28 June 2009 Day 10 – After a good night’s sleep we were up and packed by 8 00 am and
on the road to
Yulara and Ayers Rock. We made good time on the bitumen and arrived at
Yulara Camping Grounds around lunchtime, grabbed a quick sandwich and headed out to Uluru to visit the Cultural Centre which is well worth the visit and provides a wealth of information about the Traditional Owners history of Uluru and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). After we finished at the Cultural Centre and the
shop, where Jack bought a Boomerang made by the local indigenous people , we drove around the Rock and walked into a few of the story
places we had read about at the cultural Centre.
Once we’d finished doing that we set ourselves up in the Sunset carpark to watch the sun set over Uluru (along with several hundred others). Luckily we arrived about an hour before sunset and found a prime viewing spot, set up a plate of nibblies, cracked a bottle of wine and life was good once again.
The way Uluru changes colour as the sun sets is phenomenal and photos hardly capture the subtle changes – it was well worth doing. Over dinner we decided to get up before sunset (which was at 7 15 am), pack up bacon and egg burger ingredients and head back to Uluru to watch the sunrise.
Around the base of Uluru
Around the base of Uluru
Sunset at Uluru
Settled in at the Sunset Car Park
Settled in at the Sunset Car Park
29 June 2009 Day 11 – Again the hoards descended and we got one of the last parks about 30 minutes before the sun rose into a cloudless sky. The obligatory photos were taken and it was back to the Cultural Centre car park, where there are barbeques, to
cook up the burgers. Linda and Karen went to the
shop and bought coffees and hot chocolates to have with the burgers. After consuming the food it was off to climb the Rock, the boys were very excited discussing who would be the first up and what time they would do it in – not competitive at all are they. The “oldies”, as the boys refer to us, were just happy to make it to the top with no consideration of “what time do you reckon you’ll do it in Dad – as Jack asked”.
Sunrise
Sunrise - the colours change.
The Bradby's at sunrise
The start of the climb
On the way up the Rock
Linda and Karen at the top with the Olgas in the background.
Spectacular views from the top.
Toyota will want this photo for their next add.
On the way down.
Well an hour later and a lot of huffing and puffing we made it. It’s absolutely spectacular and well worth the walk/crawl. The boys made it up in about 20 minutes although this could not be verified as the “oldies” were too far behind. Back down we came in much quicker time and headed back to camp to revive, do a bit of food shopping and fuel up the car before the next leg of our journey.
We all head out to Kata Tjuta to do the Walk of the Winds and then after that we part company with the Caseys who head back to
Alice Springs while we head further west through the desert leg of our trip.
