May 20, 2001 - Sunday - Uluru
Due to the missing digital camera on 5/20-5/21, photos will be scanned and uploaded once I returned to the States
We departed very early this morning when it was still dark out. The ember in the fire crackled in a red unholy glow under the starry chilly desert morning. We rushed and packed and were on our way to Uluru, AKA Ayers Rock. By the time we stopped again to gather firewood, I realized that I left my bum bag back at the camp.
It contained my camera, passport, plane tickets, and money. I didn't really panic for some reason and told Alex, our guide about it and she said she'll look into getting it back for me tonight. She was nice enough to lend me her camera and a blank roll of film, which allowed me to take some photos.
After gathering the wood, we continued our way to the rock. We passed by Mt. Conner, or better know as the "False Ayers Rock" because most of the tourists thought that was the rock. I did also. It sure is a more interesting formation than the Uluru. We didn't even stop to take pictures.
We continued on to the next campsite right outside Uluru and arrived by lunchtime. It's against the law to bring firewood into the park so we had to unload it before heading into the park. Our lunch stop was at a lookout overlooking Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). We ate and proceeded to the entrace to hike the Kata Tjuta.
The hike was easy and short, but we stopped several times to listen to some of the history, aboriginal stories, and ecological backgrounds that we only got to view the Valley of the Wind. I was hoping to hike down to it as was Simon but we were called back and told that we didn't have time.
That was probably the most disappointing part of the trip. We hiked back and boarded the bus back to the campgrounds and prepared for dinner. People sat around and talked for a while before heading into bed. I stayed up a little longer with a small group of people and chatted before going to bed. The skies were overcast so there were no stars to be seen that night.
