The Outback...part 2

Here we go....more from the national park. The second full day I spent at Uluru. I drove out about 6:30am to see sunrise and start the 10.6km base walk. There is a climb here, but the traditional owners (an Aboriginal tribe) consider this rock sacred and ask visitors not to climb. The climb is tempting - the view from the top must be amazing, but I wanted to abide by their wishes. I can report two facts: (1) more people climb than complete the base walk - at least it sure looks that way & (2) there is at least one death each year due to the climbing. It's not uncommon for the death to occur hours later (cardiac). The other thing I can report is that by the time this walk was finished I was beat. There was about a 50* temp change during the walk, not much shade, and even though it is almost entirely flat...it becomes a hard walk. I can't even imagine doing it in the summer. The park closes trails sometimes because of the temps.

A couple more views of Uluru:

Morning

Evening

The only way to see the caves (family dwellings, camps, "schools" - where men taught boys to hunt) & aboriginal cave art is to walk. There are shorter trails, but I had to do the base walk. This is from a cave that families lived in for many generations.

If you look closely you can see a snake's head. It is said that the snake is lying here over the cave and kept watch on the children so they didn't swim in the waterhole (that would scare off the wildlife) or run off from camp.

I LOVED The Outback. But it is quite isolated....would be a very different life out there. If I'd had a car with unlimited kilometers I would have spent an afternoon just driving. FYI: the care hire companies do not support night driving & if a driver hits an animal at night the damage isn't covered by any level of the extra insurance coverage. But...it was a miracle that I got a car at all so not complaining about the mileage. There were none available for weeks & I don't know how I lucked into this one, but I am so grateful for it! I was also lucky that it was automatic. It really should have been manual - most the cars are. I was so happy to luck into a car that I didn't even ask about the transmission. My right hand would have taught my left hand to shift in the airport parking lot if necessary!

 

I guess I better start thinking about tomorrow's plan and getting some sleep... without the snoring duo. Yay!! I hope to have wifi again soon. Thanks for stopping by!

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