Uluru
So, time for part 2. Where were we?
Ah yes, Coober Pedy. We left the town underground and set off for what could be the final tourist destination of our trip in Oz - Ayers Rock, or Uluru to give it it's proper Aboriginal name.
From Coober Pedy it was a 5 hour drive north along the usual outback roads. We stopped at a roadhouse at Erldunda for the night, and awoke early to find frost on the tent and car, before setting off for the big red rock.
On the 2 hour drive from the main highway to Uluru the scenery continues to be bland and repetitive, until in the distance you see this big rock sticking up out of the relatively flat land. At this point, many people say 'ooooooh, Uluru' and start taking photos, but we've been told about this and knew that it's actually Mt. McConnell, a deceptive fake about an hour away from the famous one.
Whether it's simply due to it's fame or there really is something special about it, it's hard not to be impressed when you do see Uluru popping up over the horizon. It sits in the middle of the outback like it just fell out of the sky, and it is huge.
We set up camp in the Ayers Rock resort and the next day did the walk around the base of Uluru which is about 6 miles all the way round. Seeing the rock up close you start to understand why it is so famous, because it is not just one huge lump of rock sitting there like we expected. It's full of gorges, caves and all sorts of bits and bobs poking out. When it rains (which is pretty rare), there are hundreds of waterfalls and you can see where they would flow all around it.
We didn't do the climb. The local aboriginal people that 'own' the rock ask you not to but a lot of people still do. The climb was closed while we were there due to strong winds, but you can see why dozens of people have died attempting it because it's bloody steep and there's not a lot to hang on to.
We stuck around for the famous sunset that evening but were disappointed due to the cloud, and so retired for the evening to get ready for our joint birthday meal. We went for a buffet at one of the resorts restaurants and enjoyed the usual roast meats, plus a bit of kangaroo and even a crocodile stir-fry.
Tasted like chicken.
The next day was the less famous brother of Uluru, Kata Tjuta or The Olgas. We've heard several people say they were more impressed by this other rock formation just half an hour away from Uluru and it's easy to see why. The Olgas is like a set of dome-shaped red rocks and although you can see them on the horizon for miles, it's only when you get there that you realise how massive they are.
We did a long walk called the Valley of the Winds which was beautiful, and then headed back to the car park to find a couple of Dingoes wandering round. Then we nipped down to Uluru to try the sunset again. More bloody cloud.
The third tourist attraction in this area is Kings Canyon, 3 hours north of Uluru. We arrived there to be given what was probably the worst pitch we've ever had to put our tent up. It was about 2 metres from the toilets and the washing line on a scruffy bit of grass where it seems the cleaners empty their buckets onto. Lovely.
Not only that, it also had the honour of being the most expensive site too!
So we were keen to get out of the site and headed off to the canyon. We did the short walk inside the canyon and were a little disappointed. We'd heard good things about it and it didn't really live up to our expectations.
The following day, however, we did a long walk around the top of the canyon and that was excellent.
We left Kings Canyon happy with our few days being tourists again. After enjoying the Oodnadatta track so much we decided to take a shortcut down a rough gravel road to Alice Springs. This extremely bumpy track trimmed a couple of hours off a 5 hour trip, and took us through Aboriginal land so we had to get a permit for that. It was far more interesting than the boring tarmac road though.
We've had a couple of lazy days in The Alice, but yesterday went on the job hunt. We managed to find something pretty quickly a couple of hours north of here and we leave tomorrow. As usual it's pretty isolated so we don't know what sort of contact we'll have for the next few weeks.
That means we'll be spending our next few weeks pruning grape vines. Exciting eh!
More piccies to bring us up to date:
You may have seen this before:
The climb - you can see about half of it here:
Frost at Erldunda (yes it gets bloody cold here):
Kev at Kings Canyon:
Charlotte having lunch at Kings Canyon:
Charlotte on the Valley of the Winds walk through the Olgas / Kata Tjuta:
Kev at The Olgas / Kata Tjuta:
Ah yes, Coober Pedy. We left the town underground and set off for what could be the final tourist destination of our trip in Oz - Ayers Rock, or Uluru to give it it's proper Aboriginal name.
