Today was a great day....definitely a highlight of the trip. I think more so as I wasn't planning on doing it so had no expectations in mind unlike most other places on this trip. Matt and I and Dad and Jodie took turns in climbing to the top of Uluru and it was amazing! Allyn climbed up most of the way yesterday and he did a great job at 70 as it was such hard work climbing the incline. Uluru is 348m high which is big for a "rock" but not the biggest. This title goes to Mt Augustus in Western Australia. I had to stop quite a lot to catch my breath but it had the benefit of having a moment to take in the view. After the chain stops there in a plateau to have a break before continuing the climb with no chains. The chains aren’t needed (although would help in a couple of places) as it does flatten out with the exception of some smaller dips and hills. There is a painted white line to follow and we did keep thinking the top was just over the next hill but it kept going and going...... We finally found the very top and were the first ones there for the day by about a minute. Yay!




I did think no one climbed Uluru anymore but after us there was a steady flow of people coming up the entire day. There were a couple taking up very young kids (under 5), but I am glad we didn't taking our boys as the climb wasn't suitable. Some older kids were doing it fine but I think the kids should at least be 7-10yrs old - one so they handle the steepest better and two so they are more trustworthy in making sensible decisions as if you were to fall, once you started rolling it would be very difficult to stop hence deaths have occurred. And we did see a group of kids close to 10 years old literally running down the rock. I guess every parent has their own opinion but I wouldn't be comfortable with my kids running down a rock that steep and high.

Before we did this great climb, Matt and I did for the second time set the alarm to watch sunrise over Uluru. It is worth getting up early for with really nice colours coming through the landscape.

After a couple of hours rest we went to see "Kata-Juta" (a.k.a. "The Olgas") meaning many heads. They stand 546m tall and there used to be 12 walks here but most have been closed with only 2 remaining. I did a quick walk by myself into Walpa Gorge which was nice being so close to really tall cliff faces. We all then did the Valley of the Winds walk up to the second lookout "Karingana". The walk to the first lookout was easy but it got harder going to the second one, which felt even harder after walking so much already. The Valley of the Winds walk was generally nice with a couple of spots being more interesting. It was more the lookouts which were the main attraction.

We did make our day even busier by meeting Dad, Jodie and Allyn back at the Uluru sunset viewing area with some cheese, crackers and wine. It was a great way to finish the day. Oh, we did also do a last minute drive around Uluru at last light.



I don't mind busy...I would much rather be out exploring and seeing new things then sitting in a dusty caravan park.