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Published: March 25th 2011
This has to be one of the highlights of my trip! I booked on the Rock Tour, which was a 3 day / 2 night camping tour of Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kata Tjuta (Mount Olga) and Kings Canyon (Australia's answer to the Grand Canyon). Absolutely amazing! The group of people I was with were lovely and really made the trip. We all got on really well and our tour leader was great fun too. It was his birthday on the first day of the tour (just turning 23, would never have guessed he was so young!) so we bought him a cake at one of our stops to give to him that night.
So our first day was an early start, 6am, with a long drive to Uluru (the Aboriginal name for Ayers Rock). I can't describe what it was like. The rock looks so big and just so memorising. We did a walk around the base stopping now and again to listen to aboriginal stories from our tour guide. It was explained how climbing Uluru is very disrespectful to the Aboriginals who consider Uluru to be very sacred. There are signs everywhere asking people not to climb and to
respect their wishes and yet people still climb. The Government sold the area back to the Aboriginals, with the condition that it is turned into a national park and that tourists would still be allowed to climb the rock. They had fought for the land for so many years that they agreed to the proposal, even though they didn't like it. Our tour group didn't allow you to climb the rock, plus the climb was closed due to the hot and windy conditions the day we were there. To be honest, I wouldn't have climbed Uluru. For one, I think it is extremely bad luck to be disrespectful to other cultures and beliefs when you are on their land, plus the climb looked damn scary! More than 35 people have died trying to climb it and I think you're a fool to try it, especially as you get no harness or anything!
After the walk around the base of Uluru, we went to the cultural centre where it explained more about the Aboriginal culture. There was a 'Sorry' book there where people who had taken a part of Uluru home with them had sent the rocks back with a
letter apologising. A lot said it had brought them bad luck in their lives and their family's. Who knows whether this is true, but I can tell you I wasn't about to chance it! I made sure that no piece of rock had found its way into my bag before I left the area! We then made our way to a view point where Uluru glows red from the sun setting. Our tour guide made us dinner as we sat watching the sunset. It was a lovely night. We then went to our campsite, where we set up our swags to sleep in. A swag is an Australian waterproof canvas bedroll. Basically, it consists of a foam mattress inside a heavy canvas. You just use a sleeping bag inside and your sorted! It's very comfy and the great thing is, is that you are completely outside and so are sleeping under the stars. The one negative is that your arms and face are open to the elements and on the second night, mine got eaten by mossies!
We were up early the next morning to catch the sunrise over Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Then it was time to climb
Kata Tjuta. This was a difficult 8km walk that took us about 3.5 hours to do. There was a lot of climbing and clambering over rocks, but the view at the top was spectacular! Then it was time to climb back down! This was easier thank god! Although I was slightly worried about my knee (what with it dislocating just last year while doing a walk far less challenging!), I am so glad I did the walk as it was truely beautiful scenery. Sfter the walk, we then drove for a couple of hours towards King's Canyon.
Our campsite this night had a pool so we spend the rest of the afternoon before dinner swimming and cooling off. The next day we were up at 4.30am to have breakfast and climb King's Canyon before the sun rose. The climb up was very difficult - very steep uneven steps. I was so worn out by the top that I couldn't care less about some damn sunrise! But when it happened, I was very pleased that I had made the journey! Afterwards, we went on a 2.5 hour walk around the canyon, stopping at a waterhole for a swim. It was
a lovely day again and the group were a lot of fun. I got on really well with a girl and guy from the UK, especially Sam. He is from Hull and is very funny! We might meet up when I'm back. After the canyon, it was time for the drive back home. On the way back, we stopped at a Camel Farm, where we were allowed to ride them. Me and Sam rode one. It was very funny, but scary when they got up from sitting and at the end when they sat down. I thought I was going to fall off!
When we returned to Alice Springs, we went for a meal and drinks all together. It was a great night! We saw a lot of other tour groups on their meals out together. They were so quiet and hardly talking to each other so I think I was very lucky with the group I had. We all got on so well and were having such a good time that night, the bar stayed open for an extra 1.5 hours for us! I didn't see much of Alice Springs as it was literally a place to stay
the night before and the night after the trip. I have hard very bad things and that you really shouldn't walk the streets at night, even in groups. There were police everywhere and so we asked them if it was ok for us to walk home as there were 12 of us staying at the same hostel. They said ok but that they would keep driving past us to make sure we were ok. I guess we were walking too slowly because they ended up giving us all a lift in the back of their paddy wagon! They even put the lights and siren on for us! It was a great end to the evening as the officers were so nice - even posing for photos at the end. We apparently broke the record as they had only fitted in 10 people in the back before us!
As I have said, this tour was great and definitely one of the best activities I have done so far.
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Looks and Sounds Amazing
Of all your blogs, I think I've enjoyed reading about this one the most. Found it facinating about the superstitions and local history of Ayres Rock and yes, good girl for not bringing any of the rock back!!!!