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ULURU/AYERS ROCK
We have hired a car complete with camping gear and swags (a sleeping bag on the floor) from 'Alice Camp 'n' Drive' for our 4 day trip around Ayers Rock/Uluru, The Olgas, Kings Canyon and the West MacDonnell Range. We set off early as it is a long way from Alice - about 5 hours drive down to the Yulara resort - where we will camp that night. The trip down to Yulara is quite something as once we get out of Alice. We drive for mile after mile only passing a few cars and a few magnificent road trains; there is literally nothing around for miles on either side of the long straight road. We are truly in the heart of the red centre now and feel really excited to be in what feels like such an isolated and other-wordly part of Australia.
As soon as we can see the Rock we both get mega-excited. It is a massive hulking great thing and looks a lot bigger than we expect it to, even from a distance away. When we drive up to it and around the circuit road, we can only marvel at the changes in it's surface which become visible as we circle it (round the back it is full of craters, whereas the front is quite smooth looking - weird). This is our first encounter with Uluru and it is completely mind-blowing. It is not like anything else we have ever seen and this first sighting will stay with us as a precious memory for years to come.
Sunset at Ayers Rock is also on the agenda for the first day; this is fairly obligatory for any self-respecting tourist after all. It is really a magnficent scene, even if it is not (as we had been warned it wouldn't be) a red-sky sunset like you see on the postcards... It is however totally true that the surface appears to change colour as the light fades and again it's another magnificent experience which we feel priviliged to have seen and shared.
The following morning it's a very early start so that we can watch the sunrise. We are up so early that we have time for a cup of tea before being the first ones off the campsite - so we are well impressed with our bad selves! This doesn't last long however as no sooner have we passed the entrance into the Uluru National Park do we see a car parked by the side of the road, which is a bit odd as you're not allowed to camp in the park... next thing we know ( as some of you may already know) the police are behind us and we pick up a speeding ticket!!! 6am on a Monday morning - just like being in bloody England!!! We try not to let it totally ruin our excitement at seeing the sunrise at Ayers Rock but unfortunately by the time they have issued the ticket etc we arrive at the same time as all of the coaches and we feel like we have lost a bit of precious time. We have to laugh it off as it's one of those things that can only happen to us, suppose we have got a proper story to tell about sunrise at Ayers Rock now!
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