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.