Today we set off for Uluru or Ayers Rock as it used to be called. We packed up and went round to breakfast then went to fill up the car where we almost needed to take out a mortgage – we have been paying about $1.70 per litre whereas here it was $2.65! Anyway we were on the road by about 8.45. It is a relatively short drive today about 4 hours without stops and unfortunately the first part is along the road we came in on but we did see the wild camels again in fact this time there were a lot more of them so it was good fun seeing who would spot the next group first. At the end of the road – literally – we turned right to Uluru rather than left back to Alice springs and started the new bit of the journey which to be honest looked remarkably similar to the last part of the journey. Our first stop was at the ‘false Uluru’ or Mount Conner which is regularly mistaken for Uluru and on the road signs is spelt Mount Connor, according to the information on the website this sits on a private cattle farm of 1,000,000 acres – yes that is one million acres! Apparently the family that farm it have 1,500 head of cattle which doesn’t seem very many but only 15% of their land contains plants that are edible to the cattle – I have said it before and will say it again you really have to want to live here! After looking at Mount Connor we crossed the road to have a look at the salt flats, apparently there are seven on the property which obviously grow the less rain there is. They are quite spectacular and rather hidden from the road so you have to have done your research to make sure you see them. We continued driving and eventually saw Uluru which to be honest didn’t look as impressive as Mount Connor but as you get closer you see both the size and the colour of it and that makes it look more impressive. We arrived at the entrance to the national park and received our information pack – unfortunately today is forecast to be over 36C again so a few of the longer walks are closed. We had decided today we would visit Kata Tjuta which is a range of rock formations about 30km away from Uluru. Kata Tjuta is an aboriginal word meaning “many heads” as there are 36 domes spread over an area of more than 20km. The domes are believed to be more than 500 million years old and the local Aboriginal people the Anangu have inhabited the area for more than 22,000 years. The highest mound is Mount Olga which is almost 200 metres taller than Uluru. We stopped at the Dune Viewing station which provides a great view of the range, then moved on to the sunset viewing platform where you can actually only see one of the domes. Finally we went to the Walpa Gorge where there is a reasonable walk to the narrowest part of the gorge. What is most surprising is the fact that there are periods where it doesn’t rain here for years and yet there are still pools of water and vegetation growing on top of what looks like solid rock. By the time we had finished the walk it was about 3pm and as the other walks were closed we set off for the hotel which is about 30 minutes away. The resort is outside the national park and is basically 4 hotels with a ‘town centre’ and a population of about 1,000, having said all that it is actually the 4th largest town in the Northern Territories after Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine which pretty much shows you how small towns are in this area! We have a very nice room although it is quite a way from reception so we collapsed for a while catching up with all things electronic as we actually have wifi here! Before jumping in the shower and heading off for something to eat.