From Coober Pedy it was a 5 hour drive north along the usual outback roads. We stopped at a roadhouse at Erldunda for the night, and awoke early to find frost on the tent and car, before setting off for the big red rock.
On the 2 hour drive from the main highway to Uluru the scenery continues to be bland and repetitive, until in the distance you see this big rock sticking up out of the relatively flat land. At this point, many people say 'ooooooh, Uluru' and start taking photos, but we've been told about this and knew that it's actually Mt. McConnell, a deceptive fake about an hour away from the famous one.
Whether it's simply due to it's fame or there really is something special about it, it's hard not to be impressed when you do see Uluru popping up over the horizon. It sits in the middle of the outback like it just fell out of the sky, and it is huge.
We set up camp in the Ayers Rock resort and the next day did the walk around the base of Uluru which is about 6 miles all the way round. Seeing the rock up close you start to understand why it is so famous, because it is not just one huge lump of rock sitting there like we expected. It's full of gorges, caves and all sorts of bits and bobs poking out. When it rains (which is pretty rare), there are hundreds of waterfalls and you can see where they would flow all around it.
We didn't do the climb. The local aboriginal people that 'own' the rock ask you not to but a lot of people still do. The climb was closed while we were there due to strong winds, but you can see why dozens of people have died attempting it because it's bloody steep and there's not a lot to hang on to.
We stuck around for the famous sunset that evening but were disappointed due to the cloud, and so retired for the evening to get ready for our joint birthday meal. We went for a buffet at one of the resorts restaurants and enjoyed the usual roast meats, plus a bit of kangaroo and even a crocodile stir-fry.
Tasted like chicken.
The next day was the less famous brother of Uluru, Kata Tjuta or The Olgas. We've heard several people say they were more impressed by this other rock formation just half an hour away from Uluru and it's easy to see why. The Olgas is like a set of dome-shaped red rocks and although you can see them on the horizon for miles, it's only when you get there that you realise how massive they are.
We did a long walk called the Valley of the Winds which was beautiful, and then headed back to the car park to find a couple of Dingoes wandering round. Then we nipped down to Uluru to try the sunset again. More bloody cloud.
The third tourist attraction in this area is Kings Canyon, 3 hours north of Uluru. We arrived there to be given what was probably the worst pitch we've ever had to put our tent up. It was about 2 metres from the toilets and the washing line on a scruffy bit of grass where it seems the cleaners empty their buckets onto. Lovely.
Not only that, it also had the honour of being the most expensive site too!
So we were keen to get out of the site and headed off to the canyon. We did the short walk inside the canyon and were a little disappointed. We'd heard good things about it and it didn't really live up to our expectations.
The following day, however, we did a long walk around the top of the canyon and that was excellent.
We left Kings Canyon happy with our few days being tourists again. After enjoying the Oodnadatta track so much we decided to take a shortcut down a rough gravel road to Alice Springs. This extremely bumpy track trimmed a couple of hours off a 5 hour trip, and took us through Aboriginal land so we had to get a permit for that. It was far more interesting than the boring tarmac road though.
We've had a couple of lazy days in The Alice, but yesterday went on the job hunt. We managed to find something pretty quickly a couple of hours north of here and we leave tomorrow. As usual it's pretty isolated so we don't know what sort of contact we'll have for the next few weeks.
That means we'll be spending our next few weeks pruning grape vines. Exciting eh!
More piccies to bring us up to date:
You may have seen this before:
The climb - you can see about half of it here:
Frost at Erldunda (yes it gets bloody cold here):
Kev at Kings Canyon:
Charlotte having lunch at Kings Canyon:
Charlotte on the Valley of the Winds walk through the Olgas / Kata Tjuta:
Kev at The Olgas / Kata Tjuta:
posted by Kev & Charlotte at
6:58 PM
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