Uluru and the Olga's

Having no idea how big this rock is and losing perspective of sizes due to the flat terrain we excitedly approachted a dark silhouette of the rock through the trees in the distance. There was a viewing area on the left Uluru....hang on....Mt Conner....not the rock at all. It was pleasing to hear from the petrol bouser bloke at Curtain Springs (where we spent far too much for diesel..$2.20) that this was a common occurrence, in fact he had heard of people that have camped there for a few days, turned around and gone home again thinking that they had experienced Ayers rock.

Our last two days travels...

Made it to the real rock and had to set up camp for a non-powered cold night as the park was full. We then did some of the base walk around the rock and climbed the first section with the kids as Zoe was demanding that she climb to the top, she soon changed her mind.

You will note a trend over the remaining posts that Codi has a liking, no wait, an addiction to the red sand. This entire land is one big sand pit in her eyes.

The sunset and next sunrise was ruined by some pesky clouds, better luck later. The next morning Ves was first to embark the rock climb whilst I stayed down with the kids, was happy to get the call from her to say that she had made it to the top. Before we knew she was descending and doing very well on her feet. I say this as there were many people coming the entire way down on their bums....it is extremely steep and the drop offs don't look very forgiving.

Up she goes....please come back.

As Roy and HG would say - "smelling the field"

Ves is a tiny speck right at the top of the rock.

Ves getting quizzed by a group thinking about embarking - " what is it like, what is the hard bit, is it worth it, how are your legs?"

Brielle's and Zoe's Uluru updates...

 

Once Ves made it down and was warmly embraced I decided that I would have a crack. The physical side of the climb was not a problem, not easy though and had to stop a few times on the way to slow the heart rate down. The issue is negotiating other peoples unpredictability and not getting freaked out by the drop off on the sides and the fact that there are no barriers or guards etc. Anyway pushed through watching each step and only looking at the view whilst stationary. Everything was just immense up there, the views, the gorges, the dry rock pools and sparse vegetation. The legs will be sore from the climb and the toes are sore from the descent but we are both satisfied that we did it. It was crazy to see the ages of some of the people doing it, I got stuck behind some elderly folk for a bit that should not have been there, not sure how far they got, but I didn't see them at the top. There were also quite a few kids doing it, Ves saw a five year old at the top, not sure why you would risk it with kids that are difficult to control at the best of times.

Below is the view upward, from the half way mark of the initial climb...

The view down...

Went to the Olga's the next day for another couple of short walks, the girls did really well and walked a total of around 5 km's over rough terrain. We did the Walpa Gorge walk and the Valley of the Winds walk to the first lookout.

Other than a chipped windscreen from a passing road train we discovered our first major tragedy...We ran out of beer and at $42 for a six pack we couldn't take ourselves to buy any here, enter Mr Walker stage left. On to Kings Canyon, and hopefully cheaper beer (not necessarily in that order)

A final Uluru sunset on a quiet dune at camp and marshmallows under the stars, really enjoyed our time here.

Our little black wiggle, Codi opts to wear her thermals at any opportunity!