Slept pretty well in my tent and up at 5 to drive to the Canon to watch the sunrise. I did the rim hike while Kim walked up through the valley. The first part of the walk is called Heart Attack Hill because it is steep and tourist keep on collapsing on the way up. I am getting very fit these days and just walked up it without stopping in 10mins.
If I can't compete with other people then I will compete with myself - I'm ridiculous. When ever there is a time given for a walk/hike I have to do it in half the time suggested i.e. 4 hour walk I need to complete in 2 hours..... I'm so silly!
The walk was really pretty. The top of the cannon looks like a cross between how I imaging Mars and the Moon would look. There are these cones on top made of bright red rock. I was doing my video diary and a Kangaroo came jumping past - cool.
In the middle of the cannon is an area called the Garden of Eden. It has some unique species as it has been protected from the rest of the area for so many years. At the moment, as they have had so much rain (5 times as much this year as normal), everything is lush and green and flowering.
There are lots and lots of flies round here and insect repellent does not work!
When I got down off the rim walk, I did the walk up through the centre of the Cannon and we then set off for the 500km drive to Uluru.There is only one place that you can stay close to Uluru National Park - Yularu (the Uluru Resort). The resort with accommodation ranging from camping to 5* hotel. It really was very touristy with hundreds of people staying there. I put my tent up at the campsite ($17) and Kim checked in to the Dorms.
I then drove the 20km to the base of Uluru and ran round the base while Kim went to the pool in the resort. It was a great run. I had to stop every now and again to take photos. When I first saw the rock from a distance I did not find it very impressive - it just looked like a big red rock. However, when up close it is amazing. I was not expecting to say this at all, but there is something special/magical about it. It is not until you see it close up that I think you can really appreciate it. It was one of the best runs I have ever done. It was pretty hot as the weather had cheered up. I had to run quickly so that I could drive back to the resort to pick up Kim in time to get back for the sunset.
There are 2 areas set aside for people to watch the sunset, one for coaches and one for cars. We got there in plenty of time but is was really cloudy with a major storm coming in. The sun did not really set as it was too cloudy to see. Most people left but me and Kim and a few other people stayed to watch as the storm came in. It was the most fantastic storm I have ever seen! They do not have electrical storms like that in the UK. We sat and watched as the sky lit up by sheet lightening and fork lightening. It was awesome. I got some footage of the storm on video and then played around with different settings to get shots of the lightening illuminating Uluru. By the end there was only me and Kim and 2 Japanese guys left watching the storm. It was great as the storm was going on all around us but did not actually get wet as it did not get to us. We were in the middle :-)
It was great to see it without so many other people - it was surprising to us that they all left. I am so glad not to be in a tour group and to be doing this independently instead.Went back to the Resort about 8.30/9 and cooked noodles and chatted with Kim and then went to see if my tent was still up after all of the wind and the rain. Fortunately it was still up and dry but it was a very noisy night. The wind got up and it rain heavily - good test of the tent :-) Not the best nights sleep ever though.
Read it
ReplyDelete