U'll love Uluru

Erldunda Stopover

The Erldunda roadhouse was a very basic campground but fine as a stopping point between Coober and Uluru. The only frustrating part was the cost of the diesel at $3.30 a litre, the previous highest was $2.80. When we got to Yulara it was back to $2.60 so I think this roadhouse was making the most of their position and lack of competition.

We set off the following morning for Yulara and The Ayers Rock Campground which is our Base for Uluru/Ayers Rock. The drive was a bit dull as the scenery very much the outback we have become used to, with a bit more bush. As we drove across this incredibly dry landscape we were amazed by the flood warning signs and the indicators to show how deep the water can be, they go up to 1.4 metres. Apparently when it rains here, it really rains and the flooding is a regular thing in the more usual wet season, very hard to imagine.

Keeping Busy in Uluru

The first of our three trips in Yulara was to the Field of Light. A massive outdoor installation of 50,000 lights which are solar powered coming on each evening. These change colour and look amazing. They were completed by Bruce Munro so I was expecting beer bottles with lights in but despite the name the artist is from the UK and currently lives in Yorkshire. The installation was meant to last 6 months but has been there since 2006 and still very popular. We paid for an organised trip so viewed this from a platform/sand dune with Uluru in the background. Then as it went dark were able to follow paths through the lights. Despite all these lights the dark sky was not impacted so we saw a really starry sky with a great view of the Milky Way.

The next morning we got up at 5am and went on Segway tour around Urulu. Despite my initial misgivings of the Segway, this was brilliant with the young guide giving lots of detail and told us some traditional aboriginal Dreamtime Stories when we stopped at certain points. Despite my lack of balance the Segways were easy to ride and great fun. Uluru was fantastic and I felt it had a mystical feel to it. Whereas at some places we've been told things like those rocks look like two dogs and we've not been able to see it. At Uluru there are shapes, formed 1000's of years, going into the rock which look amazingly like animals or a mouth for example which are incorporated into the indigenous stories.

The outback flies are horrific so in Karen's photos you'll see we have bought head nets to protect ourselves. They have been an essential purchase, unfortunately they also make us look guilty of cultural misappropriation, but to confirm Karen is not guilty of a black face.

Our last trip was a sunset camel ride, with views of Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Unfortunately for Karen as I was the tallest we were given the biggest camel, The Rock, which was apparently the tallest camel in the Northern Territories. We learnt lots about camels, the hump are made of fat, water is stored in their bloodstream, they have 3 stomachs and although not native to Australia there is an estimated 1 million ferel camels there now. There are no natural predators. Unfortunately the camel facts didn't help one chap as he fainted and fell off his camel very dramatically. Although he hit the ground heavily, he seemed okay and a 4x4 quickly came and took him back to their base. When we finished, he was walking around but said getting very sore on his side! His wife who was on the same camel was really chilled about it all and did finish the ride. The trip ended with drinks and snacks, I like that they don't keep to a one drink per person and happy if you get top ups at both this and the Field of Light.

No Climbing

We have really enjoyed our time in Uluru it does seem right that they have stopped people climbing up the rock, for both safety reasons as well as the fact the local indigenous people regard it as sacred. For us walking round it was fantastic.