Alice Springs to Uluru, 460km: Sat 20 October 2012

Dave and I were out of our budget cabin and on the road by 7.30am to beat the expected 40 degree heat riding to Ayres Rock (Uluru). This is when being in a cabin makes it easier to leave early, as it takes us about an hour to pack up our gear if we are in the tent.

The central desert country is rather beautiful to us flying along like low flying birds on our motorbikes, as there are subtle changes in the scenery/soil and rocks/plants all the way. Our first stop for a rest was at Erldunda Roadhouse, where we met some more Intrepids riding motorcycles. An Italian couple two up on a Moto Guzzi, and a Parents and Son trio, Spyder Can Am for Mum and Dad, and racy red VFR Honda for handsome young Son.

Dave was delighted to find two more "Bigs" for his tacky collection at this Roadhouse: A Big echidna and a Big lizard. The Echidna was well made; the Lizard was the tackiest Big I have seen for a few months. (Winner for tackiest Big so far is a tie between a tattered Big Koala near the Grampians in Victoria, and a Big Chicken somewhere else.)

Today's riding got hotter and hotter….our water-filled neckies were doing their coolest job to help us, and we stopped for lunch at another roadhouse called Curtin Springs, where we sat in a shade house area and chatted with a bus load of English tourists on a tour to Uluru. We later met this same group at the Big Rock Uluru.

By the time we got to Uluru country we were feeling rather weary, as it was now 40 degrees. There is only one place to stay here, Yulara Resort, which is like a small township of all sorts of hotel accommodation ranging from basic to very flash for rich tourists, through to a very big caravan park. There are little gift shops and a very good IGA store with lots of fresh and reasonably priced fruit and vegetables and other foods.

It's real "outback camping" at Yulara caravan park, and we are enjoying it immensely. The showers area are clean, but we have a fairly long walk to them…never mind, we have our trusty little "bucket potties" for the night time! We have a nice lawn area for our tent, while the big caravans have to be on the dry red dirt area, ha ha! For once, the tenties get a bonus over big caravans.

Every night we have cooked our meal under the stars at a gas bbque/burner area with bench table seating near our tent, very romantic. We are finding the swimming pool here is essential in the heat.

Dave did a great job of repairing a large tear in the roof of our Shangri-La tent. It is an excellently designed tent and we love it, but it is falling to bits on us now, with zips needing re-gluing and other zip doorways to be used now, patches over the outside and inside, and now, a tent surgeon's stitching and gluing and patching on the roof. We have been looking for another suitable tent to replace our Yurt but nothing is right…either too big for our trailer, or too small for comfort. So we are limping slowly homeward with our trusty old tent…hope it doesn't fall to bits on us one night revealing two old skinned rabbit nomads snoring away on their air mattresses! When a big wind blows up I sometimes wonder how we'd be if the tent flew away ha ha!

Where is the World's Biggest Monolith? Sunday 21 October

I have not been to Uluru before, and I had always imagined it to be in Alice Springs, not 450km away. Dave had been here in 1975. It isn't visible from the Yulara Resort area, and yesterday we had been too busy getting set up to go and look at the Big Rock.

So early this morning we rode off to find Uluru. Then Dave said "There it is!" It has been very smoky with bushfires started by lightning strikes, and so visibility is poor, but then suddenly I saw The Rock, rising majestically up from the desert plains. Wow! My jaw was gaping all the way as we rode around Uluru in the fresh morning air. Lots of story coming from this huge presence. At last I have come to my "Mecca"; so many years I have been wanting to see this place, and it is awesome!

We found "the Cultural Centre" next to the Rock, which is a big rammed- earth building built in the shape of a mythical snake creature, and it was a fascinating place for us. We wanted to find out the Indigenous meaning and history of this area, and the Centre helped us with so much information, displays, vibrant art work, videos and movies, and people to chat with. The place was full of tourists coming and going, many on big tour buses. As usual, we Mighty Intrepids were one of the first to arrive, and the last to leave. We get so much out of these informative places, as we love learning about local history and story lines. The culture of the local Indigenous central desert people was very well explained and gave me a lot of respect for their ways of survival in harsh dry country.

