Day 8 - Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia
It was another early start this morning - I was on the minibus at 6am ready for a three day trip in the Red Centre. There were 15 in our group - English, Swedish, French, German, American, and two guides - Chris and Luke. Travelling through the Red Centre was hot (late 20's very early on) but apparently this is cool! We made a few initial stops to break up a very long journey to our main destination for the day - Uluru (aka Ayers Rock). On the bus we had a getting to know you game. I was actually with a really lovely group - some just on holidays like me, others travelling the world. The Red a Centre isn't desert - it's pretty much there but not quite. As we drove through there's quite a bit of vegetation and the landscape does change. On one of our stops we walked a little off-road and Chris drew different tracks in the red sand to show how you identify different wildlife - he did a kangaroo - he taught us loads of facts that have completely escaped me, but I don't think I'll forget this! Finally we arrived at Uluru. It's pretty bloody big (although surprisingly it isn't the biggest or oldest sacred site in Australia). We drove around the whole rock to get a good view of it - it's different from every angle. We then went into the aboriginal centre to learn a little more about it. Uluru is a sacred site for the aboriginal people. For them every part of it represents a story (most of which cannot be shared by non-aboriginal people. The centre told you a few of the stories but there was also information about how arrival of the Europeans impacted upon their traditions and way of life - or in many cases screwed it up. Uluru is within its own National Park and was handed back to the Aboriginis in 1985 under joint ownership with the Australian Government. Before this white people installed a fence on the rock so people could climb it - it's still their but you're encouraged not to climb it out of respect. We couldn't have climbed it anyway because it was closed due to the heat. The fence isn't removed because it attracts a lot of tourism which the Australians don't want to lose. After the centre we walked the 10.5 kilometre track around around Uluru. This was pretty spectacular and very hot! Thankfully though it was on flat ground. Later that afternoon we drove to a spot to see the sunset at 7:25pm. The sun doesn't actually set behind the rock, which is what I expected but rather it sets to side. We have a few glasses of champagne and watched the rock change colours as the sun went down. We arrived at our campsite for the night around 8:30pm I guess. We helped Chris and Luke set up the BBQ and prepare the food and took turns to shower. I wasn't expecting shower facilities so this was a nice surprise. I now have to confess what I had for tea! ... I thought that I'd never eat this particular animal but it was that or nothing and I was starving... And slightly curious. So for tea I had kangaroo steaks and camel burgers! The kangaroo was actually very yummy - the camel wasn't so nice. So yesterday I was tacking pictures of kangaroos and today I'm eating them! By 10pm we were all knackered! But there was no sleeping in tents tonight! This for me was one of the most exciting parts of the day!!... We were each given a 'swag' which is basically a heavy duty sleeping bag with a thin mattress and an inner bag built in. We rolled these out in a long line in the sand and laid under the stars - for which there were thousands. I have never actually slept out all night under the stars before so it was great - slightly nerve racking thinking about all the creatures around but it felt very safe. I didn't really get to appreciate it for too long though - I was so tired that before I knew it I was sound asleep!