We decided that even though we packed up at the Ayers Rock Campground, we would still go on the free ranger guided Mala tour today. This tour starts at 10am every day and is obviously quite popular.
Good sport, funny
We got there with the necessary 15 min head start to change out of our gear and into our hiking clothes.
The track leads along the base of Uluru and there are many stops at caves so that the ranger can tell the story of this particular place (as far as it is okay to share). Clinton told us about the Mala people who used to live around the rock. We even got to see rock paintings of a school equivalent.
Flo and I were really glad that we decided to ride into the park again (for the third time now) as this gave us another perspective on things. Right at the end of the tour Clinton spoke about the climb up the rock and how the indigenous people work towards having it permanently closed. The local people call the climb “the scar” and if you look at it, you see why. At the moment 32% of tourists climb up but there is hope that the track might be closed in 2020. These free Mala walks are one mean to educate the public and give the indigenous perspective into consideration.
Shade and a chance of food, here I come!
At noon the tour finished, and we started our way towards the next attraction in the area: King’s Canyon. On the map, it’s just go straight and then take a left turn but in reality, it was a 350km ride today. So we took another break at one of the rest areas and were surprised by people taking pictures of a dingo that was lying on the table in the lunch area. It then nearly gave me a heart attack as it started straight towards us, probably smelling the food.
We hung around to get some good shots (it was the first dingo we saw) and then headed off again in direction of King’s Canyon.
Arriving at the campground, I then realized that dingos roam here quite freely. Let’s see how this works out tonight…
The bar here had a live musician tonight, so Flo had a beer and kangaroo skewers from the BBQ.
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Uluru looks quite rugged close up
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Good sport, funny
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Stories & paintings = learning. The drawings alone are like math formulas without comtext
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One of many human size caves around the base
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The footprint of a malevolent spirit being going “smash”
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All waterfalls, hard to imagine rain here
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The climb is important to the traditional owners beliefs. Imagine Jesus baby far throwing would be the main attraction at a cathedral in the west …
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Shade and a chance of food, here I come!
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He plonked down 3 m next to us
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No care in the world
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Local attraction: Gather under the desert oak, have a beer and watch the sun set
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Pretty pretty, though!
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