Day 78 / 2014 - Coober Pedy to Uluru

The weather has been so nice in Yulara especially after Coober Pedys rain storm. Every day has been clear blue sky's with gentle breases and warm durring the day and cool nights to make sleep easier.

We left Coober Pedy the day after the mailrun tour and headed north. As we had booked a site in the Yulara Camp Ground in two days time we planned the first day we should be able to maked the NT-SA Border with the second day arriving in Yulara. We were lucky with a tail wind as it was blowing from the south ths would help our fuel economy.

By 12:30PM we had arrived in Marla so decided to stop for lunch. It was a small place a roadhouse with a caravan park but it was quite pleasant as it had large trees for shade and green grass which was something we hadn't seen in a while. The great thing about travelling in a caravan is you bring your kitchen with you so you don't need to by exspensive roadhouse food and coffee.

From Marla we continued North making the border by 3pm. We stopped at the free camp area located right on the border there were a number of caravans allready there. The area was nice and level and all sealed but we were all parked next to each other which made it easier to introduce ourselves where we all ended up having an imprompture happy hour telling travelling stories. There was also a Luna eclipse on that night of which we were able to view the final part of.

Next morning we said our goodbyes to our new found friends and headed to Erldunda which is located on the corner of Stuart and Lasseter Hwy's which is the turn off to Yulara and Uluru. We turned west here and headed towards the big rock the distance was about 250KM and took us about 3 hours to complete. We had a competition as to what distance we would first see the rock. I said 50KM Anne said 35KM... I'll leave you to guess who won.

We booked into the campground for 4 days as they had a special on pay for 3 days stay an extra day free. Most people we had talked to said you need about 3 days to see the basics such as viewing the rock at sunset, walking around the base, visit Kata Tjitu, Have a nice dinner on the dunes.

It was our fifth anniversary on the 17th April so we though it would be nice to celebrate with a special dinner. There was one called The Sounds of Silence which is a buffet dinner on top of a dune in full view of Uluru and Kata Tjitu. We booked in an told them it was for our anniversary on the afternoon of the dinner the coordinator called us and since it was our anniversary they offered us an upgrade to the more intimate dining of Tali Wiru for a reduced fee.

This was a great experience although we felt a bit guilty spending so much money it was one of those experiences we most likely would not have the chance again to do. Sitting on top of a Dune sipping real French Champagne and eating canapés while watching the sun set on Uluru just rings of opulance and cannot be experienced anywhere else in the world. We then sat down to a four course a la carte meal with each dish served with its matching wine while a didgeridoo played background music making it a night to remember.

During our time there we did the base walk around Uluru which is 10KM at you own pace. Although we had bought good walking shoes Anne ended up with some rather large blisters on one foot. They tradtional owners don't encourage climbing the rock but they do encourage walking around the bottom still a lot of people choose to climb. Traditional owners don't really understand this and as one guide put it not all of Uluru is sacred so climbing does not violate any tradtional laws but they have a responsibilty to the safety of all who visit and they feel a great sadness when someone is hurt or killed around Uluru and when this happens there are rituals that must be performed to honour the families of the injured or dead.

The climb is only open because of an agreement between the owners and government when the land was handed back but I believe they plan to close the climb in 2020 when the lease is up. After watching 4 young men's behaviour I can understand why. These men decided it was a great idea to have a race up and down to see who could ascend and descend the fastest. While all 4 made it with no injuries it appeared they had little respect for there own or anyone elses safety as they were moving so fast if they lost control they would have fallen most likely taking the people who were in front of them as well.

 The sunset on Uluru are also a highlight of visiting the rock watching it change colour as the sunset was beautiful. We did the tourist thing and happily snapped away at trying to capture the changing mood untill the last light of day disappeared. I am not really sure why I did as there are a galaxy load of photos out there done by professionals with much better equipment and experience  than me so really I should have just sat back and enjoy the moment. Still I guess it is my record of being there even if the photos don't don't quite capture the mood or look as spectacular. 

Lastly I had better mention Kata Tjuta or The Olgas. We only spent one day there so really didn't get a good look around but from a distance they are quite unique to look at. There are a couple of gorge walks but we only did the short one the Walpa Gorge Walk which is a nice walk fairly easy to do. There is only one way in and one way out with a deck at the end where you can admire the peace and tranquility.