Alice Springs/Uluru. Wednesday 11 September - Saturday 14 September

The UNESCO World Heritage site of Ayers Rock - known also by its Aboriginal name of Uluru - is one of the world's most mysterious religious sites, eclipsing even Stonehenge and far more ancient. The massive sandstone monolith rears above the surrounding Australian outback scrublands, extending even further below ground. A sacred place for the region's indigenous Aboriginal tribe since time immemorial, it draws hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to its giant terracotta dome.

The rock is sacred to the Anangu, with its surrounding scrublands believed to be the home of the tribe's ancestors. Uluru means 'Earth Mother', and the vast 8.6 square kilometre rock is believed to hold a powerful energy source and marks the place where dreamtime began. Sunrise at Uluru sees the terracotta-coloured surface bathed in flaming red and, at sunset, it glows with blue and purple hues. Controversy over climbing the rock is based on the Anangu belief that the only track was used by ancestral Mala shamans to access its flat summit on ceremonial occasions.

Uluru is set in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, some five hours' drive from Alice Springs, with the rock domes of Kata Tjuta also found in the park and sacred to the Anangu. The desolate landscape has been inhabited for at least 10,000 years, and the summer heat can reach unbearable heights, forcing the closure of the area to visitors. In contrast, temperatures during the summer nights can plummet to -10°C.

I was lucky enought to be able to purchase air tickets to Alice Springs for $59 per person each way which is a bargain so we are off on a 4 day adventure to Alice Springs and Uluru. We started by waking up at 4.30 this morning to get to the airport by 7.30am to catch a plane at 9am. It takes about 3 ½ hours to fly to Alice Springs but there is a half hour time difference so it put us there at 11.30am. Upon arrival at the airport, we collected our hire car and drove into the town centre to pick up a few supplies for our 4 ½ hour drive to Uluru. I wanted to buy some wine as l thought it would be expensive at the resort however the bottle shops don't open until 2pm. I think it's to try to prevent the indigenous people from drinking too much. Anyway, after having a bite to eat we made our way along the Stuart Hwy (can do 130 kph) to Uluru. About half way there we turned onto the Lassiter Hwy and stopped at a place called Erldunda to get petrol and wine. Then it was back on the road again. We passed a huge flat topped mountain called Mt Conner. When l saw it from a distance l thought it was Uluru but on getting closer we realised it wasn't. It was pretty impressive all the same. We arrived at Uluru at around 5pm, just in time to check into out hotel then go to one of the lookouts to catch the sun setting over Uluru. I've gotta say that l thought it was disappointing because l thought there was going to be clouds near the rock and with the sun coming off them l thought l was going to be in for a spectacular show but no….the rock just changed colour and then it was dark. The sun setting over the Olgas was much nicer than Uluru. Then l thought oh well, we'll go to a closer viewing platform the next night and it might look good from there. Dinner time!!! I'm hungry. We had a look at the choices of eating places at our hotel and chose an a la carte restaurant. Craig had Barramundi and l had a goats cheese tart. Craig gave me a taste of his fish and l must say it was pretty nice(and that's saying something for a person who doesn't eat fish)….hardly any fishy taste at all. I think we were in bed by 9.30pm, l was so tired after an early start to the day. Temperature reached about 32 degrees today.

Thursday 12 September. 34 degrees.

After an overnight low of 11 we managed to get a fairly good nights sleep waking at 6am for a 6.38am sunrise. We went to the viewing platform near our hotel and waited paitently for the sunrise however there was cloud cover this morning so it was pretty underwhelming. Breakfast was a buffet ($25 each) at the same restaurant we had dinner last night. Then at 8am we met with our helicopter pilot, James, for a 55 minute tour over Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Lake Amadeus. We flew with another couple John and Sandra and a guy called Wade who works at the camel farm at Uluru. The flight was absolutely awesome. Everything was huge….Uluru, the Olgas and the lake. Craig was lucky enough to sit in the front with our pilot. Ulura National Park is the home of Ayers Rock which is a huge monolith in the centre of Australia. The park also contains the nearby Olgas (or Kata Tjuta).

The park is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is considered sacred by the Aborigines, who were in the area 10,000 years ago. Although visitors can climb the rock, the Aborigines try to discourage it as they see it as disrespectful to their ancestors.

