Walkabout Day 10 - Uluru

I am up early, at 4:30am, and out by 5:15 to see the sunrise on Uluru. There is a huge crowd of people at the viewing area, with lots of tour groups... each one catering to a particular nationality. The Italians have espresso coffee... the Japanese have bento boxes and little stools.

I watch the sunrise, then ride up close to Uluru and start down one of the walking trails marked out. I note there is a guided tour on starting at 8am, so once I finish that walk I come back for the tour. It is led by Dave, who describes stories about the various caves and formations, as well as talking about the uses of some of the plants around us... it is quite entertaining and informative, and I'm glad to have come back for the tour.

Once that is done, I start on the Base Walk, which goes all the way around Uluru, skirting with a wide border the areas considered sacred by the local Aboriginal tribe. I start the Base Walk at 9:30am.

I pause and rest for a short while, looking at what they call the brain of the rock, an exposed, weathered area on the eastern face. The flies are bad out here and I forgot to put on Aerogard, although I am told it has little effect on flies. I am trying to ignore them as much as I can, and am wearing my bandanna to keep them out of my nose and mouth. How's the serenity... I have paused for a moment to let other walkers move on so I can have some solitude. They walk slowly until I overtake them, no matter how fast or slow I walk they seem to want to keep pace with me. It is strange. I don't want to hear the crunch of gravel under their feet as I think, or their loud conversations. I wait, and wait, until they have moved on sufficiently that they won't intrude any more. I walk on alone...

Uluru itself is so much more varied up close, it has waterholes, caves, rock paintings, and all sorts of features. The sheer scale of it is imposing.

It takes me several hours to complete the Base Walk, by the time I was done it was 12:30.

After the walk, the thermometer on my bike reads 52 degrees in the sun... shortly after, the LCD display blacks out, overheated. It must be close to 40 in the shade.

I get back to the flatette where I am staying thanks to Gemma, and do my washing, including the lining from my helmet. The lining usually takes 24 hours to dry... in the shade it takes an hour, the clothes are dry in 15 minutes.

After that I fall into a fitful sleep, drifting on the border of consciousness, beset by hallucinations brought on by heat exposure. I don't wake until 7pm. I spend a relaxing evening talking with Gemma and Adam, and turn in early, prepared for a 4am start. Sleep is broken frequently, due to the long nap in the day, I seem to wake every hour or so.