One of the reasons that I was reluctant to go to the Outback was that I wasn’t excited about seeing Uluru.  Uluru is also known by the name given to it by the Europeans, Ayer’s Rock.  I always thought it was just a big, stupid rock so who cares.  Maybe you’ll actually think that when you see my pictures, but let me tell you, it’s impressive.  I think one of the problems is that the pictures don’t do its size justice.  It’s the world’s largest monolith and it’s in the middle of a completely flat area.  It’s 343 meters/1.150 feet high, 3.6 kilometers/2.2 miles long and 2.4 kilometers/1.5 miles wide.  It’s eight kilometers/five miles in circumference.  Uluru means meeting place and it’s home to many sacred Dreamtime legends.  The color of the rock appears to change throughout the day with the sunrise and sunset.  The rock is thought to be 600 years old and like an iceberg only a small fraction is visible while the rest of it is underground.  Geologists think that the roots might go down as far as 6000 meters/20,000 feet.  Needless to say my feelings about the “big, stupid rock” changed after seeing it in person.  It is truly impressive!

We got to Uluru in time for the sunset on Saturday and then we stayed until midday on Monday so we had time for two sunsets, two sunrises, and two long hikes as well.  We also had some free time so some people went skydiving, some went camel riding, and I went for a helicopter ride.  We also got a chance to relax by the pool which was quite nice.  The Outback can get up to 45°/113°F, but we got lucky and it was never above 35°C/95°F.

Our tour guide took us on a cultural walk where he talked about some of the locations on the rock that are sacred to the Aboriginals.  After that we did the base walk around the rock which is about 2.5-3 hours.  We could have also climbed to the top of the rock.  While there is a way to get up, the Aboriginals ask that people don’t climb it because the rock is sacred to them.  Not only that, but the climb is quite dangerous.  It’s actually closed often due to winds or if the temperature is over 36°C/97°F.  The climb is open in general because they are afraid that people will stop coming if it’s closed.  There is a cultural center which explains the Aboriginals ties to Uluru and why they prefer that people don’t climb it.  In the cultural center there is also a book called the Sorry Book which contains letters from people all over the world who have regretted climbing the rock.  People have written letters explaining they believe their bad luck is a consequence of climbing the rock.  People have even sent back rock or piles of sand they took and asked the rangers to return them it the proper location.  It’s a pretty powerful book.  There’s also a spot for people to pledge why they won’t climb it.

Near Uluru is also Kata Tjuta which means many heads. It’s actually 36 boulders shoulder to shoulder forming deep valleys adn steep-sided gorges.  The tallest rock, Mt. Olga, is 200 m/656 ft higher than Uluru.  We did the 7.4 km/4.6 mile hike through the Valley of the Winds.