Uluru (Day 6)

Talinguṟu Nyakunytjaku is the main sunrise viewing area for Uluṟu.

On our last full day, Nick was up early to see the sunrise (along with many other people) and then he returned to some sections of the base walk. 

I went out later in the day, to listen to a cultural talk and see the Talinguru Nyakunytjaku tracks.  In contrast to Nick's busy sunrise visit, I was the only one there in the middle of the day.  Well, just me and the grasshopper!

Take one or both of the short walks at Talinguṟu Nyakunytjaku to increase your understanding and appreciation of Aṉangu Culture and survival skills. Men and women are welcome on both tracks.

I returned to the beautiful waterhole we'd seen on Tuesday, during our base walk - and I was able to sit quietly, appreciating the peaceful stillness, in a break between large tour groups. 

We had a very full week at Uluru, glad we chose a longer stay. It took a while to process all we saw and heard. There was a lot to take in ...

Uluru (Day 5)

We had a quieter day, taking turns to do activities closer to camp, while the other stayed behind with Bandit.

Nick wore my "girly shirt" to the 10am ranger-guided Mala Walk at Uluru.

I later went to a free bush food talk in the Resort's Arkani Theatre, which was very well attended - and where we could sample some fruits.

Uluru (Day 4) - Walpa Gorge

Kata Tjuṯa is sacred to Aṉangu men. 

Our people have always shown respect when visiting this special place. They would camp a short distance away and walk in quietly. They would not swim in the waterholes. 

Women entered this area to collect food and water but always behaved appropriately. 

It is the same now. It is the same for you. 

Hold in your heart the knowledge that this is a special place. 

Walk quietly, tread lightly. Stay on the track. 

Enjoy this place as it is.

After our exertions of the previous two days, we opted for much easier walking on Day 4 (while Mr Dog visited a friend).  

Walpa Gorge was an easier, one-hour walk.  There was more stunning scenery and such interesting facts about the local flora and fauna. 

Once back at camp we had a small antipasto platter to celebrate the end of our third week away and all the awesome we’d experienced till that point.

Nick played his guitar and galahs sat in the small tree above, dropping seed pods down! We weren't sure if they were impressed by his singing or trying to shut him up!

We caught up on some general missions.  I did some washing and Nick tidied his Pepsi Max stash.  Some of the cans hadn't fared well over all the bumpy roads and there were casualties.

We'd only booked three days of dog-minding - and  felt we could take turns doing some of the closer exploring, as well as attending a few of the free cultural presentations.

Uluru (Day 3) - Base walk ...

We weren't too stiff after our Valley of the Winds walk, so Bandit spent time with a different new friend - while  Nick and I did the 10km Uluru base walk.

The base walk is the best way to discover the diverse plants, animals and geological features of the park.

Mr Dog wasn't overly keen to be parted from Nick, so we were a bit slower starting the walk, which was estimated to take between three and five hours.

I covered up and as you see, there wasn't much skin exposed to the sun. I did marvel at some of the attire worn by other walkers. One very fair girl wore not much more than a bikini top and mini skirt. Many weren't wearing hats.

As a giggle, despite covering up as much as I did, I still managed to get sunburnt - in the area between my socks and pant legs! 

Although you could hire bikes or take a segway tour, I was glad we chose to walk and quietly appreciate encounters with lizards and finches along the way.  

A couple of segway groups rolled past us at different points and I doubt they would have heard all the pretty chatter of the finches, due to the noise of their transport devices.

We took about three and a half hours to do the walk and were a bit late getting back for Bandit - but all was fine.

Even though it was our third full day, it still felt quite surreal to be driving beside Uluru or seeing it in the rear mirrors! 

Uluru (Day 2) - Kata Tjuta (Valley of the Winds walk)

We were up with the stars to drop Mr Dog to his new friend - then we saw the full moon set and the sun rise at Uluru. 

It was about 8 degrees with a chilly wind at 5am.  We ate our cereal huddled in the car!  

There was a 50km drive from our lookout spot to Kata Tjuta.  The only (waterless) toilets were in the carpark, so we made sure to go before walking!  

I'd read lots of info about the area and photography before visiting and was happy to comply with the requests.

"The Valley of the Winds is a culturally sensitive men’s area. We ask that you don’t take any video or photographs of Kata Tjuṯa throughout this walk. You are welcome to take close up photographs of flora, fauna and people, however; please refrain from capturing any images of the rock formations." 

Even though the walk was rated as grade 4, I still carried my camera - cos if I was only allowed some pics, I wanted them to be really good!

Much of the time, we walked in silence - taking in the magnificent site.  There were tricky parts.  One section was quite steep and I was glad to continue rather than descend the same area.

Due to our 5am start I'd worn jeans, a thermal top and polar fleece vest - with my rain/wind jacket. I shed layers but would've been more comfortable in my cropped pants and long sleeved cotton shirt.

Uluru (Day 1)

We took turns for our first close-up views of Uluru, which was a 25 minute drive from the campground. 

I pulled over, cos I was a bit emotional to be finally there.  

Nick and Mr Dog stayed at camp in the morning, enabling me to join a ranger-guided short walk and spend time at the Cultural Centre. 

While I was sight-seeing, Nick sorted dog-sitting for a few days, so we could explore together. 

Nick had his time later in the day while Bandit and I are relaxed in the van.

Understandably, Bandit was not allowed in the National Park but he could walk through the resort grounds to several lookout points - and we watched the sunset from one of those.

We had a lovely time chatting to a young couple, who took photos of us and then I took theirs.  

They'd taken advantage of a Jetstar sale to do a last-minute trip from Sydney, staying in modest accommodation.

Dinner was delayed due to our sunset viewing but we ate well back at camp.

Erldunda to Uluru ...

Erldunda Roadhouse is also known as Desert Oaks Resort, so called because of the desert oak trees growing there.  I picked up a few of the small cones, cos they were quite neat.

We saw many more desert oaks on the drive to Uluru.  They had different forms, depending on their age and to me the young trees looked like Cousin Itt (from the Addams family)! 

It seemed to me that many then morphed through a heart lollipop phase also, before they spread into a larger tree-shape. Marvellous!

In stopping to take photos of flowers, we spotted this wonderful ant nest - and I've since learned it was made by nocturnal mulga ants, who use the fallen mulga stems to protect their home from heat and rain.  It seems the  mulga trees also provide nesting material and food.

We lunched at Curtin Springs and enjoyed their burgers, away from their dining space - cos that area was off-limits to Bandit.

I booked a powered site at the Ayers Rock Campground in January, to ensure we could be as close to Uluru as possible.  Given it had been on the wishlist for most of our lives, we opted to stay for a week.  

Mr Dog was fine to be at the caravan park and we planned to find a dog-sitter to mind him while we explored Uluru.

We arrived mid-afternoon, set up the Spacevan and then relaxed.  I was looking through brochures when I spotted a fabulous striped lizard!