Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park,
Northern Territory,
Australia
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
It's a 5 hour drive from Alice Springs to Uluru, something people fail to factor into their trip there. Anyway, the tour guides talk for the majority of the journey explaining the history of Central Australia. They also give you sweets/lollies which kept us happy! We did the Olgas first. You can walk part way into a gorge between two of the formations. Not many people make it the whole way cue to the time constraints. The tour guides were very strict on time in order to get everyone from from A to B. Michael and I raced through the gorge to the end. We made it and the flies loved us for it. They were over us perspiring fools. Gross? - yes. Annoying? - yes. Did we have a fly net? - no. Moral of the story? Invest in a fly net. By the time we got to Uluru it was 40 degrees and our winged companions had multiplied ten fold. They don't bite so we kind of got used to them 'hanging out'. The guides explained to us about the rock, telling us the aboriginal stories behind all the crevices. We were warned early on not to ask too many questions about the aboriginal community and how it's incorporated (or not) into Australian society. Right. Aires Rock can still be climbed by visitors but thankfully it was closed due to heat when we visited it. The Aboriginal Community request people not to climb it out of respect..but people still clamber up when conditions are suitable. We watched the sunset over Uluru. We all (that includes the flies) had BBQ for dinner and a glass of bubbly. A perfect end to a class day.. ...well, kind of..there was the five hour bus ride back to Alice Springs which included a rendition of Waltzing Matilda by the tour guides. What can i say? The old French Gentleman sitting opposite who clearly had more than one glass of bubbly loved it.
