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And so we climbed Ayers Rock / Uluru - it was my second time and most definitely my last. There is a lot of talk about closing the climb. Uluru belongs to the Aboriginal people and, in fact they ask you not to climb - one reason being, it is very difficult and people have died, mainly heart attack and chasing their hat. I've been told that there is at least one rescue per week. Either a helicopter has to land on the top or rangers have to carry the person down on a stretcher.
Having done it, I really do hope they close it down. In my opinion it is much too difficult for the average tourist - of course, Thomas would disagree, to him; it was a peace of cake and he would love to do it again when he's 21, 31 and 41. Both Paul and Emma very were worried; Paul almost quit several times. Having done it before, I knew what was a heard but I must admit, I wasn't sure I was going to make it down again this time. I promised myself - if we all made it down in one piece, I was done with climbing. The view was great, but not really worth it.
I like climbing, just no the feeling of being unsafe. While we climbed, we were overtaken by a bus load of Japanese tourist. They were definitely not young, but they climbed full force. Very impressive! They must be very fit.This is the biggest argument for not closing the climb - it is a very big tourist attraction - people come from all over the world, just for the climb.
Before the climb, Thomas, Emma and I participated in a dot-paining workshop with an older Aboriginal woman called Happy. She told us her story, sitting and drawing in the red sand; Afterwards we did our own dot paintings on canvas. It was great.
Yesterday we went to the Olgas and did the "Valley of the Winds" hike. It was 7.4 KM long. In the brochure it was said to be hard and steep, so I was a bit uncertain weather I could really be bothered with one more hard and steep trip. Anyway, we asked the ranger and was told, having done the rock climb, it would be a very enjoyable walk - and so it was. On the way back we saw 15 wild camels on the side of the road - amazing.
At 5:30 PM we set off to see the sunset - you have to be there 1 hour before to really get the full picture of the changing colours. We have decided to skip the sunrise, as we can't be bothered getting up at 4:30 AM.
The campground here at Yulara, which is the resort at Ayers Rock, is very good. We have seen a couple of dingos running around the place - and of course, we get woken up by all the people who take off to see the sunrise!
Tomorrow we head for Kings Canyon and after that Alice Springs.
Danish:
Så besteg vi Ayers Rock / Uluru - det var min anden gang og helt sikkert min sidste. Der er en masse snak om at stoppe folk fra at bestige stenen. Ayers Rock tilhører de indfødte, og de beder faktisk folk om ikke at bestige den - bl.a. fordi, det er meget vanskeligt, og folk er døde, hovedsageligt hjertestop eller fordi hatten er blæst af, og de har forsøgt at fange den. Jeg har fået at vide, at der er mindst én redningsoperation pr. uge. Enten lander en helikopter på toppen ellers må redningsarbejdere op med en båre.
Jeg håber virkelig de beslutter at nedlægge klatreturen. Efter min mening er det alt for vanskeligt/farligt for den gennemsnitlige turist - naturligvis er Thomas uenig, for ham, var meget let, og han ville elske at gøre det igen, når han er 21, 31 og 41. Både Paul og Emma var meget bekymrede, Paul var ved at stoppe flere gange. Da jeg havde gjort det før, vidste jeg, hvad der lå forude, men jeg må indrømme, jeg var usikker på, om jeg ville kunne komme ned igen denne gang.
Udsigten fra toppen var fantastisk - men, efter min mening, ikke klatreturen værd.
Jeg kan godt lide klatring, bare ikke følelsen af at være usikker. Mens vi klatrede, blev vi overhalet af en bus fuld af japansk turister. De var bestemt ikke unge, men de nærmest løb op. Meget imponerende! Dette er det største argument for ikke at lukke klatreturen - det er en meget stor turistattraktion - folk kommer fra hele verden, blot for at klatre.
Før klatreturen deltog Thomas, Emma og jeg i en workshop med en ældre indfødt kvinde, som hed Happy. Hun fortalte os sin historie, mens hun sad i det røde sand og tegnede. Bagefter malede vi vores egne prik-malerier. Det var meget sjovt.
I går kørte vi ud til Olgaerne og gik "Valley of the Winds" vandreturen. Den var 7,4 km lang. I brochuren stod der at turen var både hård og stejl, så jeg var en smule usikker på om jeg gad endnu en hård og stejl vandretur. Vi spurgte og fik at vide, at efter at have besteget Ayers Rock ville det være en meget behagelig tur - og så var det. På vejen tilbage så vi 15 vilde kameler ved siden af vejen - fantastisk.
Kl 17:30 tog vi afsted for at se solnedgangen over Ayers Rock - man er nødt til at være der 1 time før for virkelig at få det fulde billede af de skiftende farver. Vi har besluttet at springe solopgangen, da vi ikke gider stå op kl 4:30.
Campingpladsen her i Yulara, som er Resortet ved Ayers Rock, er meget god. Vi har set et par dingoer (vilde hunde) løbe omkring - og selvfølgelig bliver vi vækket tidligt, af alle de mennesker, der tager ud for at se solopgangen!
I morgen kører vi videre til Kings Canyon, og derefter til Alice Springs.
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