Just before I start, there is a few quick things to go through. Uluru is the proper name for Ayers Rock, and the Kata Tjuta are usually known as the Olgas. But most of the tourists seem to refer these famous things in the Uluru Kata Tjuta national park as 'Ayers Rock' and the 'Olgas', but I'll probably just keep using various variations throughout this blog. No doubt by the end Ayers Rock will be referred to as 'That bludy big Rock'. Kata Tjuta is actually pronounced very simply, even though it doesn't look a simple name to pronounce. Because we're English and lazy, it's still not as easy as naming them the 'olgas', which means 'many heads'. If you have seen my facebook pictures or just any picture of the Olgas, you'll work out why it's called this. The whole day really just consisted of seeing Ayers Rock and the Olgas.

We were out at the campsite for 5am, as we did not want to miss the Uluru sunrise. We turned up at the Uluru-Kata Tjuta national park, and although it said it opened at 5am, and we were there at 5:20, no one was there to be seen on the entry gate. A few minutes later a worker at the park arrived, and it turned out that we forgot (well were clueless.....) about the time zone change. It was currently only 4:30am here in the Northern Territory, and we were still on South Australia time.....What a load of Wallies. Well Jamie didn't realise, but he was still on Victoria time, which was half an hour behind South Australia time.

The sunrise was a disappointment, as it was just cloud surrounding the rock. There was a fair few coach loads of there tourists there, mainly consisting of elderly British couples, but there would be alot more for the sunset. We did a 3 hour walk around the base of the rock starting at 7:30am, and that took around 3 hours. We saw the Olgas, which my mate thought at the time was 'miles better than Ayers Rock', but as the sunset loomed over, he changed his mind and suddenly preferred Uluru again.

We had charged all our electric devices up in the visitor centre at Ayers Rock resort, and also filled all our bottles up with cold water. Compared to the last two days, this was pure luxury. Food and drink was at our disposal again. Antony (our designated driver for the day) said how he needed a shower desperately, and at 6:30pm, he wanted to go back to the resort to get a shower. We weren't sure what time the sunset was, so we asked an Australian tour guide if he knew, and he gave a very typical Australian answer, "The sunset will take place at the time it starts to get dark", he replied. The sunset was around 7:30pm, so Antony conceded there was an element of risk so I firmly told him that he could have a shower everyday for the rest of his life, but we can't see the Sunset at Uluru everyday as this was probably the one and only chance we would get. Unfortunately, although it was hot all the day, just like for sunrise the sky was littered with cloud. Oh well, we did try, and at least we saw the rock. The moaning git could have had his shower after all. We are now moving onto our new destination for the night en route to Kings Canyon with our stinking driver.

Even though, we couldn't do the 'Valley of the winds' walk around the Olgas, or the actual climb to the top of Ayers Rock due to the boiling heat, and there was no 'proper' sunset or sunrise, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day had by all. The rock was the main attraction and I can sort of understand why some people would not like it due to it actually only being a rock. I was sceptical about visiting the rock myself but I actually really enjoyed it. I think the journey to the rock itself made us appreciate our time there. I have seen reviews on the internet of people who take a holiday to Ayers Rock resort and complain about the flies and it being in the middle of no where, but because of our journey up to Ayers Rock, we actually really enjoyed it and appreciated our time there. My message to the people that whinge about the resort at Uluru is simple, go visit William Creek, and then you would never ever complain about Ayers Rock and it's surroundings ever again. Apparently most of the rock is underground, so that is impressive if that is true. You can only quite realise how big and important this rock is if you have actually visited it and taken a look around.

For people who are debating whether to visit Uluru or not, I would tell them to go. Having said all that, I've been once now and seen it, so I won't be going again. It's just one of those things that you only really need to do once.