Standing some 350 metres tall it's a bit of a shocker, very impressive when the scale of it sinks in. I managed to book the sunset trip on the day I arrived to get a close look at it - take the first chance you can, as nothing is guaranteed and I did not see the colours of the rock change as good as I did on the following day.
Walking round the base of Uluru is the best way to appreciate it. There are a couple of interesting side walks which investigate the stories passed down - you can get a good guide from the cultural centre.
Aboriginal people ask that you observe various rules when on sacred ground (Uluru is very sacred), one of those being that they would prefer you not to walk up the rock.
I am pleased to say both Dave and I decided not to walk up the well trodden path. It was actually amazing seeing just how many people were prepared to walk up, like ants they were, and the path did not look easy either. Here you can just see two ants as they walk on up - shame on them!
There are areas around the base where you are asked not to take photos, however it is easy to take the picture and then see the sign a second later!
You can drive around the base in a car no problems, which we all did, however I think Dave will agree with me that you get so much more walking around the base and being so close it.
There are some fascinating shapes to be seen in the rock, with some people claiming they could see all sorts of things - isn't that right Margaret!
Water, a theme to appear again in the OZ story.
Quite surprisingly abundant, for a supposed dry state. OK there was not whole oceans of the stuff but there were numerous pools, this one particularly striking with the backdrop of shear rock to the top. In fact the first night I was there a huge thunderstorm loomed over the area and managed to scatter all the sunset viewers to the safety of their respective coaches (not me, I stayed and got wet).
There was a very large 'wave cave' at another part of the base and here we can see a younger version of it just beginning to form.
When it does rain the rock is a bit of a water magnet, with cascades of water flowing over the top and accumulating around areas of base. Aboriginal people no doubt took advantage of this watering hole, people that walked up to the top said there were some pools up there too.
The Olgas.
Craig had warned us that these are every bit as impressive as the rock and indeed they were.
What's striking about the Olgas is how long the feature is, being made up of large boulder type rocks the size of small mountains. Take a wide angle lens for this one, as from the observation deck there is no way you can squeeze the entire display into the viewfinder of a regular disposable camera.
There was only one walking trail that we could realistically do in the time given at the Olgas, a pleasant one hour each way stroll between these two giant boulder type things. Like Uluru, water is attracted to the rocks and we could see plenty of grasses growing on tops of the boulders, in fact we joked that it looked like paradise up there!
Now the longer trek in amongst the boulders apparently gave way to some great views. Craigy has done the trip and said it was good one, possibly even more impressive that Uluru itself, and I can believe it given what little we have already seen.
For my final full day in the rocks area I joined a trip to the Kings Canyon. With an early start at 5am (another one!) I was pleased I had sorted myself out with a packed lunch (bacon sarnies - nice) and had plenty to nibble on for brekkie.
This is one of the enthusiastic, authentic, Aussie guides with silly hat to boot. The hat was a bit of an in joke amongst the other tour groups and yet again joining a tour provided ample insights into flora and fauna of the surrounds and various rock formations, including the fact that Priscilla Queen of the Dessert was filmed in part of that canyon that we trekked through. Choosing the longer walk we were treated with a very refreshing, and much needed, dip in a water hole after walking around the canyon tops. No crocs this far in land, luckily!
There is a stop on the way out to the canyon (for breakfast and a look at some Kangaroo) and one on the way back (for ice cream and a look at some birds).
On one of the stops we could clearly see yet another rocky out burst like Uluru. There are quite a lot of them in fact, so keep your eyes peeled as Uluru is not the only one.
On the flight out of Yulara I was on the wrong side to get any decent photos of Uluru or the Olgas, but to my amazement I got this stunning view of huge salt lakes below us - here in the middle of Australia!
I'll have to check up on this (well it was a while ago now!) to make sure this is what it was.
Update: yes it was a salt lake!
