Tales of the Territory: Volume 3 - you say Uluru, I say Ayers Rock

G'day

So the last of the three legs of my trip was to what they call the Red Centre. At least normally it's red (the soil that is) but they've had the most rain in the last year for over a decade so it was actually a lot greener than usual (and than I remember from when I was there in 1998). Alice Springs is the biggest town and centre for aboriginal art (bit pricey) but the real draws are out in the desert, around 275 miles from Alice, Ayers Rock and the Olgas. Or as they've been known since the land was returned to the aboriginal owners, Uluru and Kata Tjuta. The company had messed up my booking for this trip and so had upgraded me to make amends. This meant a smaller group (not so much fun as the previous one - three Swiss teenage girls who spoke German to each other a lot and some old men), proper bedding in the tents (and lights so I didn't have to use a torch), and food cooked for us (rather than us mucking in). Despite all this, and the, er, interesting guide we had (see below), it wasn't as good as the other legs, though Uluru was even more amazing than I remembered.

Day one: Kata Tjuta

White tourist in white t-shirt trying to blend in. At least the hair more or less matched the surroundings. View across Kata Tjuta at the start of the walk through the Valley of the Winds.

The Valley of the Winds

Kata Tjuta again. There are over 30 different peaks.

Kata Tjuta from a distance.

Our guide, pouring champagne and serving up the nibbles for our Uluru sunset. He called himself Sauce. He pretended (?) to be a serial killer. He wore very short shorts. He had very long hair. Nuff said.

Uluru sunset - with not a lot of sun. Still impressive though.

Day Two: Uluru

We had to get up early to get to Uluru for sunset. Luckily this was in winter and sunrise is later than summer (obviously) but we were still there at around 6.15am. It was sooo worth it though. The choice was between climbing it (did it before, very scary, locals don't like you doing it) or walking around the whole base - guess which I did.

Now it's rusty red.

Now it's orange. That's magic!

Now it's part of an arty-farty shot with a tree. That's pretentious! Last time I was here it was 47 degrees; this time it was around 8 degrees when we started the walk.

A water hole. The black marks are where the water runs down.

And that was it for Uluru. After a walk round the cultural centre it was a long drive north to our camp for the night near Kings Canyon. Because of all the rain there's been a massive increase in the mouse population (grasses have sprouted up after the rain and the mice eat the grasses) and we certainly had quite a few running around the camp. Plus a dingo or two that scared the you-know-what out of your author when he strolled away from the camp to take a look at the stars (worth it though as with no light population it was quite a show, including the smudgy mass of the Milky Way and my favourite constellation, the Southern Cross, only visible south of the equator).

Day Three: Kings Canyon

Er, like it says. The canyon is compact but beautiful.

Heart Attack Hill. The start of the walk along the rim. It wasn't as bad as the name suggests.

Glimmer of sun over the canyon.

Last time I was here you sat on the very edge and dangled your feet over the massive drop. Now you're not allowed to. Wowsers*, as the Aussies say.

Rock pool that I swam in last time. Now they ask you not to. Wowsers*.

View across the canyon.

Spinifex Pigeon - much cuter than the usual flying rat.

After the canyon it was a drive further north to look over this mountain-like mass called Gosse's Bluff. Actually it's the site of a meteorite impact and the 'mountain' is actually the rock that was pushed up by the impact. And then it was back to Alice Springs for a night before flying back to Melbourne, tired but happy.

More soon!

G'bye.

Cliff

* Wowsers are party-poopers/jobsworths