Day 12 – 5th May 2014 Monday. A quick load of washing before we start the day. Off to Uluru today to climb the rock. To enter Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park you must pay $25 a head for a 3 day pass. When we arrived at Mala carpark we got the 2 push bikes off the roof and then Kevin and I started the climb. Well I got to the start of the chains and decided that my poor old body would not cope and I had visions of the last time I climbed it and how hard it was coming down. I turned back and came down. Kevin kept going and this was his mornings exercise. Meanwhile I started the 10.6 km loop base walk (which they suggest will take 3.5 hours) and mum and dad started the same loop on the bikes. It was a very interesting walk as the sun was moving into the sky the rock changed colours and different photo opportunities presented. By the time I got to the first marker mum and dad hadn’t caught up yet but they did shortly after. I kept pushing on and they followed at a distance behind. After more than an hour I thought they must have turned back as I hadn’t seen them for so long. There were a number of people walking various shorter walks that had guides and / or tour groups of foreigners. The views were at all times spectacular and it is so hard to get a picture that depicts the true magnitude of Uluru. Mum and dad ended up catching me again when I was 2/3 of the way around. Mum came to a blinding halt and asked if I wanted to ride the bike as she had a sore arse. Well off she got but her legs were shaking so much I suggested she just keep going while she could. Dad stayed with me for a while and then he too was in a hurry to get back. I arrived back to Kevin, mum and dad sitting having a cold drink. I was quite proud of myself in having gone all that way in 2 hours. We asked Kevin about his experience and asked to see the proof that he went to the top (picture of the sun dial) but he didn’t have one. It took him only 26 minutes which is amazing. On the way back we went to the Cultural Centre and had a look around. We came back and had a late lunch. The avo was lazy with another load of washing. I forgot to put the cycle on quick and it took nearly 2 hours, which is ridiculous. Bugga. Spoke with Laurie and Pat who are behind mum and dad and they have sold up near Geelong and are travelling for 2 years in a big Ellite Van. They are keen bike riders and had ridden to the rock on their bikes, climbed the rock, rode around the rock and back. Went out to the Rock at sunset but was very disappointing with no real change of colour experienced. There were dozens of people lined up at viewing area. All left disappointed. Had tea with mum and dad as mum had made spaghetti bog. Sat at the BBQ table next to their van. Met a couple from Townsville who were cooking on BBQ and they are headed to Alice for the Ulysses AGM like many other are that we have met. Kevin headed back after tea to watch Talking Footy and I wondered over to Brian and Carol’s van where they were having drinks with Heather and Emil who are also Ulysses followers. Stayed and chatted for a while.
