The Red Centre and the Rock!
Trip Start
Nov 25, 2004
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84
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Trip End
Jan 26, 2005
Uluru,
Australia
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Onto our third tour-guide now, the lovely Fungus who had to have someone riding shotgun with him at all times as he loved talking!!! It was a cool start to the journey as well as we saw wild camels, kangaroos and loads of kites just by the side of the road! Basically through the Northern Territory, they operate a slash and burn method of controlling bush fires incorporated by the aborigines and wherever you find the edge of the fire, you´ll find the kites as they find all the dead rodents - easy feed
Another at Kings Canyon
! We finally arrived at Kings Canyon and started out on the rim walk accompanied by lots of flies! Paul´s got a really attractive photo of me with about 25 flies on my back! No sarcy comments please! The walk started with a pretty strenuous uphill climb (only about 15 mins) in the heat of the day...and it was hot...and then we were on the rim of the canyon and we´re talking pretty amazing stuff! The red of the rock is stunning...so dramatic and the walk is another one of our Oz highlights! You can´t actually believe how red it is until you see it with your own eyes and it all comes from the iron oxide in the rock! Oh yes...fascinating fact for you there! After Kings Canyon, we headed to our campsite at Uluru for the night but not before passing ´Fuluru´(say it out loud!) which is basically shaped exactly like Uluru but is actually Mount Connor! We were all fooled as you can guess! Spent another night under the stars in the SWAG´s with a very surreal experience seeing a huge circle around the moon which was apparently caused by ice crystals!!! Not sure on that one...all we know is that it looked as though there was a huge hole in the sky!! V Spooky!
Next morning, we were all up bright and early for sunrise at the rock! Paul & Grandad decided to do the full base walk while I nicked the camera and went to the sunrise viewing point where you could see the first rays of sun hit the rock
At Kings Canyon
! All I can say is WOW, it was like someone had turned a light switch on and the real redness of the rock came shining through! Loved it! Managed to catch up with the boys and join them for the rest of the walk! Seeing it close up was just as amazing and we even conquered mini Ayres Rock! Basically you have a choice to climb the rock if you want to but the Aborigines don´t like you to as it is one of their most sacred areas! Lots of people do though and they reckon that it would take 100 years to cover up the track that´s been made by people doing the walk! Fungus took us on the Mala walk and showed us some of the aboriginal art in the area and more creation stories and then we all visited the cultural centre which is very cool too! Altogether the best experience! After lunch we headed to the Kata Tjuta (the Olga´s) which are unbelievable in themselves! Huge rocks and actually the most sacred site for the aboriogines! It´s so sacred that no-one really knows anything about it as white men are not trusted with the stories which makes it quite an enticing place in itself! I ended up falling asleep on a bench while the others did a walk (my mozzie bites were flaring up! Wuss!) and then we headed back to Uluru for champers and sunset!
For those who contributed to our 'Wedding List with a Difference', the sunset and champers at Uluru was an amazing experience and the colours in the sky were out of this world! It´s definitely something we´ll both remember for a longtime topped off with dinner under the stars and once again those SWAG´s! THANKYOU!
