Day 128
Friday
5 May 2017 – Completed “Go Set A Watchman” by Harper Lee.
Gawd this book was a drag, nothing else to say.
Uluru – The Olgas
I had a fidgety night’s sleep, hearing the scattering of
animals around and on the van and woke abruptly thinking something was crawling
on me. We were awake early and out of bed at 7.15am having breakfast, throwing
the necessary gear in the car and heading to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
100km further along the Lasseter Hwy.
There weren’t many cars on the road, but there were plenty
of cattle grazing by the side of the road, completely unfazed as we drove by
them at speed. I was glad they stayed put for us. There were plenty of cowpats
on the road showing that weren’t averse to meandering on the road.
About 40min into our journey and Uluru began to loom large
in the distance. We stopped at a red sand hill for me to climb and take a
picture. As we rounded a bend The Olgas also came into view. Uluru’s presence
was felt all the way to the park entrance where we used our hand me down pass
at the boom gate and were given entry, sure beats paying the $55 for a three
day pass.
We continued to follow the winding road, no idea why it
couldn’t be straight. With Uluru commanding attention all the way to the
Cultural Centre, where we parked the car and began our day of exploring. The
Cultural centre is designed to give visitors an insight into the local Aboriginal
Dreamtime story and to also in still a few respectful reminders about climbing
and taking photos.
We did the rounds of the centre and checked out the art for
sale, some really took my eye, but I wasn’t parting with thousands of dollars.
We returned to the car and drove ourselves to the Marla Car
park. I loaded up my pack with the things I would need and then we began our
journey of the base walk. We could see the pegs hammered into the rock face
where you could ascend the rock, this is frowned upon by the aboriginal’s but
you can still do it, though this morning it was closed due to the high wind
being experienced further up the summit.
We followed the rock face, happy to be walking in the shade
of Uluru. It was a cool morning and the breeze was helping to keep the flies at
bay for now. We were passed by a small
Segway group and wished we had been able to book a tour, that is certainly the
way to do it.
The colours of Uluru were stunning. The stark orange set
against the brilliant blue, cloudless sky and the greens and blacks of the
vegetation just harmonised together to produce a spectacular view. I was interested in the texture of the rock.
In photos you don’t notice the surface that appears like a moulded piece of
clay with the fingerprints of the artist embedded, leaving scale like
impressions over the surface. The runoff of water also leaves its mark with
dark stains. In places the rock almost seems flat and the streaks of black and
white have been added to give it a 3d effect. It all adds to the magic of the
place.
We continued to wander, ogling at the ever-changing views
being presented to us. The sun was beginning to peak out from behind changing
the colours yet again. As we rounded to the North, the path ventured further
away from the base and into the bush. The sun was heating up and bringing in
the flies. Paul made himself a fly swat, while I persisted with the wave.
The trip around the base is 10.6km in total and was
certainly allowing us to get our steps up, something we haven’t done for a
while. We spotted a small earless dragon that was happy to sit still for me as
I crept ever closer to capture him on film.
Once around the north side, we only had a short walk before
returning to our starting position, however first there were more caves and
rock art to explore and the Kanju Gorge. You could imagine where the rivers of
water cascaded over the edges from up above when the rains fell two weeks ago.
You could also see step like features in the face where water would pool before
flowing below to the next catchment. We could see evidence that water was still
caught in these places, if only you could get to them.
We walked into this shaded crevice of the gorge, happy for
the respite from the sun. It was lovely and cool and lucky for us, unoccupied,
so we could just stand back and enjoy. In fact most of the walk had been fairly
quiet allowing us to take in the full majesty of this special place.
We returned to the car at 12.15pm. It had taken us 2h and
45m to complete the lap and that was with a lot of stopping along the way. I am
so glad we were able to get it done and completed early enough to keep
relatively cool and give us enough time to check out The Olgas.
We followed the signs away from Uluru and onto the Kata
Tjuta. The Olgas were 50km away heading west, in fact if we had kept following
the road 200km beyond them, we would have reached the WA border. We stopped
first at the Dune Viewing area that provided a great view of The Olgas and
Uluru. From here we followed on to the Sunset Viewing area where we stopped and
had lunch at the picnic area.
I took some photos from the viewing area and hen when we
were done we made our way to the Walpa Gorge. Here we stopped and began our
walk once again, this time only 2.6km. From a distance The Olgas look like
Uluru, a giant lump of rock, it isn’t until you get up close that you realise
that they are made up of conglomerate boulders.
We drove around the perimeter, before stopping at the IGA
for a few things and then it was on to fuel up and begin the journey home to
the van. There were far fewer cows to be seen on this drive and few cars, so it
was a straightforward run and we were back by 4pm.
We loaded the car onto the trailer before taking time out
and unwinding after a big day of adventures.
I went off to photograph the ever-changing light over Mt Conner, talking
to some younger travellers and picking up some tips on place to check out.
When I returned, Paul had dinner ready and we ate as we
recapped our day of sightseeing and discussed our options for moving forward. I
was glad for the quiet time, feeling the effects of the long day and the poor
sleep.
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