"Gentlemen, welcome to the Rock"

Trip Start Feb 14, 2007
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Australia  ,
Wednesday, June 27, 2007

420km from Alice springs is Australia's most famous and recognisable landmark; Ayers Rock (Uluru if you are feeling spiritual). At 347m high it sits almost midway between Mount Connor, another huge orange rocky outcrop, and The Olgas, a mountain range made up of globular (its that a word?) chunks of rock that from a distance look like a bag of giant Satsumas has been dropped in the desert. Consulting our to-do list for the day (it's been 4 months now, and Jen's will has finally broken - lists are back!) we headed out for the 10km walk around the base togged up in more layers than a toffee crisp, (and soon found ourselves wilting like the aforementioned chocolate snack). Apart from the walk around the base, you come to Uluru to watch the sunrise, the sunset and if you are feeling particularly energetic to climb the thing itself, so we were disappointed to see some particularly british grey sky overhead blocking out the sun and that the climb was closed due to high winds. However, noticing upon our return to the car park that the climb had been opened, I decided to give it a whirl whilst Jen adhered to Aboriginal wishes and stayed in the car keeping warm just going to take a quick photo
just going to take a quick photo
 . Four months of relative inactivity caught up with me in the first 10 minutes as I gasped for air. By minute twenty I had a taste of iron in my mouth, and all I could hear was my own breathing resonating through my right ear. Pride prevented me from turning round so I struggled on, willing every last bit of energy from my Magi-noodle and tuna diet (it's cheap ok!) with the odd Uncle toby snack to boost my sugar levels. In all the steep climb then scramble up and down the undulations over the upper sections took about 2 hours that afternoon, but about 3 months off my life expectancy. The views from the top look out over the red desert, with the distinctive shape of the Olgas on the horizon, but the best views were of the rock's many ripples as the sun occasionally broke through the clouds illuminating them.

Our luck changed on days two and three, as the skies cleared and gave us both a stunning sunset and sunrise. Arriving 3 hours early for sunset seemed a mite excessive, but the carpark soon filled and we found ourselves in prime position to watch the display, from brown to golden orange to ruby red, sunset at the rock is like a slow motion fireworks display, albeit without the ooos, aahs and small children burning their hands on sparklers. About  5 million pictures and 10 hours later we found ourselves again sat in the dark of the van overlooking the rock this time with the heating on full waiting for the sun to appear. Having got out of bed at 5.30 instead of 6 (because I forgot to adjust the time zone on my phone) we sat huddled together wearing just about all of our clothes (Jen tried to get two pairs of shoes on, but alas she failed), and watched the sun slowly creep first over the horizon and then Uluru. It was pretty cool. No, very cool. A real must do. Pictures will follow.



 
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