So, Uluru!

After checking out of my hostel in Fremantle on the Saturday, I had ALL day to kill, luckily Emily and I went for an amazing hangover breakfast and juice, which took up most of the morning. By the time the evening rolled around, I got myself together and to the airport. My flight was at ten to midnight but I was so tired from the night before I felt like it was at least 4 in the morning; lightweight, ha. To top it all off I had done something really silly and accidentally booked my flight to Uluru going via Sydney, HA. I had to fly for four hours across the country, wait for just under three hours at the airport then fly three hours back . What a wally. Needless to say, my earplugs came in handy; I basically slept for the entire plane journeys, I hadn't even realised that we'd taken off on one of the flights!

Arriving into the Northern Territory really is strange, although just as you would imagine I suppose, there is nothing there! Just red dusty desert with a few parched trees and a few bushes as far as the eye can see - in every direction. Oh and there's also a LOT of flies, bugs, midgets, beetles etc…the flies like to reside permanently on your face, always a pleasure.

I (obviously) chose to stay in the cheapest hostel-like resort, I was in a room with 10 bunk beds although I don't think they were all full. I met a lovely Dutch girl called Margot within half an hour of arriving and we were basically together for the entire trip. She is only 18 and is travelling Australia for 3 months on her own; so brave! Her English was brilliant, she's completely fluent but made me laugh by saying things like (please read with accent) 'oh it's so hot, I don't want to, how you say, be red as lobster?' or that she wanted to 'make' a photo instead of take a photo, or "it is so hot I think you could BAKE an egg on the top of that car" HA. The hostel actually had a pool which was a Godsend in the heat; I think it was around 41 degrees everyday.

I visited Uluru very early on Tuesday morning for a sunrise and base-walk tour. We had to be ready and waiting for the coach at 4:35am, pain. It was definitely worth it though, we drove out into a special sunrise viewpoint in the desert and watched at the rock changed colour with the morning's first rays of light. So beautiful and very humbling. After taking approximately 1000 photos we drove to the climbing point to walk around. The local Aboriginal people specifically ask people not to climb Uluru however as it is so sacred and so much a part of their culture. A tour guide likened it to people climbing on some of Europe's great cathedrals, you just wouldn't do it. Furthermore they are so connected with the surrounding country and landscape (I suppose you would be after living there for 22000 years) that they feel responsible for anyone who may injure themselves or die whilst climbing their rock. So much so that if/when this happens they perform ceremonies (which can last for days!) in which women give themselves 'Sorry' cuts on their arms and legs to show that they are in mourning.

Margot had booked a slightly different tour to me (there are so many!) so we separated at this point and I went on a base tour/walk. I learnt so much of the significance of Uluru to the local people from the tour guide plus the stories behind it's creation and existence. There are still a few tribes which reside fairly closely to the rock and despite being provided with modern housing and facilities by the Australian government, they choose to continue to live traditionally; outside, off of the land, as they have been doing for thousands of years. The locals have around 352 different dialects and three completely separate languages! We saw the blood oak tree; the sap of which not only has anti-bacterial properties used in numerous medicines but which is also used to create hunting spears (kangaroos, emus and desert lizards) and punishment spears. If a man does something worthy of a punishment, the spear is pushed through the back of his thigh, if a child has misbehaved it is pushed through the skin of their forearm; probably no need for the naughty step then, ha.

We also visited the Mutijulu waterhole, I hadn't imagined that there would be a waterhole within Uluru but apparently a water basin runs from underneath the site to the eastern coast of Australia.

We then visited the Cultural Centre, in which I saw 'Sorry letters'; letters which people had sent from all over the world describing their remorse at taking a small rock or a pile of sand from Uluru as a souvenir. Not only is this considered to be disrespectful and an act which detracts from Uluru's 'presence' or 'power' but it also considered to be extremely unlucky. There were hundreds of letters documenting people's misfortunes including consecutive family illnesses and deaths which, they believed, began after taking a keepsake from Uluru. Some however just felt that they now understood it to be disrespectful and had posted the souvenirs back.

My friend Margot had to leave a day earlier than I did but I spent my last evening with a Japanese girl from my dorm - Yuki and a German lady - Christiana who I'd met whilst cooking in the main kitchen. Yuki had been living and working in Australia for nine months and was on her way back to Japan and Christiana was a novelist travelling to a friend's wedding in Canberra - I love the mixture of people you meet whilst travelling! Lovely people.

I must admit that the expense of the journey and the accommodation at Uluru was quite significant (!) but it was absolutely worth every penny; literally one of the best experiences of my life. Highly recommended!

Will update on our time in Adelaide asap.

Lots of of love xxxxxxxx