Alice, Uluru and Kata Tjuta National Park

We left Perth on Easter Sunday with mixed feelings of adventure and concern. We were looking forward to seeing the most famous image of Australia but both of us had reservations about being shepherded about on a tour. We haven't had any sense of a schedule for weeks and know we had the next three days and nights planned out for us. After an incredibly easy check-in at Perth airport we arrived in a warm Alice Springs where we expected mad heat and humidity, but we were sursprised. As with the general trend of our trip it was overcast and looked like it was going to rain! We checked in to our resort and headed to the bar for a beer by the pool followed by dinner.

Ayers Rock (Uluru) at sunrise

Ayers Rock (Uluru) at sunset

We were up early Monday morning for breakfast and a 6.30am pick-up when Anthony and Clint (coach drivers) greeted us. After other stops around Alice we were on our way. Clint, who was gettting a lift back to Ayers Rock (Uluru), provided commentary for the five and a half hour drive, showed some interesting footage and played a tape of a speech given by the man who explored the outback and provided the first roads and airfields. After a few stops along the way it started to rain - what a surprise - before we arrived at the Ayers Rock Resort which basically consists of several hotels and lodges, a small 'town' and a mound of earth in the middle. The good thing is that there was a free shuttle bus around the complex. There was not much time for lunch before we were picked up for our afternoon tour to the national park. We drove around Kata Tjuta and took a walk into Walpole Gorge. Although it was getting hot it was great to be strolling between two of the large collection of mounds. The colours and varying types of materials that form the rock were described to us before the walk and it was wonderful seeing the boulders that have fallen out and the vegetation that has started to grow in this arid landscape. We then got taken to Ayers Rock (Uluru) itself where we watched the sunset. Despite the crap weather we had on the way the skies cleared to form one of the best views the drivers had seen, and they often go every day! As the sun disappeared over the horizon behind us we were stunned at how the rock changed colour dependant on the amount of and intensity of sunlight. We were served nuts and bottomless glasses of wine and marvelled at some of the huge ants running around on the sand. Definatley a wow moment that was worth the journey.

This is getting silly now........

The next day had an even earlier start - we were picked up at 5am for a sunrise view from the other side of Uluru. Again, this was a fantastic thing to witness and the weather held out for us. A small amount of cloud in the sky gave us some great shots as yet again the colour of the rock changed as the minutes went by. We then took an escorted one and a half hour walk around the base of the rock where we were shown the aboriginal art work and explained what each of the markings in the rock depict. The stories were interesting and or guide, Kelly, made them very believable, despite both of us thinking they were like fairy tales. We then took a walk around the cultural centre to escape the never ending bombardment of sodding flies before returning to the resort (they really do get on your ***s after a while!). After lunch we were loaded onto coaches and started our return to Alice Springs.

Walpa Gorge

An over night stay and an early start lead swiftly into breakfast before getting a transfer to the airport for our flight to Darwin.

Walpa Gorge 2