It was really cloudy and a rubbish sunrise! The rock did not change colour at all. Most people left really early on. If I had paid hundreds of pounds to go on a coach trip and see the sunset and then the sunrise over Uluru and I had chosen to do it last night and this morning, I would have been cutted! Fortunately we are staying a couple of days and so have more opportunity (and we could stay later last night and watch the storm).
I had a nap for an hour in the car while we waited for the guided walk to start at 8. It was well worth doing (and included in the price of the entry fee to the park - $25 for a 3 day pass). The Ranger was really good at explaining. He explained about the Aboriginal culture and some of the stories about how the rock was created and also the geology of the area.
While we where all standing there I pointed out a snake slithering towards the group. The ranger very strongly said not to move anywhere and stay still while it passed. It turned out that it was the 5th most deadly snake in the world!
After the guided walk (2km round the base of Uluru) we walked back to the toilets and then we did the 11km walk around the base of the rock. It was cloudy and cool which was great for Kim as otherwise she would not have wanted to do it. We took our time and I really enjoyed just taking in the atmosphere. The urge to climb the rock was really strong but the Aboriginals view it as sacred and ask people not to. I respected their wishes and decided not to. As we were walking round this Dingo just walked right past us - about 2m away!We then drove to the Olgars. This is a set of hills about 50km West of Uluru. They were formed differently to Uluru. The are the same colour though. It was strange as they had a completely different feel about them.
As there as been so much rain in the last few month there are loads of flowers and it is very green. I did the valley of the winds walk. I was a bit disappointed that it did not go up very high even though the guides make a big deal out of the fact that there are two high up look out points! I wanted to climb to the top of a dome but it is not allowed as it is considered sacred (like Uluru). It was cloudy all afternoon and not too hot. Again a 4 hour walk easily completed in 2 hours! :-)
We drove to Uluru for sunset. It was an evening similar to last night: very cloudy. As we approached the rock the cloud started to clear on the horizon and 10 mins before the sunset time we were still not sure if we would get a good sunset or if it would just get dark. It turned out brilliantly. The cloud lifted on the horizon as the sun came down and Uluru light up like a light bulb for about 10mins. It was amazing. People were gasping as it went from a dull red colour to bright all of a sudden. Everything else around the area was still dark and so the contrast was incredible. The sky behind us lit up a fantastic pink. Very happy girl!!!
We stayed till 8.30 chatting with an Iranian guy we met there and then went back to the resort and had I cooked a lovely Chinese. Excellent day. Starting to get a bit tired with sleeping in a tent for several nights and getting up at 4.30 everyday..... Ready for my bed by 10.
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