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Another 22 seater mini bus arrives, but this time we aren't so lucky as to get enough space to spread out. There were 22 people jam packed into this bus, and let me tell you, it is not the most pleasant way to travel. Evs and I got the single seats, which was a good call! Alex was our tour guide on this trip, I think she was only about 22 and it was pretty much her first group she had taken out by herself. She seemed ok, and wanted someone to sit in the front seat with her to talk so she would stay awake!
Our first stop on our Rock Adventure was a place called Stuarts Well Camel Farm. We said G'day to a tame dingo and fed some red kangaroos, some of which had joeys in their pouches - cue the awwwwws! There were llamas and a few of the group got to race on a camel, but we had already been on a camel for over an hour last night, we didn't need to do it again.
We headed out to what feels like the final frontier - the Erldunda Roadhouse, which is the closest point to the exact centre of Australia this was the last point we would stop along the Stuart hwy before turning off onto the Lasseter hwy. With overpriced snacks and drinks to keep me occupied for a few days, we headed to Curtin Springs Cattle Station where we bought booze for the next three days.
Driving along, it was just so dry, dead and red! Red dust everywhere, and then all of a sudden... there it was! The rock!!!!! Uluru! We headed for our camp at the Ayers Rock Camp ground in Yulara, (Wi-Fi available!) And set about making burgers for lunch.
Alex the guide headed off to pick up more people from the airport, so our group grew even bigger than we could have possible thought. It was a huge difference after the intimate nature of our last trip.
After we had all settled in, we headed out to see the rock! Very exciting! After stopping to get out park passes, finally arrived at the cultural centre, where we learnt about the Anangu people and their culture and that Uluru is a sacred place to the Anangu people, and they wish people would not climb it. I think Evelin was disappointed because she really wanted to climb it, but after hearing their stories, she decided not to do it.
We had a wonderful wander around the base of the rock (part of the base walk) for about 45 minutes. It is so different close up than what you see in pictures, it is all curvy and weathered and looks like it belongs on Mars. The juxtaposition of the extreme redness of the rock and the vivid blue of the sky really worked. The full moon bright overhead on a sunny day helped with giving it a very unearthly feel! Like Mars. There was a big waterhole at one point which was pretty special to find.
We then had the guided Mala Walk with Alex, who did drawings in the sand to describe her stories. We noticed a lot of people climbing the rock. I think they are mad personally, not only because of the disrespectful nature, but because its ridiculously steep and the handrail doesn't start until quite a way up! There were many people actually crawling on their hands and knees trying to get up there. Weird. The Japanese like to climb it because of some romantic scene in a classic movie. Joshua succinctly put it - would we sail a ship into an iceberg?!? Lol!
We then headed to the coach sunset viewing area and a spectacular sunset unfolded. It was quite cloudy so the colours and textures in the sky were wonderful. Personally, I think I would have preferred to see the sunset from the other side of the rock, as the sun was setting behind us. The rock did turn some wonderful colours, but if I were to do it again, I'd like to have the beautiful sky in there as well. There were a lot of other tours setting up along the ground, some with tablecloths and champagne flutes and canapes, others like us just with beer cans and drinking straight out of wine bottles. Many wines and jump shots later, we sat back and watched the colours. It was spectacular. Lia had a black jumpsuit that Joshua had on, because he is strange and crazy like that, and that's why I love him. They were getting quite a bit of attention that evening!
Sadly we had to rush off before the sun officially disappeared cause Alex wanted to get out before all the other buses. It would have been nicer to have a bit more time. But we consoled ourselves as we were to come back for sunrise in the morning.
Headed back in the near darkness to get swags and supplies from another spot on the camp ground, we couldn't all fit back on the bus so some of us had to walk back to camp carrying supplies, it was a long way in the dark, but we managed somehow. After dinner, we rolled out our swags and slept on the ground under the stars, listening to a pack of dingoes howl in the very close distance. It was amazing.
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