ICE POPS BEFORE BED TIME

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We had a long drive back in the direction we had come from to get to Yulara which is the Ayres Rock resort. We checked into the campsite and drove to the Olgas, an impressive cluster of domed rocks which form valleys and gorges, they are also known as Kata Tjuta. They are about 30km from Uluru with mount Olga being the tallest standing 200 meters above Uluru. We decided to do the Walpa Gorge walk which took us through the centre of the gorge. The walls of the gorge tower so high above you that its impossible not to get a sense of just how small we are on this huge planet.

We then had a rush on to get to the Uluru sunset viewing area on time. Allot is written about how all the pictures of Uluru do not do it justice and that you will never get a true idea of just how big it is. We understood exactly what they meant as it came into view. You think you know what it looks like but no picture we had ever seen could capture the sheer scale of it or the strange feeling that comes from being there. Seriously if you want to see an amazing piece of nature, it is definitely worth the miles. We watched the colours change as the sun was setting. Starting with dark orange, through a series of deep reds before finally fading to charcoal when the sun was set.

Checking our watches we commented on how sunset was much later than we had been told. Frank and Manon checked their watches and said that it was right on time. We soon realised that we had made a very silly mistake. When we crossed the border into South Australia we put our watches back by 30 minutes as the guidebook said. What the guidebook didn’t mention was that only Victoria and New South Wales have daylight savings time, therefore we should have changed our watches by 1 ½ hours. All this time we had been rushing to leave campsites at 10am when it was really only 9am. We had also been getting up at 7am… DOH!

Waking up at the real 8 o clock we had a relaxed breakfast before making good use of the onsite pool. After a good few hours floating about we emerged looking like wrinkled prunes! In the afternoon we went to the Uluru Cultural Centre to learn about Aboriginal life, then we went into some of the shops to look at the artwork for sale. We had no intention of buying anything, in fact we had decided before we left the UK that we wouldn’t be able to buy souvenirs, our bags were already full to bursting point and we wouldn’t be able to carry things from country to country without losing or damaging them. When we saw that the shop had a sale section we just couldn’t resist a bargain and ended up buying an original Aboriginal painting with a certificate of authentication for just $40. The post is so expensive here that it would probably cost more to post than to buy so we will have to take it on to Asia and post it from there.

Later in the afternoon we walked to the waterhole within Uluru. It is almost unbelievable to see such a large amount of water in a place that is so dry, but apparently even when all other sources of water have dried up there is always water here. It is a place of great significance to the Aboriginal people. As the water rippled it appeared to have an almost silver shimmer to it. We were lucky to have this peaceful place to ourselves for 10 minutes. We decided to make a speedy exit when a coach load of people turned up shouting over the top of each other as a rather desperate looking guide tried to keep their attention while he read his script.

Back at the resort we went for another swim before watching the sun set from the campsite viewing area. I like to watch a sunset in peace and enjoy the moment. Some other people like to discuss and compare their camera lenses, belittling the use of digital cameras in favour of old fashioned film, and do it just loud enough so that everyone else can hear them. I’m sure that while they were busy talking about their tripods and complaining that there were just too many trees in the way of Uluru to take a decent shot that they completely missed the whole point of being there and probably an amazing photo opportunity…. well at least we got some good shots on our digital camera.

We had BBQ dinner with Frank and Manon before attempting to get an early night. Tomorrow was the day we were getting up at 3:45am to watch sunrise and we didn’t want to be tired for that. What actually happened was as I was setting up the bed Andy was sat outside eating an ice pop. Then surprise surprise he spilt the bright red ice pop down his new white top. By the time we got the stain out and hand washed the shirt it was 11:30pm! (Andy would like to add at this point that he hand washed his own shirt) When the alarm went off after only 4 hours sleep Andy was not the most popular man and ice pops were banned! After worrying that we would never make it to Uluru in time (punctuality not being one of Andy’s strong points) we ended up being first in line at 4:30. It was just a shame that we didn’t realise that the gates didn’t open till 5am.

Sunrise was stunning and well worth the early morning. Watching the colours change in reverse and the fire reds and orange of the clouds as the sun came up behind them was a sight I shall never forget. What did make me chuckle was a couple who were taking many pictures at various stages but in each photo one of them was standing in front of the sunset. If I were their friend and they invited me round for a slide show of their holiday snaps I would be saying “I know what you look like, why didn’t you move out of the way so that I could see the sunrise!” What also surprised us is just how many people were taking pictures with their flash on. just what were they trying to make brighter…..the sun!!?

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