The Red Centre

The Red Centre (Uluru)
Friday, March 18th to Sunday, March 20th, 2011

Now I get to the part of the story that you have all been waiting for (well Mom has anyway).....my visit to another one of Australia’s most famous landmarks. I have been teasing you with one picture for a while but not to worry there will be a few more.

The super exciting Alice Springs airport. Yes, it is a short walk from the plane to the terminal and when you look around........the airport is surrounded by a whole lot of nothing.

Anyway, my flight on Friday took me from Sydney to Alice Springs. If you look on a map it is indeed in the middle of nowhere. A pretty small little place with a few things to see but for the most part it is the place that people use as a jumping point to visit Uluru……more commonly known as Ayers Rock but I will from here on out refer to it by its Aboriginal name Uluru…….or The Rock.

Now some of you may be looking at your map trying to figure out why I traveled from Sydney to Alice Springs (I know I am). It was not the best travel route but it turned out that Debi was going to be there for work so we decided to meet up and check out a few things together. Ok we were only checking out Uluru together and I would end up checking out the rest on my own.

Just for reference Uluru is not right next to Alice Springs……it is a good 465 kilometres (289 miles) away so after much looking and searching and deciding we settled on renting a car and making the drive out there. It actually was the cheapest option. We both got into town Friday evening so basically we used that time to buy some groceries, pack the car and then eat some dinner.

First thing Saturday morning we hit the road to start the drive. We were a little worried that there would be a lot of traffic and too many people along the way…..we did pass quite a few tour vehicles early but after about an hour we had the road mostly to ourselves. It wasn’t a bad drive at all. Of course we had a few little stops along the way to check out the view as well.

The long dusty road to Uluru. Not much to look at along the way but it was a lot greener than I expected. The Red Centre has gotten a lot of rain this wet season so looks far more lush and green than usual.

We're heading that way.

Look there it is. Ok you're right this is not Uluru, although for a minute as we drove I thought it was. This is in fact Mount Connor. It kind of comes at you out of no where.

We actually got out first glimpse of “The Rock” very early. It really is an awesome sight to see.

There it is. Not much bigger than my mirror at this point. It is believed that most of Uluru actually remains below the surface.

After a few stops to take some pictures we made our way over to the Cultural Centre to get some history and information on the aboriginals who are the traditional owners of the land and Uluru. These are the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjura people who call themselves Anangu. Of course no pictures in the Cultural Centre and in fact only some information is on display for visitors to learn. Tjukurpa is the basis of Anangu life and explains the relationship between people, plants, animals and land. It is the basis of social, religious, legal and ethical systems in Anangu culture. Just like you don’t want your whole life on display for everyone to see and read and learn, the Anangu share part of their culture with visitors…..probably in the hopes that some understanding will lead to increased respect…..but they also choose not to share everything.

By the time we got through the Cultural Centre it was lunch time and Debi was really hungry so we headed to check into our hotel…well actually little cabin. There is a resort that is about 15 minutes from Uluru that offers all kinds of different accommodation from 5 Star $500 a night hotels to camping. The only problem is that all the hotels (and the campground too) are owned and run by the same resort. We tried to get into the perm-a-tents that are on site (yes I volunteered to camp but it was like 3 star camping so I could have done it) but they were apparently under construction so instead we got a little cabin. Think tiny little ATCO trailer with beds for 6 with a kitchen in between (I totally forgot to take pictures). It was ok though. We slept in bunk beds. It was kind of like camp. And we were able to cook and play cards and that kind of thing.

The best part about being out close to Uluru for a night is that you get to take in the view of The Rock at sunset…..and then again in the morning at sunrise. Before sunset though we made one more trip over to The Rock to check it out…….the rain had rolled in so the view was slightly obstructed. Then we waited for sunset and got a great show.

Enjoying the sunshine and the view. Almost doesn't look real, but I assure you it is.

No, I am not taking a picture of the grass. You can barely make out the shadow of where Uluru should be. A small little rain storm came in and ruined our view for a few moments. But not to worry, we got our view back later.

Uluru all lit up just before sunset. Such an awesome sight.

Enjoying this amazing sight together. Uluru changes colour a lot depending on the time of day and the amount of sun that is shining on it.

I promised Mom a lot of pictures so there are a lot of pictures.

We were also treated to a full moon. I was also told by Mom that not only was this a full moon, but it was in fact a supermoon. For those of you not sure (because I know I wasn't until Mom told me about it) the supermoon occurs when the full moon is seen at it's closest approach to the earth. The supermoon was said to have been March 19th, 2011, which is the day this picture was taken. Pretty cool if you ask me, even if people do argue about it's significance and effect on the earth and blah, blah, blah. It looked really amazing and that is all that counts.

Enjoying the calm that is Uluru and the supermoon.

No matter how many times you look at it....such an amazing sight.

The next morning we got up nice and early so that we could catch the sunrise. Once again…..what a great show.

Watching the sunrise. Yes it was an early and cool morning but so worth it.

The moon hadn't quite gone to bed yet.

Uluru with the the first rays of morning sunshine.

We then made our way over to Uluru itself so that we could hike the rock……and no I don’t mean climb it. I mean walk around it. There is a rock climb that is still open to the public if the weather and other conditions allow but the Anangu ask that you don’t. The fact that the climb is extremely dangerous should be a deterrent (but it seems not to be) but you would think that the fact that it is totally disrespectful would be a bigger one. Yet people still chose to climb it. Of course Debi and I did not. It is a sacred place for the aboriginals, and at times they even ask that you don’t take photos. We did make the 10 kilometre walk around Uluru but that is as close as we got.

The sign that is posted next to the Rock Climb. It is such a shame that it is still open to the public. I look forward to the day when it is closed for good.

The rock climb. Doesn't look at all fun.

The desert flies who decided to hitch a ride on Debi, out of the wind. I assure you my back looked the same way. But better on my back than on my face because they were annoying.

Some of the interesting formations you will find as you walk around Uluru.

One of the beautiful rock faces.

Not normally a river, but the rain the Uluru has received over the past few months has lead to this part of the trail being underwater. Debi and I did find our way around it although our boots were a little wet and muddy. All part of the adventure though.

This is about half way. The weather quickly warmed up to shorts and t-shirt weather.

Another small(ish) river along the way. This required a little bit of bushwalking but we made it.

Look we found a dry spot in the middle. Yes Debi's boots got wet getting there but this section wasn't actually that deep.

Looking up from the bottom of the gorge. When it is raining, there is a wonderful waterfall that leads to a pool at the base. It would have been nice to see but I was very happy to have sunshine. I did try to take a close look at some cave paintings that were in the area but they are not easy to see anymore. When tourists first starting visiting Uluru they use to pour water on the cave drawings to make the colours brighter. As you can imagine that has lead to the artwork being mostly destroyed.

Once we were finished our walk we headed back into Alice Springs. Debi had to work on Monday and well I had some sightseeing to do.

In short, Uluru is nothing short of amazing. I feel sorry for anyone who lives or visits this country that hasn’t had a chance to visit. It is worth all the effort to get out there.

Monday we shall see what Alice Springs has to offer.

Julie