Tag Archives: Uluru

Day 46 – Mala Walk

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.

: Uluru looks quite rugged close up

: Good sport, funny

: Stories & paintings = learning. The drawings alone are like math formulas without comtext

: One of many human size caves around the base

: The footprint of a malevolent spirit being going “smash”

: All waterfalls, hard to imagine rain here

: 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 …

: Shade and a chance of food, here I come!

: He plonked down 3 m next to us

: No care in the world

: Local attraction: Gather under the desert oak, have a beer and watch the sun set

: Pretty pretty, though!

Day 45 – Valley of the Winds

The alarm clock went off at 5 am, supported by weird mobile-phone-like birdsong. We packed all necessary components for our breakfast, including cooker and water for tea / coffee and arrived at the viewing area parking space in good time for the 6:48 am sunrise. But alas, it did not end up being at all like what we were expecting from the sunset area.

Too many …

A lot of desert oaks around left a raised viewing platform as the only obvious spot, but it was already well full and only got more crowded as busloads of day-trippers with doggy bags arrived. All thought of a cozy sunrise breakfast were abandoned at this point – one of the slogans of the resort here is “experience the silence” – yeah, right!

But then, the first light had hit Uluru maybe 10 minutes ago, as if on a gong the show seemed to be over and everyone rushed back to their cans. We liberated a nice bench and table and even got a milk pack off one of the doggy-bag-carriers, with a bit of jealousy in his eyes seeing our apparent lack of any haste. So, 7:00 am, in the silence promised and with the morning light’s shadows creeping over the rock, we had our imagined breakfast.

from a viewing platform on a sand dune

Once we were full and happy again, we made our way out Kata Tjuta, another beautiful rock formation 50 km out from Uluru. After a photo stop on the way, we were ready to tackle the 7.4km Valley of the Winds walk. It was the perfect morning for it: Sunny, with an occasional cloud lending shade and not too warm. This track is closed when the temperature exceeds 36°C, or about 11am in summer.

We finished pretty much on the spot at 12 noon and headed back for a light lunch and to make the best of our $38 accommodation: Sleep in the shade, hop in the pool and have a nice barbie to round the day off.

: Flo as the master of our BBQ

: On the flatter part of the track, going out

: Wild flowers with the domes of Kata Tjuta in the background

: After a climb, you are rewarded with this view into the valley, And Flo is monkeying around.

: Shot made with the timer and the look into the valley

: Looking onto the walls of the valley we just came from. Those caves look very cool.

: As always, no idea about the flower

: We climbed that

: Wherever it can thrive

: Kata Tjuta is made up of rockier sediment

: Nina on the path in

: Down there

: from a viewing platform on a sand dune

: Morning has broken

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: OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

: Too many …

Day 44 – Uluṟu

Rest was needed

The 508km from yesterday took a toll on us and we decided to sleep in and take our time in the morning. We shortly considered to have a rest day in Curtin Springs but it was only 86km more to get to the Ayers Rock Campground which we classified as a short “hop” and did around lunch time.

We both dreaded the campground a bit, given how indigenous people are treated in Australia and the fact that the local Aboriginal tribe asks tourist to honour the sacredness of Uluru and not climb it while the government does not want to close off the track because it fears a decline in tourism. Talk about being disenfranchised.

Red indeed …

The earth turned even redder on our short ride and then Uluru was visible on the horizon. It is quite the sight even from far away. Getting to the campground which is on the expensive side with $40 a night, we were prepared for the worst…and were positively surprised.

The resort is made for different kinds of tourists: The ones with money go into the hotel rooms with Uluṟu view, the others have a choice of the Pioneer Hotel and the campground. The campground is definitely made for A LOT of tourists but it still has a nice character to it. Checking in, Flo got a whole handful of information sheets including a booklet of the resort and its history. (Knowing Flo, you will realize that he read the entire thing). The land was given back to the Aboriginal people and is leased to the government for 99 years. Slowly but surely, the local tribe also got involved in running the Ayers Rock Resort. You can feel it in the respect that is shown towards the Aboriginal customs and stories. Started in 2013, there is also an effort made to have indigenous staff and a trainings program for indigenous people. The campground offers free classes in things like “throwing a boomerang” or “playing a digeridoo”. There is also a free guided tour around Uluṟu . I would think that this is the reason why the campground is rather pricey.

We decided to keep taking it slow. Heading into the resort’s shop, we bought more fresh fruit and vegetables. This is when we realized that we had skipped lunch…and had coffee instead. Well, Flo had coffee and I had an iced chocolate. It was the best thing ever. 🙂

Decorative clouds

Around 4.30pm, we headed out to the viewing area to see Uluru in the light of the setting sun. From this area, you look onto the mountain rather than into the sunset so you can see the colours change.

The sun set at 6.39pm. We filled the time between taking photos with talking to the people around us which was lovely.

Many, many pictures later it was 7.15pm and we decided to head back to the campground instead of hanging around until the stars come out. The moon was spectacular tonight tough.