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Published: March 13th 2007
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Desert Park
The desert park just outside Alice Springs The only reason we went to Alice Springs really was so that we could visit Ayres Rock, or Uluru as the Aboriginals call it. We had planned to spend a couple of days here and then drive with Simon and do the 'Red Centre'. This seemed like a good plan and all was going well for the first few days. We went to the local desert park which is like a zoo but just set in a natural environment and all of the animals and plants are pretty much wild. The place was just out of Alice Springs so we drove there and learnt some interesting stuff like what the different Aboriginal symbols mean and what plants you can eat, smoke and rub on yourself in the bush.
Anyway we moved to another hostel after a couple of nights that was a bit cheaper and one day we decided to go out for a trip to a national park called Simpsons Gap (about 20 minutes outside the city). This was probably not a great idea because as soon as we got there, Tim noticed some smoke coming out from the steering wheel, then some more coming from the bonnet. We jumped
Not Good
The engine looks pretty fried- think it may be a while before it gets fixed! out to find a nice treat that the engine was on fire; after a bit of running around and swearing at the car we popped the bonnet up to find a nice roaring fire going on from the fuel line. It took about 30 seconds to put it out with our drinking water and then we were stuck in the middle of the desert with no signal and no water. After a while of looking round we found a ranger hiding in his station and used his phone to get a tow back to town; so we had a fun day covered in flies out in the desert waiting to be towed away. Me and Tim found it quite amusing although I'm not sure that Simon felt the same. We had to have a few beers that night to sort it out!
So after that little incident we were stuck without a lift, so we had to book onto a tour if we wanted to get to Ayers Rock. We booked with a company called 'The Rock' on Friday 9th and got onto the tour for the very next morning. We were picked up at the hostel at 6am
Heart Attack Hill
A steep hill to get up Kings Canyon. and set off on the 5 hour drive to Kings Canyon, one of the impressive parts of the centre. The canyon started off with a walk up 'Heart Attack Hill' which was a steep hill to get onto the rim of the canyon. We had to keep stopping every 10 minutes or so because of the heat and the walking. It was 38 degrees but the red sand made it feel a lot hotter. The flies were faily bad around this place and they seemed just to be landing on you to annoy you... luckily, the guide had a spare fly net and so I was saved. The canyon took about an hour and a half to walk around and it was a right treat that we got to have a swim half way around in a water hole in a big cavern at the top of the canyon. I hadn't heard of this place before we went there but it was well worth doing.
After getting back to the bus with everyone sweating, we set of to the nearest petrol station to fuel and beer up. Then we drove to the place where we'd be camping that night. It
Top of the Canyon
The view from the top of the canyon before we walked down into the centre of it. was a small clearing basically in the middle of the outback and straight away, me and Tim designated ourselves as fire lighters. Because it was so dry you could just light any wood and it would go up. Loving this job we got carried away and so we had a roaring fire going that was completely unnecessary because apparently it was only for light and was supposed to be lit after dark- oops. Anyway a few hours later the wind picked up and everyone had to help put the fire out before it set the bus on fire- quite amusing.
The next morning and another early start, we were u at 5am to get to Ayres Rock for sunrise. Although it was a little cloudy and you couldn't see the rock changing colour it was cool and we had breakfast at the side of the road watching the sunrise. After that we drove to the rock and then we were told that if you wanted to you could climb up the rock but that it was very disrespectful and that the Aboriginees hated people doing it. As it happened, only me and Tim were sacreligeous enough to climb it!
It
Sunrise at Uluru
The sunrise behind Ayres Rock after breakfast is a lot harder than it looks and it took us about an hour and a half to get to the top. Some of the slopes are ridiculously steep and you can't get up without lying nearly flat and pulling yourself up the hand chain. 36 people have died climbing the rock in the last 50 years and we were suprised that it wasn't more... it was probably the hardest thing we'd ever done... made a little harder by the fact that we were wearing flip flops and not trainers so we had to bare foot all the way up. The view was amazing from the top and well worth the effort. It is a lot bigger than I imagined and a lot more hilly... not a smooth sort of top that I would've expected. It took us about 2 and a half hours to get up and down the rock- the same time it had taken everyone else to do the 9 km walk around the base of it. We then went to the cultural centre nearby to find out some of the stories about the different parts of the rock (or more like, to get a cold drink
Aussies
Trying to look as Australian as possible, holding a beer and an Aussie Rules footy from the shop) and then pulled up to the campsite that we were staying that night. There was a proper swimming pool and showers so it was a bit of luxury; we spent about 3 hours in the pool getting a tan and talking to two scouse girls from the group. That evening we went on a guided walk around the base of the rock with our guide (JP) to learn about some of the parts of the rock and to see the bits of the stories that we were supposed to have read in the cultural centre. We had tea by Ayres rock so that we could watch it at sunsetg the Germans and Israelis to a few drinking games. Both days that we camped out, we slept in these things called 'swags'- that I thought people had been calling 'slags' (and so had I); until I realised on the last day. They are like a sleeping bag with a matress inside and so you just sleep in them outside under the stars. Sounds good until the second night when it rained... there was only four of us that weren't under the cover of a shelter and we couldn't
Top of the Rock 2
Thirsty work climbing up the rock really be bothered to move so we just got soaked all night- good experience.
On the last day of the three day tour we went to another big set of rocks called Kata Tjuta which was formed at the same time as Ayres Rock but the difference was that instead of being one big rock, it is made up of millions of little rock stuck together. The 8km walk around the beast was impressive and we got up to the lookout where we saw some kangaroos. There was a lot of sh1t about which turned out to be from wild camels- there are about 200,000 of them kicking about in the desert in this area- unfortunately we only saw there droppings. That was until on the way home we stopped off at a camel farm where me and Tim got to give it some Aladdin and ride a camel around the yard... it was good until it started running and then it became a bit painful on the man parts.
The got back to the hostel at about 5 and had a couple of hours to get ready before going to a meal with the group. Nice to get a
Rock and Group
The whole group with the rock in the background on the 2nd day proper meal (cheeky fish & chip) and then out to the bar for a couple of beverages and hundreds of free monkey nuts!
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Jany
non-member comment
Convinced me...
that maybe it'd be wise not to try to climb the rock - local disdain, potential danger, not a typical mountain hike (such as the Alps) nor a lot of fun, BUT, now you can look at it and actually say you did it . Great photos and subjects, thanks. (I'm heading there in May)