We woke up at 4:15 so we would be at the park at 5:00AM which was opening time. It was a beautiful ride through the desert as dawn was breaking coloring the desert and Uluru/Ayers Rock. Unfortunately by this point Hendrik’s camera had totally broken and was unsalvageable and mine was also slowly deteriorating and refused to turn on. It seemed to only turn on when I didn’t actually need it to but when I did it wouldn’t. So unfortunately we don’t have pictures of this morning.

The sun had not yet risen when we started the Valley of the Winds hike around the Olgas/kata Tjuta and the earth was still cool. We had loads of water with us this time but it was pretty unnecessary since it was cool and there are 3 water stops along the hike. It was a beautiful hike and often strenuous. There were signs everywhere that depicted a stick figure falling on rocks which we thought was funny. The walk only took us about 2 hours and progressively it became hotter and hotter. We passed by many people just beginning the walk when we had ended and thought to ourselves that we definitely wouldn’t want to start in this heat. It wasn’t even 9:00AM and it was already hot. It was a gorgeous hike and I definitely recommend getting up early for it because the switch of colors and temperature from night to day are amazing.

We were glad we had made good time because we needed a shower and we would still make breakfast and yes buffet breakfasts excite me. I have to admit as food goes the Ayers Rock Resort was one of the nicest (far better than at Kings Canyon Resort) and I enjoyed the dinner as well as brekky. After breakfast we had a few hours to kill before we had to catch the plane so I just surfed the internet and hung out by the pool.

The Uluru Airport is tiny and is there solely for a rock. I thought that was pretty funny that a rock can have its own airport. We arrived in Cairns in the evening, booked a Great Barrier Reef tour on Reef Magic for the day after next, and just relaxed.

I was very excited about today since we had a helicopter ride booked to take us over Uluru/Ayers Rock, the Olgas, and Amadeus salt lake. We were transferred from the resort by a van to the tiny Uluru airport where a shiny yellow helicopter was waiting for us. I had never flown in a helicopter before and it was one thing that I had on my to do list before I die. We all got to wear a headset with a microphone because the helicopter is so loud that we wouldn’t be able to hear each other without it.

Helicopters fly much smoother than airplanes because they don’t need the speed to stay in flight, a helicopter can just hover in one place. I also loved the bowled out windows which were great for viewing the scenery. We started by viewing Ayers Rock which sadly looked less spectacular from the air than it did on the ground. I was excited about viewing the rock from the air but it just blended into the red sand around it. I also felt that we didn’t go close enough to it.

Then we looped around the Olgas/Kata Tjuta which was much more impressive from the air than on land because we could see the whole picture of them unlike from the ground when we only get one angle. From behind the rock sculpture we could see the Olgas /Kata Tjuta, Uluru/Ayers rock, and Mount Connor all line up which was pretty spectacular because this cannot be seen this from the ground.

Then we soared over the vast red desert and looked for camels underneath, but we didn’t find any. Apparently there are thousands of camels in the area and they are also hunted for their meat, and I can vouch for that since they are served to curious tourists at the Ayers Rock Resort. As we flew over the vast Amadeus we saw camel prints in the salt and also 4wd tire marks which is illegal but worth the risk to joy riders. I thought the lake was particularly interesting and beautiful. I’d never seen a dry salt lake before and the white was so out of the ordinary to the red landscape. Before the flight I thought that the lake would be the least impressive followed by the Olgas/Kata Tjuta and Uluru/Ayer’s rock would be most impressive but it was just the opposite.

The second half of the day in the late afternoon we planned to do the base walk around Uluru/Ayer’s Rock which is a flat 9km walk around the rock. We started in the Mala car park (where the climb begins) and walked clockwise half way through the Base Walk North/East, when Hendrik’s mom began to feel ill again. I can’t say the hoards of flies which surrounded us were helping anyone’s mood, but just made us wish we had bought hats with netting.  She had purchased a hat now but she had probably not fully recovered from before. Hendrik was really bored with the walk saying that it is just flat and the same. He was also pissed that the road led around the rock too, to which I said, “You knew that we drove around it yesterday.” I thought it was obvious what we were getting ourselves into so the walk hadn’t deflated my expectations and I wanted to finish it since I wanted to finish what I started, get some exercise, and I had nothing better to do. Hendrik’s mother couldn’t have finished it, and his parents went back to get the car and Hendrik and I finished half the circuit. In hindsight we should have done the walk the other way since I think the rock is more interesting on the other side, if we were only going to do half but usually it doesn’t matter because you can’t get to your car without going back.

Even though we recommended the sunset viewing for Hendrik’s parents his mother was not feeling up to it, and she had to be taken back to the resort and didn’t come out for the rest of the night. The red sand had totally turned my Tevas maroon and after many washings I still have some of the red on them which will probably be permanent.

