FriendBurst Blog

Day 12 – Monday – September 27, 2010

Weather:  Sunny & Hot

Destination:  Yulara, Northern Territory, Australia

Odometer Reading:  99507

Total Distance Traveled:  4164 kilometers (2587 miles)

Price of Fuel:  Erldunda – $1.74.0 liter, 48.02 liters, $80.07

Route Taken:  Erldunda to Mount Ebenezer to Curtin Springs to Yulara.

Highlights:  Today we headed to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, more commonly referred to as Ayer’s Rock.  The drive was full of anticipation to see one of the most iconic symbols of Australia.  We stopped at a rest area for a stretch and the trees around there reminded me of the truffula trees from the Dr. Seuss story “The Lorax”.  I took a few more photos of the birds and a couple of the trees, and we were back on the road.

When we first spotted a mountain off in the distance, we got all excited that we might be almost there.  It seemed that we had made it so quickly, too, but something didn’t look quite right.  As we got closer it turned out to be Mt. Conner and we still had at least an hour to go.  Oh, the downside of anticipation.

We finally saw Ayer’s Rock and from the road it looked exactly as it did in its pictures.  It was eerie in a way.  We arrived about 10:00 a.m. and checked into the campground so that we would have our spot for the night.  Always better to be safe than sorry.  We changed into our hiking boots and we were off to The Rock.

The entry fee to the park was $25.00 per person and you get 3 days.  Park fees and attraction fees are outrageous here compared to the States.  Most parks in the States that we have been to charge a fee by the vehicle and allow you entry for a week.  Since we bit it for The Prom and the penguins, we were going to bite it for The Rock, one of the most iconic land forms on the planet.  Thankfully, it was also good for getting over to see The Olgas, too.

We grabbed our frozen waters and our cameras and headed out for the walk around the base of Uluru.  The walk is 10.6 kilometers and it was a nice, even path.  With every step the view looks completely different.

The Rock is one of the most interesting places I have been to so far.  As you walk around the base, you get a different emotion with each turn.  It could have been the side effects of the heat and dehydration, too.  I went through almost three bottles of water before we made it all the way around.

As we came around to the other side of The Rock, we heard some rustling in the bushes.  Then I heard something coming up behind us and when I turned there were three dogs, a mother and her pups.  They walked right by us and only the pups even glanced our way.  We ran into this trio several times from then on as we finished the walk.

At this point in our walk, we thought that we were about half way around.  Boy, we were wrong.  It was more like a third, but this part of the walk was through a grove of trees and the shade, although sparse, was a welcome relief.

Every time we thought we were almost to the end, there would be another stretch and another turn in front of us.  When we made it to the third rest station, it was mid-afternoon and hot.  Right about this time The Man’s video camera ran out of juice and he took over the camera for the rest of the walk.  I was grateful because we still had at least another third of it to go and my drass was aggin’.  The less I had to carry, the better.

The loop took us over 3 hours to complete and then The Man wanted to hike up it.  Going around it was enough for me (I’m also very afraid of heights) and I told him I’d meet him back at The Beast.  I crawled off to keel over in The Beast and he crawled almost up to the top of The Rock.

When he finally made it back down to The Beast (about an hour later), we headed over to the Sunset Parking Lot.  The sunset on The Rock is said to be a spectacle of color.  The change is really so subtle that it didn’t look that spectacular as I was watching it.  Maybe because I felt like a brain dead zombie, I just couldn’t be that impressed with a sunset on a rock.  It just got dark.  Thank goodness for photography.

Stops:  About 367 stops for shade and a drink of water while walking around The Rock, including the 3 shade rest stops that are built along the trail.  One has water and they all have emergency phones if you want, or need, to give up.  I don’t know how anybody could do this walk in the middle of summertime.

Where We Stayed:  We checked into the Ayer’s Rock Campground which is a mega campground with just about everything available to you at some place within the Ayer’s Rock Resort.  The rate was $39.50 for the powered site.  By the time we got back to our space it was after dark and the place was packed.  Good thing we registered earlier in the day.

Where We Ate:  We stayed in The Beast and had McCain’s Tuna Mornay (tuna casserole), the cheese and crackers, and a salad for dinner.