Day 7….Uluru Sunrise, Base Walk, Drive to Kings Canyon
Up at 5:00 for breakfast, ready to leave for the Uluru Sunrise and complete base-walk at 6:00am. Weather…cold. Melody had a harder time with the cold than i did, but it was still cold enough for me to wear 4 layers. Melody i think had 5 layers on, and kept them on most of the morning. Breakfast was great. Kylie made bacon and eggs and toast for us. Plus there was cereal for all of us to have if we wanted as well.
We drove out to the rock and parked for a quick photo opportunity with rock illuminated from behind by the rising sun. That lasted only seconds, as we needed to get to the beginning of the base walk, so we could start and therefore finish, before the sun got too high in the sky. We were expecting a 30 degree maximum for the day, so the earlier we could start, the better.
The base walk took us just over 2 hours and 15 minutes. Two girls from our group took a little longer (3 hours), but all in all it was a flat, easy walk that we were able to do at our own pace. Melody and I marked our own piece of the rock, with no public toilets available, it was our only choice. Some parts of the rock were not allowed to be photographed, according to aboriginal law. About 75% of the rock is allowed to be photographed, so that was fine with me, as i took advantage of it, and filled my camera with around 350 photos.
After the base walk, which was self-paced, our group got back together for the ‘Mala Walk’ which was a short section of the ‘front’ of the rock. Our tour guide ‘Doc’ walked us through the track, showing and explaining all the different traditions and tribal meanings of the rock walls. It was very interesting, and took around about 45 minutes.
With the walking completed for the day, we stopped quickly at the Ayers Rock Cultural Center for a drink and to buy some gifts.
After picking up everything from camp and having lunch, we set out for a drive to Kings Canyon, which was going to be a 4.5 hour drive (500km).
We stopped along the way for a look at Mt Conner (big flat top rock), which the tour guides named ‘Fuluru’ (Fool-A-Roo), as its commonly mistaken for Uluru. At the same place, we saw a large salt lake called ‘Lake Atilla’ while melody used a “Long Drop.” The flies at this stop were the worst, and there is a photo (when i post them all), of Kylie covered in them, and seemlingly not caring at all.
We saw a couple of wedge-tailed eagles having their road-kill dinner, and also some more wild-camels roaming near the highway. At one of the gas stations, i could have bought a camel burger, but wasnt hungry. I wish i had have tried it, because we didnt see that again.
We arrived at King’s Creek Campground, and had much the same facilities as at Ayers Rock. Melody’s and my shower strike continued, and melody is also considering growing in her dreadlocks permanently.
Tomorrow…4 Hour walk through Kings Canyon.
