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Uluru (Ayers Rock) is an instantly recognizable symbol of Australia. Strangely, the imposing view of Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) is not as easily recognized. Both form part of the World Heritage site at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. My 2-day tour of the Red Centre would include these as well as Kings Canyon in the neighbouring Wattarka National Park.
The tour, booked via the Lodge with a local operator (Adventure Tours) would start at 5am when a bus would come to collect me from the Lodge. The idea of early morning wake-ups on holiday did not seem right but I declined to argue. I was glad I had retained my caravan - I could leave some You Tube uploads (each 10 minute clip takes hours) queued up to run whilst I was away.
I was up nice and early and even had time for tea in the morning. When I heard a bus outside (some 30 minutes beyond pick-up time), I gathered my stuff and made my way to the front gate. The gate gets locked overnight, each resident has a keycode to open it. Picture the scene. Here I was, negotating the keycode in the dark whilst my bus was waiting in the kerb just meters away. Yet, the bus started moving before I had opened the gate and moved off. I started running after it as best as I could but to no avail.
The area outside the Lodge is a green with a one way road running all around and the bus went all the way round. So I guessed the driver had seen me and was going to wait for me at the junction to my right. It didn't. It just went right on. Here I was at 5:30 am in a dark side street in Alice Springs, believing I had just missed my bus. Despite being up and ready for the last 90 minutes. I huffed and puffed my way back inside and called up Stuart to explain. He said he would call the company and inform them of their absent passenger.
Soon after, a bus arrived outside which I believed to be for me. It wasn't. This was on a 3-day drive to Darwin, here to collect their single traveller from the Lodge. Not me, although I was the only one waiting outside. Darwin was my next stop in 3 days but my arrival there was by air, and after the Red Centre. Not without or instead of. It transpired that some names had been mixed up. The Darwin traveller was on my bus to the Red Centre and here I was, stepping on a bus to Darwin. All buses gather at the depot after all pick ups before going their separate ways so the driver called ahead and ordered that my bus not leave until they had executed a passenger swap. It all turned out OK in the end. In a party of 11 fellow travellers, I recognized some 5 faces from The Ghan from the day before.
Soon after brief introductions, Leslie, our driver explained the tour agenda. We had some 4 hours ahead of us (barring a fuel stop) before lunch after which we would continue to Kings Canyon. I forced an extra comfort stop some 2 hours in; my fellow travellers seemed very relieved at the interjection. It was early in the day.
For lunch, Leslie had our food in the back - we would be the chefs, servers, and dishwashers! The company had even catered for my passion for veggie food! We arrived at Kings Canyon around noon. It was already too hot for the rim of the canyon so Leslie suggested we hike on the floor. The shorter break meant that we had a good chance to make it to Yulara, our camp by Uluru before sunset and see Uluru before dark. These pictures on You Tube tell a thousand words of the first day with Adventure Tours from Alice Springs to Yulara, via Kings Canyon, Australia, including the dinner at the camp after dark.
Following the excellent meal (we collectively made it after all), Leslie suggested brand new sleeping bags in the store if anyone wanted to sleep under the stars. There were a few takers for the idea although some, including me and my fellow sharer in a roofed hut, declined. We felt more comfortable without the prospect of intruders like insects and dingos. The former were almost certain company; the latter could become uninvited guests.
We had been looking forward to sitting till the wee hours exchanging stories and singing Kumbaya. Leslie soon put a stop to that aspiration when she announced that we would have to be ready by 4:30 am to be out in time to catch the Uluru sunrise. I wondered if I was on holiday. But Leslie's announcements had the desired effect. Never have I seen a company of grown adults on holiday in a remote location get to sleep so quickly. By 9:30, the only sounds one could hear were those of the Outback, under the most amazing sky imaginable, including the full path of the Milky Way right across the centre, the occasional bush insect or animal in the distance, and an odd snore from someone in our party. We woz bush-whacked!
I awoke to that sky in the mroning and took it in for a few minutes. I knew I was seeing the defining image of my entire trip since leaving London in the snow in January. Yet, I knew it was an image that I simply would not be able to capture on film. Not unless I had the equipment and experience to do the image justice. Following breakfast (thanks guys, you were truly wonderful on that department), we started our day. I'll let these images on You Tube do the talking on Uluru, Australia.
I was amazed how we managed to squeeze so much in that morning, as we even managed to get to Kata Tjuta before lunch. For me, Kata Tjuta is a truly stunning landscape, awesome to the naked eye. What do you think? See these examples on the You Tube clip on The Olgas. Leslie likened them to a bunch of ripe mangoes, an analogy that Tim in our party has touched in an amusing way in his report on the video. Thanks Tim, you're a star!
Following our final lunch at the camp, we packed up and hit the long and winding road back to Alice Springs. During that stop at The Olgas, Leslie had posed a question if anyone might be interested in dinner at Bo Jangles, among the most famed venues in Alice. Most said yes and Leslie called ahead to book a table for us. The prospect of free beer propelled some 5 of us to get there. Alas, the adventures of the past 2 days had got the better of some of the rest although those that made it made up for the absence.
My thanks to Spirit of the Land for consenting to use of tracks from their latest album as supporting material for all the clips featured here as well as others. It is fitting that the track I have used for Uluru is entitled Yulara.
