A Walk Around the Rock

I have just returned to my room for a cup of afternoon tea and a bit of a relax from the busyness of today. Before I delve into my excursion today, let me fill you in on last night.

I met a tour bus in front of the hotel around 4:30 yesterday evening.  The bus was about half full of older people, and I was happy when one other person got on at my hotel – a girl about my age.  She had a UT (Texas) bag on, and it turns out she was studying for the semester in Sydney at UNSW; we got to talking on the trip to the National Park.  Once we arrived at the sunset viewing area, we were treated to a glass of wine and some light snacks as we took in the views across the brush (and my closest view of Uluru since arrival). We chatted a bit and met a nice older couple from Wellington, NZ as we waited for sunset.

Things happened pretty fast when the sun began to sink in the sky.  Uluru went from the dull red of the day through an array of shades, growing more vibrant on its way to a deep purple.  From the top of a dune, I caught a glimpse of the Olgas at sunset as well.  Overall, it was a great experience.  After 6:00 we boarded the bus and headed back to the resort.  We spent the next few hours at the outdoor restaurant/bar at the hotel and ended up meeting some abroad students from Sydney Uni.  Around 9:30 I headed back to my room and got ready for bed knowing that today would be early and busy.

This morning started just after 5:00 as I got ready to head out on my SEIT Uluru Trek.  I left my room around 5:40 into the dark and quiet brush (the timing of my trip couldn’t be better – not only is it cool in temperature, but a week from the winter solstice makes the days short allowing me to sleep in – sunrise in the summer can be around 4:30!).  I made my way up to the front of the hotel and sat outside taking in the stars. I was joined by an older coupled from Sydney who I chatted with for a bit.  Around 6:00 lots of people began gathering in the front of the hotel, and by 6:15 four tour buses has arrived to handle the masses.  I was the only one left standing waiting for my tour group, which was a bit unnerving.  Then a small guy in a big hat and overcoat jumped out of a van and scurried up to me, asking if I was Michael. He introduced himself as Pip , the SEIT tour guide, and I hopped in the van, joining 10 others and filling the last seat.  I was immediately happy that I had chosen a small tour company rather than one of the big bus tours.

We headed out to the National Park in the darkness.  It took about thirty minutes to get to our starting point next to the imposing Uluru which had grown out of the dark sky as it morphed into a deep blue on the way to sunrise.  We got out of the van on the side of the road about 50 metres from the face of Uluru, loaded up with tucker bags filled with brekky for later in the morning, and struck off at a fairly fast clip around the base of the Rock.  It was still pretty dark, and we didn’t spend much time looking at Uluru as we hurried through the first km of the journey past sacred sites which we weren’t permitted to photograph.  We made it to an area we were allowed to take photos at just in time to see a magnificent sunrise.

While I had heard that sunset was better than sunrise, I have to say that this morning was astounding.  We were pretty close to the northern face of Uluru as it turned from the dark grey-red of dawn into an electrified red which glowed seemingly magically.  Once the sun was fully up we continued our journey around the base of Uluru, stopping to see sites, hear stories, and take pictures.  Halfway around the Rock, we stopped to eat brekky of cereal, muesli, fruit, juice, and milk, before continuing around to the south side to continue our way around.  I can’t relay everything we saw, it was a lot, but it was a great tour which gave a lot of information and was fairly exhaustive – I feel like I saw everything that I needed to around the base.  Near the end of the walk we passed the one sanctioned climb site (climbing Uluru is highly frowned upon and you are asked by the indigenous population to not do it.  While closed today (as it often is) due to wind, it was incredible just how steep it is.  The trek wrapped up after over 7 ½ miles of walking.  We were all a bit tired, but quite happy to have seen it all!

We headed back to the resort, and I stopped by my room before heading over to the resort centre to stop into the IGA grocery to get some lunch.  I got an Australian pastie (which was surprisingly delicious) and headed back to the hotel and up to the lookout near my hotel to enjoy a view of Uluru with my meal.

Uluru from the sand dune near my hotel.

When I was done I wandered around the grounds a bit and came across an indigenous painting workshop.  With nothing to do until this evening, I joined in and got my own canvas to do a painting.

Now I am just killing some time (effectively too, it’s now 3:45 – I’m taking my time writing this and watching the news).

The news in Central Australia - cattle prices.

One of the things I learned today was about the greenness I had previously mentioned.  It was confirmed that this is incredible rare for the ‘Red Centre’ to look this alive – three and a half years worth of rain have fallen in less than two years.  The last time that things were this green was over a decade ago.  While I wish that I could see Uluru in all its redness, I assured that it is a very exciting time here and a unique opportunity to see a rare site.