Days 8,9 and 10

Day 8 - Darren

Off to the rock....

Leaving the mouse plague behind we took off to Kulgera for fuel, Brekky and a quick photo of the muscle man Blak and his Bikini clad sidekick.

Back in the car for the last 3 hours to Yulara where the line up to check in was out the door. We set up camp and jumped in the car for a drive around. First stop the tourist info to get some ideas then a short drive out to see “IT”

Wow... the photos in magazines, calendars, brochures do not give you any idea of what we were driving up to, It is huge and the closer you get the bigger it grows. Ange and I both said that it was nothing like we imagined.

We arrived at the carpark and hopped out to just gaze at the gargantuan mound of rock that was glowing red.  As the sun was starting to go down we decided the sunset viewing was the go, so back to the viewing area we went stopping along the way to get a picture for my facebook page.

When we arrived the sun was behind some clouds so the sunset pics weren’t as good as we would have liked and the stomachs were rumbling so home for tea and bed.

Day 9 - Ange

Up and at em, lets hit the Rock again, so out we go.

As we arrived we saw that the climb was closed due to forecast rain, so the base walk was our next choice.    We headed off along the path reading the Aboriginal stories as we went.  The first part of the walk was really good as it went close to the base of the rock, even allowing us to get into some of the caves and view some of the old rock art.  We saw some really beautiful rockpools and took some photos in the caves.  The path around the back of the rock was much less exciting as it moved away from the rock and all of the signage said that they were sacred areas and photography was not allowed.  We obeyed the signs and took no photos, but marvelled at the shape and colour of the different areas we passed.  Around another corner and the path moved back towards the base of the rock.  Once again the scenery was beautiful and we were allowed to take photos.  Finally we saw the carpark in view and we finished the final leg of our 11.6km walk.  On the way out we had a look at the visitor centre which included historic information, information on the aborigine tribes and way of life, copies of letters from the “Sorry” book  a which was interesting to read as well as a few art and souvenir shops. The sorry book comprises all the letters from people who had taken rocks from the area as souvenirs and they wanted to return them as they found that it had brought them bad luck.   As we drove out of the park, we noticed that the sign had been changed and the climb was now OPEN!

We headed back to the Caravan Park for lunch and a well earned rest, and decided to give ourselves the rest of the day off.  We were too exhausted to do anything else!

After lunch and a bit of a kip, I decided that maybe we should go back to Uluru and tackle the climb.  Brilliant idea!!!

We all climbed back into the car and headed for the rock once more.  When we got there we walked straight to the base and looked up at the first stage.  It was lined with a chain fence and went up on a 60 or 70 degree angle.  We all took a deep breath and made a start.  Thomas went ahead like the little monkey he is and we lost sight of him fairly early.  Mitch started slowly and worked his way into it.  I was fairly slow and Darren hung back to keep me going.  Once we got past the fence, it was another stage of steep climb that left me exhausted.  I would have been quite happy to stop there and wait for the boys to come back, but Darren urged me on and we slowly made our way up.  Each time you got to what you thought was the top, you would look up and there was more.  You actually had to make your way over a heap of ridges across the top of the rock to get to the highest peak.   Once we reached the top, the feeling was exhilarating and the view awesome (there is no charge for the awesomeness).  We took a few pictures from the top and then started our way back down.

The trip down was much easier, although tricky in spots.  Especially the final section where we came down the steepest part.  Once we reached the bottom it was high fives all around.  We jumped into the car and went back to Yalara (The Ayers Rock Resort).  We decided that we earned a beer and made a beeline to the first Pub.  Darren had to take a photo just to prove that I drank a beer!!  Home for tea and a fairly early night.

Day 10 – Darren

Waking around 7.00 we slowly got going and had showers, brekky and packed the car for the day.  We are off to the Olga’s (Kata Tjuta).

After Parking the car we set off for the 7.4K Loop walk through the Valley of the Winds, a beautiful but reasonably demanding walk through the large rock domes and variety of lookouts.  It was not very difficult climb wise but very unstable underfoot, which prompted you to look down rather than around you, so regular stops were on the agenda just so that we could take in the magnificent scenery. 3 hours later we arrived back at the car looking for lunch.

Off to Walpa Gorge where we got the little gas cooker out and Thomas cooked up some snags for lunch before tackling the short 2.6k walk to the Gorge, once again a magnificent piece of Australian landscape.

About buggered for the day we headed back to the resort to have a relax whilst the kids played around the park and had a swim.  The boys were happy having their own time so we left them at the park and went to the shopping centre for a look around.  We had a look at the few shops that there was, and also at the restaurants to see if we could find somewhere suitable to have tea.  We couldn’t find anything, so decided to make Tacos.

Tea,  dishes and an early night to rest our weary bones.