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Marlene and I got up to go and get our rental car, and for $15/day each we also got all our camping gear - swags, sleeping bags, cooking equipment etc. It was really exciting getting our car, and we drove it back to the hostel to pick up the boys. We then set off on our road trip! The distance from Alice Springs to Uluru (or Yulara where there is the camping ground) is the same distance as London to Paris, so it took us most of the day. We stopped of a couple of times along the way, the first to see some meteorite craters - Hanbury meteorite - I was expecting huge desolate craters, but was slightly disappointed that they weren't that vast and were full of shrubs and very green! It was however so peaceful and the sun was shining, you had a massive sense of being alone, the only people for miles. We got back in the car and went back along the very gravelly road to the main highway. I fell asleep for a bit and when I woke up I could see a huge 'mountain' in the distance, and I thought it was Uluru, so got really excited, but then the boys informed me it was Mount Connor, and when we got closer I could see more of it and realised it looked nothing like Uluru at all! An hour or so later, we finally got to the National Park - Uluru-Kata Tjuta - and paid our entry fees and made our way towards Uluru, the first sighting is incredible, it was quite surreal seeing it for the first time, and believe me it is even better than the photographs make out. It was all I expected and more! IT just kept getting bigger and bigger as we got closer, it was immense! It was the deep orange, and it was amazing as when you're up close you can see it is actually rock, but from a distance it looks like its sandy, and also at some angles it almost looks as if it is wet clay soil. We got right to the base and could see people climbing the extremely steep side of it. All the others wanted to climb it, I had been a little apprehensive as I felt bad as the Aboriginies ask you not too, but I didn't want to be sitting around waiting for 2 hours! So we started the climb, it was very steep. The first hour was the worst! There was even a chain for you to hold onto because it was so steep, I had to stop every 10 minutes and it was so hot and tiring! Once we were over the worst part which took us about an hour the climb was a lot less steep. It took us then another half an hour to reach the summit. It was breathtaking, the views were amazing, the space here is vast, you couldn't get anything like it at home. You could see for miles and could see Mount Connor hundreds of kilometres away and the Olgas (kata tjuta) in the other direction. It was amazing and the rock was so orange and the sun was out it was just incredible, you literally just fall in love with the area, and it definately was the highlight of my trip seeing Uluru, it was just amazing. The going down was a lot easier, but at the steepest point we did have to turn around as it was impossible going forwards! We then made our way to the sunset viewing point, Uluru just looked amazing, we chatted for a bit with an Australian family, and as the sun went down it actually glowed orange, though due to a tiny patch of cloud it didn't go the deep red that you sometimes see in the photos, but it was still incredible and I loved it, it was just beautiful. We then made our way to the camp ground, to set up camp and had to pay a small fee there. All we had to do was a lay our a tarpaulin and our swags and sleeping bags, we were just under the stars, no tent! We cooked a dinner of sausages and baked beans, very tasty and then snuggled down under the Milky Way. I was surprisinlgy warm, warmer than I'd been in the hostel the night before! I also slept most of the night, I did wake up and hear dogs howling at one point, which I think must have been dingoes!
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Daddy Fab!