During the day Hendrik and I also discussed tomorrow’s plans. I wanted to climb the rock but Hendrik wouldn’t let me since the Aboriginals don’t want people climbing it. For them it is a sacred thing to do and therefore an insult to climb. Though I can understand that point of view I disagree with it. The path is already closed most of the time and only opens from 5AM-8AM if it’s not too windy so why not just close it off? While doing the base walk there were plenty of signs for other places at the base of the rock that said people aren’t allowed to take pictures of let alone allowed to enter because it is sacred. So I didn’t really know what to think. I would have felt better about the trip knowing I wasn’t allowed to climb it in the first place then being pretty much guilted and scared out of it. In the info center we found information how bad luck will come to those who climb the rock and the stories of those who died were very available. I didn’t think that was in good taste. I know things can have a meaning to other people but for me it’s just a giant rock which I’d have loved to climb and I don’t see the wrong in that. People compare it to churches and temples, but I see a divide in man-made structures and nature. I don’t feel its right to say that it’s only holy for the Aboriginals because who’s to say that someone else can’t have a religious experience on or by Uluru?

Anyway, in conclusion, I wasn’t allowed to do the climb, which I regret, but hey, at least I won’t have bad luck. So we decided to hike around the Olgas/Kata Tjuta instead and do the Valley of the Winds hike. We also had to get up really early since the hike closed and because we didn’t want to do it in the dead heat, because that’s no fun.

We drove through the desert towards Uluru/Ayers Rock. On the way we hardly passed any cars but we did see plenty of huge birds eating road kill by the side of the road and even saw a dead camel. When we got closer to the rock suddenly we were surrounded by coaches. At a lookout we could see the dry Amadeus Salt Lake and a rock which looked like Uluru/Ayers Rock but we later learned that it wasn’t Uluru/Ayers Rock but Mount Conner or Connor or Attila or Artilla, or the mountain with lots of names. Apparently Uluru/Ayers Rock, the Olgas, and Mount Conner all line up in a straight line. The sand at the lookout was even redder than at King’s Canyon and very soft.

Hendrik and Mt. Conner behind him

When we arrived at Uluru/Ayers Rock it was funny to see the village which existed here solely for tourism. It was made up of only hotels, resorts and campsites. We stayed at the Ayers Rock Resort which had mediocre rooms, the worst we’d stayed in thus far, but I found out that the hotel was the most expensive one we stayed at during the whole vacation so someone was really getting rich off the rock.

Hendrik and I went to see the rock without his parents since his mother wasn’t feeling well from yesterday’s sun. As we drove up to the thing it was amazing as it rose up from the earth in front of us. I had pretty low expectations because at the end it is just a rock but it’s definitely worth a visit. Out of nowhere there’s this gigantic red monolith which some claim to be the largest monolith in the world. Others say it is the second largest next to Mount Augustus. It stands 1105meters tall while Uluru/Ayers only 348 meters so my vote would have to go to Augustus but at least most everyone agrees that Uluru/Ayers Rock looks way more spectacular. We were definitely in awe of the rock. We visited the info/ Aboriginal cultural center and drove around the rock stopping at the highlights.  I particularly liked the Mutitjulu Water Hole, a crevice where a waterfall appears when it rains and forms a pool at the bottom. I would have loved to see the rock in the rain becasue not only would lots of waterfalls appear on the rock but also it would cool the earth down, but no such luck since it hardly ever rains in the desert.

On our way back to the resort we stopped by the sunset lookout point which had at least 100 campervans and cars all parked in a line already staring at the rock. Minus the crap-load of people if was beautiful and we were able to take many nice pictures as the rock changed colors because of the setting sun.

The typical postcard pic

We had one more day to spend in Adelaide. Because of Hendrik we visited Parliament. It was in secession so there weren’t any tours but we were able to sit in. There were hardly any people attending the meeting and those who were there were either talking amongst themselves or on their cell phones and no one was paying any attention to the man speaking on the mic. We got bored very fast too and left.

Sculpture in Adelaide

Then we went to visit Ayer’s house since we had come after hours the day before. We had a nice guided tour of the house which was interesting especially how fondly the old woman giving the tour talked of Sir Henry Ayers and was very proud that Australia’s icon the Ayers Rock was named after him. It was a complete 360 from what we recalled Captain Kirk saying at Fraser Island that he was happy that Ayers Rock is finally once again being called by its aboriginal name Uluru. I guess the differing in opinion is the reason for the rock’s double name. In 1993, it was renamed “Ayers Rock/Uluru” and became the first officially dual-named feature in the Northern Territory. The order of the dual names was officially reversed to “Uluru/Ayers Rock” in 2002. Since we were flying there the next day we were interested in learning about the rock.