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Published: January 6th 2008
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Jamie: Back on the road again! After sweltering for a few days in Perth, we headed to Australia's red centre for an even hotter couple of days. As we got of the plane, the hot breeze felt as if we were stood in front of a giant hairdryer. We'd come to the Ayers Rock Resort. The rock was named by the first European explorers after a South Australian premier who'd never been there. To the Aborigines who traditionally visited the place, it is Uluru.
The afternoon we arrived we did little more than relax by the pool (the water was almost hot!), and watch the sun go down with a view of Uluru and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas to the European explorers). The next morning was an early start as we were going to see Uluru at sunrise. After driving for a while in the dark, we reached the sunrise observation point where dozens of tour buses, minibuses and cars were parked. Nevertheless, the sunrise was a beautiful sight. From there we were dropped off at the Mala carpark on the western side of the rock. This is at the base of the climb. The Aborigines ask people not to
do the climb. It seems, it being their land, that they feel responsible when someone dies or hurts themselves, but many people climb anyway. The debate was rather academic to us as the climb was closed due to high winds and extreme heat.
Instead we walked round the rock for a short distance to a waterhole fed by water running off the rock. Here we could see some aboriginal rock art. Back to the carpark, we joined a free guided walk given by a park ranger round the rock in the iother direction. By now it was 8:00 in the morning and already the sun was getting pretty fierce. The ranger took us along the base of the rock telling us some of the traditions and legends the aborigines had about the rock, and showing us some more rock art, as well as some of the plant life. We finished at another waterhole, and then walked back through the heat to the cultural centre, where we could read some more about the park and the local aborigines.
We returned to the hostel hot and exhausted, so we just went to our room for a sleep, then another dip
in the pool. That evening we went to the Sounds of Silence dinner - a meal in the desert with a view of Uluru. We got there just before sunset and watched, with a glass of bubbly in our hands (well, beer in mine). The view of Uluru was a little disappointing, not much different from the one from the hostel, but the sunset behind Kata Tjuta was spectacular. We sat at a table with people from Canada, the States and Australia and chatted as we ate. After the starters, we were entertained by a man playing a didgeridoo. The didgeridoo was never played by the local Aborigines as termites are needed to help make them. Fighting against the crickets, which kept jumping into our wine, we tucked into our mains of kangaroo, baramundi, and other Australian specialities. Before dessert, we were allowed to gaze at the stars and planets through specially set up telescopes. The astronomer gave us a tour of the night sky after we'd finished eating and after all the lights had been put out. Then it was time to head back.
Another early start the following morning as we headed to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas)
for sunrise. This time there were far fewer people at the viewing site. Another spectacular sunrise. Then we went on another walk, in the Valley of the Winds. Very little wind and another hot morning. It was only 9:00 when we got back but we were sweltering. It was a beautiful walk though. Kata Tjuta means "many heads" and it was a sacred site to the Aborigines, who allow people to walk only on set paths. The walk took us around one of the domes and along narrow gorges. We spent the rest of the day chilling out back at the hostel (where we'd already checked out), had another dip in the pool, before leaving for the airport and flying on to Cairns.
Jenny: Although a little cooler in Cairns the humidity meant it wasn't much of a relief, and we were pleased to get aircon in our room. After all our early starts and with another one planned for the next day we just went for a short walk down to the Esplanade (where they have a big public swimming lagoon system which is open till 10pm and coin operated gas BBQs) before having an early night. The
next morning we were off to see the the Great Barrier Reef. We had a full day out on board the Osprey V, it was quite a big boat, but thankfully not too crowded. It was a fairly rough ride out to the reef and we were starting to feel a little queezy despite the free ginger tablets we'd been given, but once we moored out by the reef and got in the water we were fine. We both had great fun snorkelling at two different sights, and Jamie even did his first scuba dive. The coral was fascinating and there were fish of all shapes and colours. We returned to land tired and waterlogged from so many hours in the water, but very happy nonetheless.
This morning we picked up a hire car and headed up the coast to Port Douglas. This was an interesting experience, as despite now being on the right (i.e. left) side of the road, and the right side of the car, the indicators and screen wash were reversed. I lost track of the number of times I used the wrong one, the funniest time being when I tried to flash someone and ended
up spraying the windscreen instead!!
Well we're almost out of time on the internet, so going to have to finish her.
Jenny and Jamie
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