The Rock

 

Sunday 24 July 2022 - The Rock

H&M were keen to get up early to watch the sunrise over Uluru.  L&J were not and considered a lazy lie in on a Sunday to be the way to go.  Heard quite a few cars pulling out as we snuggled in bed and then, at what we thought was a civilised hour, headed up to the amenities block for a long, hot shower and a hair wash before back to the van for a cheesy omelette.  We then hopped in the car and headed out to Uluru, first stopping to get out visitor passes, making our way to the Mala carpark where we met up with H&M for a 10am tour with a local ranger. 

Quite a few people joined the tour and it got crowded and hard to hear what James (the ranger) was saying or to see what he was talking about with so many heads and bodies in the way and eventually I felt like I just wanted to wander along the paths at the base on my own and/or with just Larry and just ‘experience’ the magnificence and ‘presence’ of the rock.  There were enough signs around explaining the cultural significance of the places that we knew which bits we shouldn’t take photos of and really, it is just so vast that no photos really do it justice in any case.  We walked into Kantju Gorge and had the place to ourselves for a little while so that we could just sit and reflect and be at one with our surroundings.  Quite appropriate to have the moment of inner peace on a Sunday morning and you can see why it is such a spiritual and culturally significant place.  We left just as a couple of boomers wandered in who had ridden their bikes in as far as they could – at least 300m past the bike rack and sign that read ‘please leave your bikes here and walk into the gorge’.  Another sigh and eyeroll from Jenny.

We walked along the base of the rock enjoyed the sight of the hundreds of tiny finches zooming in flight formations to and from the rock faces searching out insects or perhaps tiny pools of water that may still be in some of the crevices.  At one point a squadron few down and between us, rather than over our heads, which was a bit of shock and made a lady near us squeal as she hadn’t been watching them and wasn’t expecting it.

H&M were still following along with the ranger but they have been here a couple of times before and didn’t feel the need to explore as much as we did so we left them to it and headed back to the carpark and then along the base of the rock in the opposite direction for another kilometre or so.  At the Mala carpark you can still see the footpath up the rock face from when people climbed up with the help of a chain.  It was officially closed in 2019 so I guess in time the footprints will weather away.

We headed back to the car and then around the cultural centre to make use of the facilities.  Still the rock called to us so we chose not to go into the building but to head around to the other side of the rock to the Kuniya walk and the Mutitjula waterhole.  Once again, there are plenty of signs explaining the ways of the local mala people and how they hunted and gathered bush tucker here so we did learn a lot while we enjoyed the beautiful scenery.  This waterhole has obvious signs of where the water comes cascading down the rock faces in heavy rains and there is still quite a lot of water at the base at this time and you can see from the lines on the rock how high the water comes – pretty much to the level of the viewing platform.  It must be a sight to see and L and I discussed how good it would be to do a quick trip to just watch the rain on the rock.

A fair wind had picked up over the morning and the dust was whipping up in the car park so we decided to call it a morning and head back for late lunch at the van.  Another lazy afternoon with a bit of a nap, a bit more washing and some footy watching (Eagles v St Kilda) then we packed up cheese and bikkies and wine into the back of the car and we all drove out in the Cruiser to the sunset viewing area at Uluru.  We had thought to get there early to nab a picnic table but there were already a good twenty or so cars there when we arrived so we made do with the tailgate and a couple of folding chairs and settled in for the afternoon’s viewing.  The rock does indeed change colour from a vivid orange in the sunlight, to a soft chocolatey brown in the dusk, to a glowing red towards sunset but then the sun hit a cloud bank and we decided that was as spekky as it was going to get and to pack up and leave before the other hundred or so other cars did and made good time back to Yulara.

Tonight was a night off from cooking for all of us so we headed straight to Gecko’s café for barramundi and chips for Jen and a steak sandwich for Larry and best still – no washing up! 😊Back to the vans where Larry tried but failed to stay up and watch the F1.  And so to bed.