattle stations and a camel farm, and including collecting firewood for later, (and ripping my ancient shorts in the process), we glimpsed our first view of The Rock, miles away, see pic. It took us quite a while to reach there, by which time the full heat of the afternoon was upon us.

So a couple of brief walks near the base of Uluru was all I could manage, sad to say. We did see the "women's place", seemed to be the cooking area under a cave like area, with some rock art, doesn't photo well tho. I felt a bit deflated after all the hype. Similar to my feelings at Stonehenge, too many feet have walked this path with lack of reverence. Still it is a magnificent sandstone rock, with lots of cavities and caves, even a couple of waterholes; one of these was large enough to swim in, although sadly not allowed; I could imagine birds and animals using it, and people in times gone by.



We stopped off at the Sunset Viewing Place on our way to our campsite, together with several coach loads of other tourists keen to grab The Photo, all very contrived. Still it was a gorgeous sight to watch the great Rock turn a deeper red as the last rays beamed down upon it for the day. And to turn and watch the sun setting, directly opposite.



Then to Yulara, the Rock Resort, about 15 k away; several hotels, cabins, a petrol station, and a bit farther round to our campsite, one of several designated areas with a central fire pit, tents and basic amenities nearby. I'd helped chop veggies earlier whilst others walked, and after the fire was lit we helped with cooking and ate our supper of kangaroo bolognaise, very tasty.

the invitation was to sleep out in swags under the stars, which most of us did. Very comfortable, but the bright moon and nearby lamp plus zipping and unzipping of sleepingbags I found rather disturbing. Simply divine to look at the stars of course, a very bright one near to the half moon, someone thought it was Saturn, never got a definitive answer.



Up before dawn next morning to grab a quick brekkie and drive over to Kata Tjuta, or the Olgas, a group of enormous lumpy hills clumped together with far more atmosphere than Uluru. Wonderful views of sunrise, then lovely walks around these strange shapes, tho sadly I didn't tackle the Valley of the Winds walk, then wished I had!

We had a peep at the Cultural Centre by Uluru before driving over to Kings Creek for another night under the stars after eating camel burgers, very good; and another early rise, 4 a.m.to beat the other walkers to Kings Canyon. Worth it! We were first up Heart Attack Hill, and after that the beautiful canyon spread out before us. Red sandstone looks so bright in the sun. We learned about various native plants and their uses, and enjoyed a glorious walk of several kilometers around, with a little breeze and occasional cloud so not too hot.



Five hour drive back to Alice to have a swim and collapse on my bed briefly before our last meal together on a Saturday eve, I felt quite scared by the number of drunks around town, police involved even at 7 pm so I followed advice and took a taxi home.

Next morning I popped back into town to find a delightful market full of artistic and creative folk selling their wares, plus honeycomb, candles, soap, all sorts of food and goodies... Hard to tear myself away to catch the shuttle bus back to the airport, but just managed it.

The end of an action packed few days.

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Comments

[scarlett fantastic]

... and thanks for the gorgeous card. xxxxx

[Grace Mayer]

yayyy - more of your blogging
Thanks for taking the time to do this - really enjoy it. Huge hugs, G xoxooxoxox