People had said it was amazing and really something to behold, but everyone also said you couldn’t know its true beauty until you had seen it for yourself. A wave of disappointment and confusion hit us as we had our first view of this giant rock named Uluru. “That’s not what it looks like in pictures” I said to Jamie. We both looked at the fairly impressive rock, which was still disappointing our expectations. “Is that really it”? we wondered aloud. Well, it turns out we were not the only tourists fooled by Mt Connor on the way to the red centre and briefly mistook it for the much larger and more red rock of Uluru. With relief, we realised our expectations were not broken and that we hadn’t quite reached Uluru yet. On finally arriving, we decided to stay in the Ayers Rock campground despite the fairly hefty price, as they allowed dogs and were nice and close to the Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park. The other bonus was the swimming pool, which we used regularly as a much-needed reprieve from the heat. We relaxed at the campground and delighted in finally having access again to running water both of the drinking and showering variety.
We had decided the next day to do the base walk and perhaps climb Uluru if it was open (it was often shut due to weather conditions). We were fortunate to be able to have Pumba looked after by a friend’s dad, so we entered the national park to get our first up close sighting of Uluru. It certainly did live up to the great expectations, a giant ochre rock set in a surprisingly lush landscape. Both Jamie and I had been pleasantly surprised at the amount of trees, desert flowers and greenery around the area, especially coming from the dry, arid zone we had passed through. We certainly found out why it is called the “red centre” as we remained covered in red dust from the red sand that was everywhere. None more so than Pumba who now resembled more of a red heeler in color than a white American bulldog.
We started the next day at 5am in order to get to the sunrise viewing platform where we watched the sun come up and colour both Uluru, and Kata Tjutu in the distance into a glowing orange and red. After, we started our base trek with a guided ranger walk, where Adam our ranger showed us the caves the local Anangu aboriginals had dwelled in, and taught in as well as some plants and bush tucker in the area. Cave drawings could still be seen and we were lucky enough to have some of the creation stories of the area told to us as we explored the rock up close and got to touch it and wonder at the sheer size and color and cutural significance. After talking with some locals and listening to our ranger-guide we decided not to do the climb, as it seemed to disrespect the strong culture of the Anangu people. After a 10.6km walk around the base, marvelling at the ever-changing crevices and shapes of the side of Uluru we were probably too tired to have attempted the climb anyway! There was so much to see and admire, especially when we stopped for a snack at a sacred waterhole and read the story of the rainbow serpent that slumbered there (according to the creation story).
After a much-needed swim back at the campground, we headed back to watch a different side of Uluru as the sun set and again colored it a deep, vibrant red. No photo would ever do it justice and you really couldn’t imagine it without seeing it in person.
We used the next day as a rest day, especially since we didn’t want to be hiking in 35 degree heat. We did decide to visit the camel farm and pat and look at the cute but ugly desert creatures. The emu, kangaroo and ducks there provided us some good entertainment in the afternoon as well.
On our third day, we headed out to Kata Tjuta, which seems to be the forgotten sister of Uluru. The name means many heads, as it is made up of over 35 giant rounded boulders melded together millions of years ago. We got up even earlier, at 4:40am and watched the sunrise behind Uluru this time and onto Kata Tjuta. The giant moon was just setting as the sun slid past the horizon coloring the rock and silhouetting Uluru. There are several walks to be done at Kata Tjuta so we chose two of them. The first was a fairly short walk through the beautiful, towering Walpa Gorge. And then we were onto the 7.5km circuit named the valley of the winds. The walk was much more wild than Uluru had been, and took us up and down through gorges and giant boulders. Karinga lookout was a highlight, looking down on two sides of a valley through soaring red rock formations as the wind rushed at us. After being up before dawn and walking nearly 13kms it was fair to say we were exhausted and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at camp. We enjoyed our last sunset there from a lookout right near camp (rather than inside the national park) and watched as people skydived in front of Uluru as the sun was setting. Pumba was absolutely engrossed in watching the skydivers and wouldn’t take his eyes off them, as they parachuted to the ground. We will miss this place, with the glowing sunrises and fiery sunsets and the spiritual rocks that you couldn’t help but to fall in love with.
