Why do tour buses have to start their engines, then idle for an hour before pulling away from camp in the mornings? I would especially like to know this when their departure time is 3.00am, as was the case this morning when a school tour group hit the road at that time so they could be back in Melbourne before the end of the week. Just as we were drifting back to sleep the pre-dawn exodus began. The popular practice here is to get up before sun rise and drive the 15 kilometres to the sunrise observation area south-east of Uluru. So much for a sleep in!
Our plans had included an early start as we wanted to complete the Uluru Base Walk before the heat of the day really kicked in. Arrived at the start of the walk at about 8:30am – it was also the place where those wanting to climb Uluru commence their walk. The ascent walk was already closed when we got there – it apparently closed at 8:00am when the weather forecast predicted temperatures above 36C. The line of people clutching the safety chain were making slow progress to the top! It looked very steep.
As we were about to head off on our circumnavigation of Uluru, Max called from the USA and we sat looking out on one of the iconic landforms in the middle of a desert while catching up with news from him. We got underway (in a clockwise direction) about 9.15am and took 3.5 hours to complete the 10.6 kilometre walk – with plenty of stops for photos, drinks and snacks.
For those who haven’t been here, Uluru is big – very big. The scale of this monolith just can’t be appreciated until you are standing beside it. It is also full of places of cultural significance for the traditional land owners, and signs requesting respect (ie. no photos or videos) in particular areas are dotted along the walk. Every twist and turn of the walk presents a new perspective on what nature has produced with evidence of water falls, caves, rock slides and peaceful waterholes scattered around the perimeter of Uluru. All in all, a great walk that held our interest every step of the way.
The temperature was 17C when we left Yulara in the morning, and about 22C when we started the walk. It was nudging 37C when we returned to the Prado! We had also left in still conditions and returned with a strengthening breeze and an ominous sky to the west. A few feeble drops of rain fell as we drove back to the Yulara village for a drink after the walk.
The skies continued to close in and the wind kept picking up. Gusts were up around 50 knots, filling the sky with red dust and depositing a layer on everything in its path. When we returned to our campsite the annex was partially collapsed. We rushed in and rectified the situation but decided that we would be better off packing the annex away. It will make for a quicker departure in the morning as well!
Once the annex was packed away we went about ridding the Tvan of red dust and leaves that had blown in during the squalls. All is good now and we’re enjoying a cooling drink at the local pub.
Tomorrow we’re aiming to drive to Coober Pedy, about 700 kilometres away. Hopefully we leave the wind and dust behind.