Tuesday 28th October
Not having anyone else in the dorm made the half five start much easier as I was able to turn on all the lights and get myself sorted without worrying about disturbing anyone else. The bus picked me up at 6 and I was a little worried as the only other people on board were a German couple (him in socks and sandals!!!) his sister and her English husband - all in their late 50s and an Indian girl who was a similar age to me. We were told we would be picking more people up at Yalara (the resort at Uluru) so fingers crossed there would be more young people there.
We drove for about an hour to the camel farm which was a bit disappointing as the only camel rides available were round a very small paddock for about 5 minutes, I decided to not give it ago as I didn't want to spoil the memories of the camel ride I did in Tunisia which was far more exciting.
We had a couple more hours drive to Yalara (great opportunity to catch up on sleep after the early start) and picked up three Aussie girls who were a similar age to me and two Japanese guys who barley said 5 words the whole time they were there.
Lunch was at the camp-site before heading off to Kata-Tjuta for a very hot afternoon walk through the Valley of the Winds. The views at the end were worth the sweaty scramble over the rocks. When we got back to the bus we drove to the sunset lookout over Uluru and watched the spectacular natural light show on the rocks with a few glasses of wine.
It was then back to camp for camel sausages, kangaroo meat and beef steak dinner. We were told that the next day's start was 4am to allow us to walk as much of the base walk as possible before the sun got too hot so everyone opted for a fairly early night
Wednesday 29th November
Loathe to admit it the 4 am start was worth it, we got to Uluru just before 6 and had a wonderful breeze to cool us down as we waked around. I we as surprised at how lush some of the areas around the base were
Not having anyone else in the dorm made the half five start much easier as I was able to turn on all the lights and get myself sorted without worrying about disturbing anyone else. The bus picked me up at 6 and I was a little worried as the only other people on board were a German couple (him in socks and sandals!!!) his sister and her English husband - all in their late 50s and an Indian girl who was a similar age to me. We were told we would be picking more people up at Yalara (the resort at Uluru) so fingers crossed there would be more young people there.
We drove for about an hour to the camel farm which was a bit disappointing as the only camel rides available were round a very small paddock for about 5 minutes, I decided to not give it ago as I didn't want to spoil the memories of the camel ride I did in Tunisia which was far more exciting.
We had a couple more hours drive to Yalara (great opportunity to catch up on sleep after the early start) and picked up three Aussie girls who were a similar age to me and two Japanese guys who barley said 5 words the whole time they were there.
Lunch was at the camp-site before heading off to Kata-Tjuta for a very hot afternoon walk through the Valley of the Winds. The views at the end were worth the sweaty scramble over the rocks. When we got back to the bus we drove to the sunset lookout over Uluru and watched the spectacular natural light show on the rocks with a few glasses of wine.
It was then back to camp for camel sausages, kangaroo meat and beef steak dinner. We were told that the next day's start was 4am to allow us to walk as much of the base walk as possible before the sun got too hot so everyone opted for a fairly early night
Wednesday 29th November
Loathe to admit it the 4 am start was worth it, we got to Uluru just before 6 and had a wonderful breeze to cool us down as we waked around. I we as surprised at how lush some of the areas around the base were
We saw an area that showed the story of the rainbow serpent and it was amazing how you could see the whole story progress in the rock face.
At 8:30 we did a Mala walk with an Aboriginal guide who explained some of the significance of Uluru to his people and showed us some of the areas that are still used by the tribes as teaching areas for the younger boys and girls. Really interesting talk and fascinating to learn more about the Aborigine culture
We went back to camp for camel burgers and then set off on a 4 hour drive down to Kings Canyon. We were lucky enough to arrive at the camp-site early so could have a quick swim in the pool (so refreshing after a long hot day) before dinner and another early night. I opted (along with everyone else apart from the Germans) to sleep out in a swag and it was amazing to see all the star so clearly. Would definitely do it again and I didn't get too many bug bites either.
Thursday 30th October
Another very early start as we headed for Kings Canyon, it was pretty over cast this morning so not much of a sunrise which was a blessing really. The start of the walk was a climb up over 1000 steps to the top of the canyon- had to stop a few times to avoid a heart attack but luckily so did a couple of others so I wasn't the only unfit one. It was worth the struggle up as the views were amazing. We saw an area where the marks of a prehistoric sea were still visible in the rocks ( as we were in the middle of the desert this was pretty cool)
We also saw some of the places where Priscilla Queen of the Desert was filmed
We walked to the Valley of Eden which would have been very tranquil if there hadn't been another tour party there at the same time. The views were incredible across the desert.
We went back to camp for lunch at about 10 am and then headed to the pool for a last swim before starting the four hour drive back to Alice.
I was looking forward to a bit of luxury after a few days in the desert but sadly my hostel is a bit basic- 2 showers for all the girls in the hostel. Managed to mostly get the dust off me and headed into town for a drink at Montes bar. Made friends with two nice Aussie girls called Steph and Emma who invited me to join their pub quiz team that evening. We did pretty well and I was able to answer a couple of questions that other people didn't know so felt quite good.
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