It's a big big rock

Uluru:
Ancient
Monolithic
Sacred

A sandstone remnant of a mountain range long since eroded away.

Red at sunrise and sunset, brown in the afternoon, silvery-grey when it rains.

Standing 348 metres high and measuring 9.4 km in circumference.

9.4 kilometres exactly, actually, and I should know because I walked it.

So, LRD seems to have forgiven me slightly. He's finally climbed out from behind my mountain of Terry Pratchett novels and has slowly inched his way across the living-room floor to my desk. Either all is now well or he's just curious to see the photos.

Sunday morning, after only 3 hours sleep, we rose and drove from Yulara into the Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park to the sunrise viewing area for Uluru. Just us and a couple of hundred of other people watched the first strikes of sun turn the rock red. Uluru is sacred to the Pitjantjatjara people of the area, who gained land rights over the area in 1985. The land was then leased back to the Government for 99 years and is jointly-managed.





Photo: south-west side of Uluru

After sunrise, we trekked round the base of the monolith (takes about 2 and a half hours) before heading off to Kata Tjuta, otherwise known as the Olgas. Kata Tjuta is Pitjantjajara for "many heads" and its series of large domed rocks do look like many heads. The Olgas are also sacred to the Pitjantjajara people but while Uluru is primarily a tourist attraction, ceremony is still undertaken at Kata Tjuta.

Photo: Inadequate shot of Kata Tjuta.

After finishing our walk into the heart of Kata Tjuta (we were far too tired by now to do the Valley of the Winds walk) we barbecued some lunch and drove back to Alice Springs.

And drove...
and drove...
and stopped for icecream...
and drove...

And when I finally got back to Alice Springs I curled up in my lovely king-sized bed with five pillows and a view of the McDonnell Ranges and I slept.

Great weekend.

PS: Oh, and on Monday I saw the sights of Alice Springs: climbed Anzac Hill and went to some art galleries.