Ayers Rock

Tuesday, November 8

There was a huge storm overnight that woke me up. It was sort of thrilling and I snuggled under the covers to enjoy the thunder and lightening. We had to be up by 5:30 AM (yikes) to make sure we got to the airport on time for our flight to Ayers Rock. This is sometimes referred to as the Red Centre (or the Outback). We managed to make it to the airport on time but we were groggy and dazed.

The three-hour flight went fairly quickly and we arrived in Ayers Rock at about 10AM local time. Ayers Rock is 1 ½ hours behind Sydney which really threw me off. We rented a car and Doug bravely drove us to the hotel, The Ayers Rock Resort, which is literally the only place available to stay in the whole area. Ayers Rock resort is a huge compound that has four hotels ranging from 2-4 star plus a campground. It’s not an all-inclusive place, but everything you could possibly want is right on the grounds (restaurants, supermarket) and they will set up tours of the area.

Once we checked in, we took a little walk around the complex. The heat was unbelievable, about 40 C (104 F) and DRY. Between the flying, my still constant intake of tussin-based products, and the heat I literally can not drink enough water. I have quickly abandoned my need for bottled water as it costs about $5 a liter.

The touring options are a little overwhelming, but we have three days, so we decided to splurge and do three outings: the Uluru base walk, the Sounds of Silence dinner, and the Kata Tjuta Encounter. We didn’t schedule anything for our first day, though, because we were both exhausted and couldn’t bear the thought of actually doing anything constructive until we’d had some more sleep.

Late lunch at the Gecko Café (slow service, sub-par food) and then to the supermarket to stock up on water, trail snacks, and something for dinner. Our accommodations are in the Emu Walk apartments, so we have a small kitchen. Doug offered to play chef and make us a delicious pasta dinner.

After napping through the hottest part of the day, we hopped into the car and went into the national park to view Uluru at sunset. One thing I don’t think I’ve mentioned before is the flies. They are everywhere in this country! We thought we were plagued by them in Sydney, but they seem to have doubled in number out here. In Sydney we learned how to do the Australian Salute, which is what the locals call the frantic swatting actions required to keep the flies off your face! Luckily, they don’t bite, they are just annoying.

From the guidebook: The Uluru-Kata Tjuta National park is located in the Northern Territory, 335 km SW of Alice Springs. It the sacred land of the Anangu people, a tribe of aborigines that have been on this land for at least 35,000 years. The park is 1325 square km in size and is home to two major sites: Uluru (formerly “Ayers Rock”) and Kata Tjuta (formerly “The Olgas). Many tourists come to the park specifically to climb Uluru, which is about 350 m high. This is strongly discouraged by the Anangu people because the climb site is on sacred land and the route taken is part of a special ceremony. It is not illegal to climb, however, and there is a little bit of conflicting PR about making the climb. On the one hand, the resort staff will tell you how terrible and dangerous is the climb and that it’s disrespectful to the aboriginal people. On the other hand, there are a number of fairly expensive tour packages available to get you up on “the rock” if you are so inclined. We asked at one point why the climb is still legal. Of course, it all comes back to dollars and cents. The park entry fee is shared by the park service and the Anangu tribe. Since about 50% of tourists come expressly to climb Uluru, they fear that if they close the climb, they will lose that income. So, the plan is to discourage the climb as strongly as possible and let the word spread so that they can reduce the percentage of climb tourists. The hope is to close the climb by 2008. We decided fairly quickly that the climb was not for us. It’s not very safe and actually not very scenic, so why bother?

Sunset at the Rock was gorgeous. They say that the Rock changes colors many times, but I couldn’t really tell. There were lots of other tourists there looking at the Rock. I think I have about 60 pictures that probably all look exactly the same. But it is a beautiful site.

Early to bed because our morning tour starts at 5AM! Suckers.