In 1985 the Government handed Uluru (Ayres Rock) and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) country back to the local Anangu people (Pitjandjara speaking tribe) and then these people have leased the land back to the Federal Government for 99 years, to assist with management of this World Heritage area for both its natural and cultural values. There is a board of management which jointly works with Aboriginals and National Parks people.

I feel like the big Rock Uluru is the beating heart of Australia, with joint management of such an awe-inspiring area being so well cared for and managed. Tourists from all over the planet come to see this place, apparently over 300,000 people come here each year. Some people get niggly because the local Anangu people do not like tourists climbing on Uluru, and they discourage this practice, as they would not climb on this sacred place themselves, and they think tourists who want to climb on it are being insensitive and missing the point of the special place. And I agree with the Indigenous perspective; how would people like it if tourists were able to climb all over the main altar of Westminster Cathedral or other "sacred" churches? There is a climbing trail with a chain up to the top on one side of the rock, as climbing is not banned, to keep the white rock apes happy, but this to me looks like an ugly long white scar running down the side of the big red monolith! Fortunately while we are here it is too hot to climb, as climbing is not allowed after the temperature goes above 35 degrees. And 35 people have been killed, with many badly injured as well, so it's not really a safe place to climb. If you respect other cultures, why would you want to climb a natural "Cathedral" anyway?

I enjoyed watching two older Anangu ladies patiently and silently painting art work on the ground outside the Cultural Centre. Their art work is so intricate, full of symbolisms/maps/storylines, and so vibrant. Before white settlers came they did their drawings in the red sand as they told the dreamtime stories and there are some cave paintings that we have seen on a walk to some parts around the Uluru rock. And the people had to remember all the "maps" where waterholes and food sources were, using traditional songlines and teachings taught by the elders.

It got so hot as the day progressed that we left the magnetic pull of Uluru and rode back to our tent land for a welcome swim, with the pool being a busy place of tourists from all over the world. Lots of French people lately, which is something new for us to observe. Makes my schoolgirl French get a bit of practice, listening in!

At sunset we rode off again to see Uluru, finding ourselves along with lots of tourists of all nationalities, all hoping for a stunning sunset shot. Unfortunately the smoke in the air made the huge Rock look very brooding and silent, with no flashes of sunset light. This is Uluru as it approaches the hot summer!

Another lovely camp-cooked meal outside our Yurt tent, under the starry sky….the smoke seemed to have drifted away tonight.

Frustrated Feedback From the Last Resort.

On checking our emails, we found the manager of the camp ground at Glen Helen had sent us a reply about our Report that we have also handed over to the Health Inspectors and to Tourism NT. Not happy! Too bad! Excuses excuses, we heard similar from the place at Winton Queensland. I get really upset when I see camp kitchens and shower/toilet amenities so badly maintained and filthy, this is an embarrassing shame to overseas tourists we see who are looking shocked.

I think there are a few caravan park managers that really need to have a good think about Eco Tourists, and how there is a real niche for people who like to go camping and be close to nature, rather than doing it the boring way in a flash motel room. Some dirty camping places just don't understand how they are missing out on good tourism possibilities, and they are actually insulting campers with their filthy low standards. I think Dave and I have done a good thing to report such places, all you have to do is go to whatever Local Council you are in, and ask to speak to a Health Inspector. Photos embedded in a report is good too, as this is documentation that is needed to make slack camping managers get a reality break for good tourism practices.

Anyway, to end on a happier note, tomorrow morning at sunset we are going for a camel ride around Uluru. We have to be on the bus to get there at 5am! Early to air mattress tonight, and may our tent stay up!

The Mighty Intrepids Rocking On!