Having spent a couple of frustrating days in Cairns I was looking forward to my three day trip to Uluru (Ayers Rock), the Olgas and Kata Tjuta national park in the 'red center' - the Northen Territory. I had enjoyed most of my time in Cairns but over Easter weekend everything had been closed, even the pubs. Alcohol was banned for 24 hours over Easter Sunday - imagine the authorities trying that at home - there would be a riot! No off licences and no visible restaurants were open over the extended weekend, and the one pub I found that was open would only serve alcohol if a meal was purchased. Seeing as meals started at about 20 dollars I attempted to purchase a snack of garlic bread or nachos only to be given the sort of look that every backpacker has been given and despises - the "you cant afford our fare and we don't want your type" look and abruptly informed that garlic bread and nachos did not constitute a meal and no alcohol would be served to me. Nevertheless I did eventually find a Japanese restaurant and had some noodles and a couple of beers.

To get to Uluru I needed to catch a flight from Cairns to Alice Springs and from there take a bus to the national park. Alice Springs is the nearest town worthy of the name to Uluru, yet even that is a six hour bus journey to Uluru. Australia is so vast that one can travel for hours by bus and not see another vehicle, town, or person. I stayed overnight in Alice before embarking on the long and often bumpy trail to the rock. However once there I had an enjoyable few days visiting Uluru, Kings Canyon and Kata Tjuta.

Viewing Uluru is an odd sensation. There is such a build-up about it and I had been keenly anticipating seeing this national icon and treasure, catching a flight from Cairns solely to view the large red rock, or monlith to give it its correct term. When you catch your first glimpse there is at first a sense of satisfaction and achievement at finally reaching it - it had taken me a day and a half which had included a plane, taxi and bus journey. One then continually stares at it as the bus approaches it and pulls up in a designated car park and viewing spot for the famous Uluru sunset.

Yet it is also, at least from the sunset viewing spot the driver took us to, vaguely disappointing in that you are unlikely to view it in the most glorious red and orange colours complemented by a similarly hued sky that you have seen countless times on posters, brochures, postcards and just about every business sign in Alice. In fact it was cloudy when we were there. As you line up with 500-odd other tourists at the fence, repeatedly taking photos of the rock and noticing other tourists chattering excitedly about taking a photo at 3 minute intervals every 3 minutes for 2 hours in an attempt to capture an image of the rock and sky in every shade of red possible, one cannot help but feel that if aliens landed in this part of the world searching for intelligent life and simply found hundreds of humans taking photos of a dusty old rock they would consider their journey futile and return home immediately.

However when walking around and up to the imposing piece of granite, the largest single piece of rock in the world, you notice that the smooth appearance you perceive from a distance is an illusion. Up close the rock is full of caves, holes and ridges and the red coating is stained by dark streaks where water has drained down the face allowing bacteria and flora to exist. Many of the caves also have drawings and illustrations, no doubt of varying ages and certainly of varying quality, but some of these are possibly some of the oldest drawings in existence, etched by Aboriginals many many years ago.

The following two days were spent at the Olgas - many large red rocks but much smaller than Uluru itself, in a valley and at Kings Canyon. They were each in themselves impressive, indeed I would argue that the Olgas are the most interesting as they are of varying sizes and shapes. However the first day at Uluru was still the most satisfactory and was followed by a night spent in a swagbag under the stars at Kata Tjuta national park. Having walked a fair distance - around the base of Uluru - that day, a good feed and several beverages around a campfire was all it took for me to fall into a deep sleep.