Uluru

Sunrise at Uluru

We woke up in time to see sunrise on Uluru, of course, at this time of the year, that isn’t too bad – sunrise was at 7:15 AM. No champagne, this morning, instead we had tea (or in my case, hot chocolate) and biscuits. The sunrise wasn’t as spectacular as sunset, probably because at this time of the year, only part of the face of the rock lit up. We had breakfast at our hotel before heading back to the rock.

Our four climbers with the chains behind us

Four of us, decided to climb Uluru. This was a controversial decision, since the Aboriginals consider this to be a sacred site. In fact, there are places as you walk around, where you are not allowed to enter or take pictures. Most of these restricted areas have to do with men’s or women’s business. Only those who have been properly initiated and the right sex, know what the meaning is for these sites and are allowed to visit them. Now what about climbing? Well, the governor of the Northern Territories is an aboriginal man and he says it’s okay, yet there were signs saying please don’t climb, but yet again there is a chain installed on the trail to help you climb up the trail. So who knows? Anyway, four of us started out. Two quit initially, when they saw how steep it was (30 degrees?) then tried again and made it to the first summit at the top of the chain. Dale and I continued on and at least on the way up, we utilized the chain, because it almost became a steep climb. It took us ½ hour to get to the top of the chain. At this point, Dale said go ahead. The top of the chain turned out to be one of three false summits. But at least the trail wasn’t as steep after the chain. There were portions where I had to scramble up and down little valleys with hands and feet, occasionally resorting to a spider walk. But the scenery was fantastic. Dark streaks from the rain, numerous holes carved by wind or rain. And then about 2/3rds of the way up, the view was like waves of sandstone. 

Water holes and wave formations in background

At the top, was the required geological marker. It had taken me an hour to reach the top. From there it was a 360 degree view with Mt. Connor on one side and in the other direction, Kata Kjuta. When I came down to the top of the chains, Katy, Dale, and Ashley were waiting. Upon reaching the bottom, we still had time to see some of the wave caves, these caves look like they are waves made of stone. I’ll probably be sore tomorrow after today’s climb

Wave Cave

Our flight to Cairns left Uluru at 3:15 in the afternoon. We got to our hotel, the Reef House in Palm Cove about 7 PM and had a great dinner of steak, sausage, and about 5 varieties of salad.