THIRTYNINETH DAY – MONDAY 16TH AUGUST
We got up early to climb the small sand dune to view the sunrise. It was a bit of a fizzer actually which was disappointing. We had a quick breakfast of cereal and then packed up and off to Uluru. Along the way I was surprised to see so many trees and shrubs. There were lots of dessert oaks and bushes with tiny little white flowers completely covering them with little red centres – we think they might be a teatree of some kind – they were everywhere. Due to recent rains everything is so green and many of the wildflowers are out in bloom early – aren’t we lucky. When we arrived at the ‘resort’ at Uluru we checked out the info centre then walked to the shops to check them out and then got back into the van and drove off the big rock. Uluru is so much bigger than I expected and it is a very beautiful rock. We just went out there to get a feel of the place and then we decided to go to ‘Kata Tjuta’ (The Olgas) which was about 50 kms away. We spent some time walking to Walpa Gorge which was a lot bigger than expected. Kata Tjuta was a lot bigger than we expected as well. It is made up of smaller rocks of all types which have been ‘glued’ together by sediment that has turned to rock – in other words it’s made up of millions of ‘small’ rocks stuck together – fascinating. We then travelled back to the ‘resort’ where we went to the campground to book in. We found our site and relaxed a bit. We then went for a walk to the campground lookout from which you could see Uluru and Kata Tjuta. We then decided to get in the van and go off to watch the sunset on Uluru. I’m glad we went when we did as so many others decided to do the same. We rocked up at the viewing area and parked. It was another 50 mins or so before the sun was to be in the best position. Graeme had a good idea and got out some soup which he warmed up and we drank while watching Uluru change colour. Through our binoculars we could see people climbing up Uluru and coming down. People are discouraged to climb the rock but they say you can still if you want – and obviously people still do. We have decided not to climb it in respect to the Indigenous owners. Uluru is such a majestic rock in any colour but when it turns an amazing dark orange it looks fabulous. When the sun had gone down and began to get dark everyone moved out and so did we back to our camp. We then had dinner and settled down for the night.