Upon returning from the helicopter flight we drove to the resort's town square where we had a look at the shops, the market where original aboriginal art work is painted and sold by the indigenous people, and then sat around a campfire while an elder told stories of hunting, carving tools and eating. We then had a bite to eat and decided to drive to the Ogas and Ayers Rock. Once we arrived at the Olgas we got out of the car and walked to the base where l told Craig to keep walking while l stayed put. It was far too hot for me and l didn't want to get dehydrated. Craig was away for around half an hour before he met back up with me. He said it was pretty good. We hopped back into the car and drove about 44k to Ayers Rock. When we arrived it was about 34 degrees and quite windy. Access to climb the rock was closed because of the wind so we walked a bit of the way around the rock discovering caves and ancient art work. Then it was back to the car and to the resort where we drove around the other hotels to check out where we would have dinner, then onto our room for a quick freshen up before heading out to a sunset viewing platform closer to the rock. Man it was busy. People were already there set up with their chairs and drinks just waiting for the sun to go down. ….after reading all the hype l was once again disappointed in the scenery. I was beginning to think l was expecting too much until I was talking to Mum a few days later and she said the same thing! Moving on…….we went to dinner at the Desert Gardens hotel Bunya Bar which was quite nice and then we headed back to our hotel. I think we were in bed by 10pm.

Friday 13 September 34 degrees

We decided not to get up really early for a sunrise view of the rock as it was just gonna be the same as yesterday so instead we packed our bags and checked out of the accommodation. We went back to the Desert Gardens hotel where we had a wonderful buffet breakfast ($26 each and well worth the extra dollar each). The only trouble with all you can eat is that all l can eat isn't that much! We decided to drive back out to the rock to see if the climb was open but unfortunately for Craig it was closed again due to the wind. We drove around the rock and were nearly back to where we started when we discovered the track to the rock's waterhole so we stopped and wandered around looking at more caves until we reached the waterhole. There was some water in it which surprised me. Then back to the car and the long drive back to Alice Springs.

Alice Springs is the third largest town in the Northern Territory. Popularily know as "the Alice", it is situeated in the geographic centre of Australia near the southern border on the Northern Territoty.

The town of Alice Springs straddles the usually dry Todd river on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges and it reminded us a little of Townsville where the town is surrounded by rocky hills. Alice Springs began as a service town to the pastoral industry that first came to the region. The introduction of the rail line increased its economy and productivity. Today the town services a region of 540,046 square kilometres and a regional population is 38,749. In 1926 the worlds first Flying Doctors Service was founded and it was also the site of the worlds first successful portable wireless radio experiment.

ALice Springs railway station is visited by The Ghan (a train) on it's journey between Adelaide and Darwin

We arrived around 1pm and checked into the hotel. We stayed at Double Tree Hilton which was supposed to be really good but it was a bit tired looking and not up to the Hilton standard. Once we'd checked in we made our way to the tourist information centre to see what we could do to fill in the afternoon. First though we had lunch as it was after 2pm and we were starving. After lunch we went looking for an art gallery that was recommended to us so l could purchase an original aboriginal art work. We didn't find the gallery of recommendation after an hour searching so l ended up in the town centre at one of the galleries there and bought a small black and white piece. They are so expensive for what they are hence the reason l only bought a small one. We then went to Anzac Hill which looks out over Alice Springs. There is really not much to see. Then off to the truck museum so Craig could have a look. We didn't arrive there until about 4.30pm and it closes at 5pm so Craig had a power look while l strolled in and around of the monster trucks. It was pretty hot in the sheds so l found some shade and waited for Craig to emerge. When he finally did it was time for dinner so we headed to a place called "Stumps" which was a recommendation from the lady at the info centre. Craig enjoyed his meal (he had fish) but my meal was awful and l refused to pay for it! There was an ice cream shop just up from Stumps so we went in there where Craig enjoyed a nice cold ice cream. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at KFC to buy something for me to eat seeing as l didn't eat anything at dinner. Went to bed around 10pm. Upon refuelling the car we noticed there were signs on the petrol bowsers promoting low fumes petrol, this is because the indigenous folk like to sniff petrol with higher fumes. When l was waiting for Craig at the truck museum the owner was talking to me about the aborigines and how the half caste ones cause the most trouble. He went on to say that the older ones admit they've made a mistake and pay for the crime whereas the younger ones commit crimes over and over again. There is a system in place now where once their parole comes up they have to do community work and they can't get out of jail until they have a job. The main source of crime is Alice's large unemployed population of Aboriginal residents, who live in camps throughout the town, and in camps nearby.

Saturday 14 September

Up around 7am and after a shower we headed down to enjoy a nice buffet breakfast. Later we packed our bags, checked out of the hotel and headed to the truck museum for Craig to have a more leisurely look around before heading back to the airport to drop off the car and wait for our flight back to Melbourne. We arrived back in Bendigo at about 5.30pm.