Uluru

From Uluru

Uluru, otherwise known as Ayers Rock, is a must-do attraction for anyone intending to see as much as possible of Australia. We flew in from Perth and were whisked off to the Ayers Rock Resort, which is the only place one can stay when visiting the rock. The resort consists of five or so hotels, designed so as to appeal to all budgets, ranging from campers to 5-star luxury. We were stating at the Lost Camel Hotel, which is a mid-range ‘boutique’ hotel. Fine for our purposes with a decent pool and near to the resort centre shops and restaurants.

We had hoped to do some star gazing on our first night but this was cancelled due to cloud. Slightly disappointing as the sky had been cloudless all day up to then with temperatures over 40C. Even so, when the cloud did eventually break, the number of stars that were visible is amazing compared to what you can see in the UK with all its light pollution. Had to go to bed early as we needed to get up at 4:30 the next morning for our trip to see in the dawn at Uluru.

It was dark at the start of our drive to Uluru, so we missed the impressive sight of seeing the whole rock appearing out of the desert. When we arrived at the start of the walk the rock filled our whole field of vision, so it was difficulty to take in its massive scale. As we progressed along the path, the sun started to light up the rock and it took on its characteristic red glow. We carried on along the 13.5km path around the rock, while our guide told us about the various Aborigine creation myths associated with this sacred site, completing the circuit in about 4 hours.

Back at the hotel, time for a quick catch-up sleep and some lazing by the pool before heading back out to view the sunset over Uluru. We were out of luck with the weather again, as clouds hade moved in to cover the sun shortly before sunset, so rather a dull event in the end. The event was not a complete washout, however, as we were treated to a bottle of Champagne, and our guide told us about the research he had done into his family history, which turned out to be really rather interesting. Then an early night again in readiness for next day’s trip to Kata Tjuta.