Day 66 23/08/2013 Uluru-Kata Tjuta NP
It has been quite an exciting day! However, I'll start at the beginning. The combination of our late night, over-indulgence of food compared to our usual camping fare, and the time change from WA to NT, resulted in us not waking until 6.30 am (or even later for Dave!), and so we missed the sunrise!!! Never mind.....there's always tomorrow. So after breakfast we set out to visit the cultural centre at Uluru and do the 3 hour walk around the base. At the cultural centre we bought a painting! Then we went to view the rock from the sunrise viewing platform and then drove to a point where we could begin the walk around the base of Uluru. This is a flat, easy walk, but it does take a while, especially if you stop, as we did, to take photos and also to detour to some interesting sites off the main track. I made some comparisons several days ago between Uluru and Mt Augustus in WA. Whilst we enjoyed visiting the latter, and found the walks to be very picturesque, that rock is not remotely like Uluru in terms of the feeling you get when near it. You don't have to be Aboriginal to appreciate the spiritual significance of Uluru. Walking around the base, especially when close to, and in the shadow of the rock, was a really amazing experience. We have been here before, (12 years ago), but somehow it felt different this time. As you walk around the base, you can see different facets of the rock and read about the Dreamtime stories. There are several areas of great cultural significance and it is requested that you respect this and do not take photos in these areas. It is also requested, but only requested, that you do not climb the Rock. Ten years ago, 85% of visitors climbed. Now it is only 25-30%. Once the figures reach 20%, the climb will be closed. Several people have lost their lives climbing Uluru and there are plaques near the climbing point in memory of these people. Camping was once allowed at the base of the rock....in fact it was at this campground where Azaria Chamberlain was taken by a dingo.....but no camping is allowed now, which is why we are camped at the Ayers Rock Resort in Yulara, some 18 km away.
So now to the exciting part of the day! Our walk took about two and a half hours and just as we were approaching the car park, (with one detour yet to do), we noticed smoke, which appeared to be coming from the picnic shelter, in front of which we had parked our car. We thought at first that maybe someone was having a BBQ. However as we got closer, the smoke became flames and we realised that the spinifex-covered roof of the picnic shelter was alight....and that our car was too close!!!! Dave raced ahead to move the car, just before the whole shelter, including a beautiful carved wooden seat, went up in flames. The fire had been accidentally started by some tourists using a portable gas cooker which had malfunctioned. Fortunately there was an emergency phone nearby and assistance was called, but not before the picnic shelter and the seat and table had basically burned down. There was another car parked next to ours, but the owners were still out walking. The decision was made to attach a rope to the vehicle's tow bar and use another vehicle to drag it out of the danger zone. Even so it suffered damage from the intense radiated heat. We were so fortunate that we had arrived back when we did.
We headed back to the resort.....feeling a little shaken up........where we had a late lunch and did a bit of shopping. We made the decision to stay until Sunday, so we booked our campsite for another night. We had a couple of hours at the campsite and at around 5pm we left to drive to Kata Tjuta, (The Olgas), some 60 km away, to view the sunset there. Once again, a really lovely sight. We drove back to the resort where we had dinner, and now we are heading to bed a little earlier than last night......setting the alarm for 5.45!!!