Uluru, day 2

It is ridiculous, I think, to wake up at 4:30 in the morning for any reason, but today it was worth it. I got up and dressed in anticipation for my morning hike in the desert, and then ended up watching the sunrise half freezing to death. It was COLD, and I thought I might die. The moon was huge and orange on one horizon, though, and the sunrise was just as spectacular as the sunset, which made me not regret waking up at an insane hour to become a Popsicle.

I began my hike at the cultural centre, two km from the actual base of Uluru, and I am ashamed to admit that I did not necessarily go to increase my cultural awareness of the Aboriginal people but rather because I refused to hike until it was a decent temperature outside. Around 8 I finally decided to just go for it, despite the fact it was still not a decent temperature. The day was beautiful, with a clear, blue, cloudless sky and a slight breeze that kept the flies at bay.

You technically can climb Uluru, which surprised me as I hadn’t even considered it before arriving. The local Anangu people really, REALLY dislike this, as Uluru is a very sacred place to them. However, it is good for tourism, as almost all tourists come to see a sunset and climb the rock, and the government keeps the climb open. As I approached, I could see the line of people climbing up, and they looked like little ants. Either way, it was a straight climb up sandstone and back down again, and so I opted to do the 10 km hike around the base.

I am so glad that I did. The dimples and grooves that you see from afar turn out to be huge gorges and caves up close. As you turn each corner, the rock face changes and the scenery around it changes as well. One minute you will be walking through red dunes and there will be nothing but sand, and the next there will be green trees and savannah grasses. I could see goannas (large monitor lizards) in the distance and the birds were awesome.

After the hike I headed back to the resort for some quality pool time. I had a ring of red dirt on my legs, and so I thought it was just dirt, but it turns out that some of the color remained after I scrubbed and now I have a crazy farmer’s tan. D:

So that was nice and relaxing. The stars are really brilliant out here, and I had dinner on a picnic bench underneath them. I’m headed back to Alice Springs tomorrow afternoon, and I have two days there. I’m thinking of spending a day in the town, and then doing a day trip to the Western MacDonnell Ranges, some of Australia’s oldest mountains.