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Published: December 2nd 2006
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Don't look down!
Perched on a rock at the top of the Canyon. I'm slowly working my way round this vast country and decided it was time to head into the red centre to see one of Australia's most recognisable geological features - Ayers Rock or Uluru, as well as Kings Canyon and The Olgas.
Flew from Perth to Alice Springs and noticed the change in temperature as i approached the plane door - we landed at 5.30pm and it was still 32c !
Had one full day in Alice Springs before I was due to go on my three and a half day tour so made the most of my limited time by visiting the cultural centre (a collection of different exhibits/museums of central aust), the Royal Flying Doctors Centre, a baby Kangaroo sanctuary and some Aboriginal Art Galleries!
Was picked up the following morning along with 17 others and headed straight for King's Canyon which was a rather long way away. Had a few spots of rain on the way there but weren't too worried. Pretty much spent the first day driving before arriving at our camp site for the night. Decided to put tents up to be on safe side and were so glad we did - just
as we were cooking dinner it started to pour (we were yet to find out that this would be a common theme for our trip!). We all dived back onto the bus and left Brad, our guide, outside cooking our spag bol on the fire!!
After a good feed, shower and attempting some didgeridoo (or yiggi yiggi as the aboriginals like to call it) playing, it was bed time.
We were all up bright and early the following morning because we had to get to Kings Canyon before it got too hot. On arrival, Brad informed us that after the first 25min steep ascent, affectionately called "heart attack hill", the rest of the 3hr walk was fairly flat. True to his word, the first bit was rather tough but over pretty quickly and then the rest of it was more about gazing at the amazing views than thinking about walking. It got pretty breezy at the top and we were generally quite wary of standing too near the edge, esp after some of the stories Brad told us! As we were walking towards 'the garden of eden', i heard a familiar voice and who is there on another tour,
Corinne! Was great to see her again and we managed to have quick exchange of gossip. By the time we were nearing the end of the walk it was really starting to heat up and the air con on the bus was bliss. We then headed to Yulara, our camp ground near Uluru. The weather wasn't too bad for our Uluru sunset but there was some low cloud so the colour change was too dramatic but still looked pretty.
In the evening the clouds really started to roll in which worried us slightly since we didn't have any tents, only swags! We all climbed into our sleeping bags inside our swags and batoned down the hatches. At 3am it started to pour down but all we could do was coccon ourselves inside our swags and try to get a bit more sleep. At 4.30am everyone was slightly damp, a bit groggy and looking v.miserable but it was time to get up and head off to see the sunrise. Sadly, again due to the weather, the sunrise wasn't particularly spectacular but because of the rain you could see the track were waterfalls/rivers flow down the rock in when it rains.
Warning: Ayers Rock ahead!
You don't see that one at home! The weather picked up during the day and we spent the morning walking around the base of the rock (while one crazy aussie decided to climb it!).Then we headed back to the campsite to cool off and chill out in the pool for a few hours before going back to hear a cultural interpretation of some of the formations and paintings found on the rock.
Our final day was another early start(esp. as me and Emily were mad enough to get up to see the sun come up again from a small lookout at the campsite!) as we wanted to get to The Olgas (Kata Tjuta) before it got too warm. We started walking and even though it was 7.30am the temperature was beginning to climb. By the time we finished 3 hours later it was about 35c and we were all perspiring slightly!! The Olgas was my favourite part of the trip by far; i thought they were beautiful and more impressive as you walk around surrounded by these huge, reddy-orange domes towering above you.
The only thing left was the 5 hour drive back to Alice Springs with a bus full of v.tired but v.happy
Footprint in the rock
Think the BFG may have visited Ayers Rock! campers 😊 (Oh and the 'quiet drinks' at the hostel bar that evening - ask Sarah for more details!)
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Yipppeeeee the t-shirt has had an airing!!!
G'day matey, I'm imagining very tonned legs after all the walking you did in 3 days here? Great pics!Great smile Jen- glad to see you're having an amazing sweaty time with spectacular views (thankfully we can't smell you in this hemisphere!) Ok so you're 7 months in Jen, how are you really feeling about the limited clothing aspect? Wouldn't you kill for a pair of your shoes? or your funky mint green bag right now? (If the answers no, you know I could help re-home these unwanted treasures?)x x x