Alice Springs and Uluru...more than just a big rock

We arrived in Alice Springs on the 6th after a 5 hour stop over in Perth airport. Alice Springs is a funny little town, it's much bigger than you'd think for a town in the middle of the outback, but seems deserted all the time! It's really sunny and hot in the day, but freezing in the night. We stayed in a caravan at a hostel, so it seemed a lot colder than it probably was. We did a 3 day tour to Ayres Rock (Uluru to give it its proper name), the Olgas and King's Canyon. This was absolutely brilliant. We were on a tour group with 22 other people and one tour guide, called Scooter (!). We slept out under the stars in swags (a big waterproof sleeping bag and mattress). The first day we spent 3 hours trekking around King's Canyon and had a dip in a pool in our clothes! It was freezing and sap from the trees had made it yellow which was quite odd. It felt really cold as we had been trekking in 36C heat, but thankfully, you don't sweat as there is 0% humidity. It evaporates off you instantly and you feel a lot cooler than at 36C in other places.

Kings Canyon is full of trees and is really green, which isn't what you expect after driving hours into the outback through red dusty plains. There's a constant supply of water at King's Canyon under the sandstone, which means that plants that are hundreds of years old can live there. It is home to a plant which has been around for 300million years and is found in South America as well, meaning it exsisted when all the continents were joined together...madness! There are also other trees that are juvienilles for 400 years untill their roots reach the water deep down and then they start to grow and live for over 3000 years. Lot's of 'top facts' for you!

After a night under the thousands of stars (we both saw about 6 shooting stars) we got up at 5am and went to watch the sunrise over Uluru. It was really really cold untill the sun comes up a little bit and the temperature change brings strong winds and instant heat. We spent the day walking around the Olgas, which are a range of mountains that formed from being squeezed up millions of years ago. We watched sunset over Uluru and the colour change that occurs (it just gets darker really but looks a bit purpley for a bit). The next day we got up at 5am again and started to walk around Uluru before the sunrise. It was beautiful, and we were quite suprised at how it is more than just a big rock. The Aborigines use it as a sacred site, and they go there once a year to perform ceremonies. Some of the sacred areas can not be photographed, as there are sites designated just for women or just for men and if they see them on the internet or in a book they're not too impressed. We chose not to climb it, as it is against the wishes of the Aborigine people and it was about a 45 degree steep climb in 34C heat! We visited the cultural centre instead and learnt about how the Aborigines believe it was created....by 2 snakes who had a fight thousands of years ago and caused huge splits and cracks in the rock and dented the land, creating Uluru. It is the biggest rock in the world, also called a Monolith and it is red due to the iron in the rock, and is really grey inside (more top facts!). It was really good to learn more about the aboringine culture that they've managed to cling on to. They've been in australia for over 50,000 years and its sad that they've been forced to adopt a western culture so quickly.

It was a really great tour and an amazing experience (we even had camel con carne! It tasted just like beef and was very tasty), the people we were with were brilliant (which is really important on a tour like this) and we walked a total of 25km. We are now in Darwin and are doing another 3 day tour tomorrow to Kakadu National Park. More walking but it should be brilliant! Bye for now!

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