The Rock

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Today we had a very early start (6am!) from Alice Springs to head to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (Ayres Rock to you and me) for a 3 day tour. Ayres Rock Resort is about 500km west of Alice Springs but we were going to be visiting other places along the way so a lot more driving was involved. On the first day we headed to the magnificent Watarraka (Kings Canyon) National Park where we did a 6km (4 hour) guided hike around the rim of the canyon, in the hottest part of the day (not the best time, 39 degrees C). The views from the top over the surrounding plains were amazing, you could see for 100s of km. Half way round was a swimming hole the we had to climb 200m into a gorge to access, it was appropriately named the Garden of Eden, as by that time we were dripping with sweat and needed to cool off! After our refreshing dip we headed back towards the bus passing through sandstone domes/giant beehive domes (the Lost City) caused by weathering, and were rewarded with impressive views into the deep sharp sided canyon. That night we camped out under the stars in swags (posh sleeping sack thingies with a matress) in the bush, no toilet or washing facilities that night! We sat round the camp fire whilst having dinner and a few beers. When we went to bed it wasn't raining but about 2 hours later it absolutely poured it down! There was very little shelter so we got wet through! Well Helen did and ended up sleeping on the bus, Mark managed to sleep through most of it and didn't have a wet patch on him - he was the only one sleeping out in the open by the morning!

Up with the sun, we headed out towards Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. On the way we saw a giant (about 6ft tall) kangoroo - fortunately the bus managed to miss it! Our first stop of the day was at Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), 30km west of Uluru. A similar type of formation as Ayres Rock but with lots of domed rocks and 200m higher, it certainly sticks out in the flat plains around it. Kata Tjuta, an aboriginal word, translates to 'many heads' which I guess is a good description for the rocks. We initially set out to do a 7.4km walk to the Valley of the Winds, but our guide, who was completely mad, 'fell' down 6metres into a shallow pool and knocked himself out. Mark came to his rescue and dragged him out of the water so that delayed us a bit because we had to wait for the helicopter to airlift him to the nearest hospital. Anyway, we eventually got the Valley of the Winds, which gave beautiful views down into a valley of green lushes vegetation against the backdrop of the red sandstone boulders. Later in the day we went to the aboriginal center and then to the famous Ayres Rock or Uluru as the aboriginals call it for a 2 hour guided walk. Uluru is just amazing, as you approach it it just appears out of nowhere On our way to park-up for the sunset over Uluru we stopped on the other side to see one of the many gorges of Uluru. Just as we got there, the heavens openned and it poured it down like you've never seen before and suddenly Uluru changed from its deep red colour to a grey/white shade with tumbling waterfalls down the sides - absolutely magnificent. Our guide told us that not many people get to see Uluru like that as it only rains half a dozen times a year there! Quite a sight. That evening we watched Uluru change colour as the sun set and slept out in swags again, although we were lucky that it didn't rain again!

The following morning was another early rise to see the sunrise over Uluru whilst enjoying breakfast. We woke to a sky full of twinkling stars - just amazing.

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