Uluru - the big rock.

It is so easy to get going when you are going to see such an iconic Aussie site for the first time.  It was a long drive but the countryside was constantly changing and we even found a section of the road that had obviously recently had some rain as there was green grass around.  We stopped in Erldunda to fuel the car and caffeinate the parents before making the turn into Uluru or Yulara as the township is called.  Jason had warned me that there is a mountain along the way that when people first spot it they think it is Uluru, so I was on the lookout for that as I knew after that I could then be on the lookout for Uluru.

Long open roads.

As we were driving along we heard an odd noise from the back, like a blown tyre.  Just what we needed as the kids were getting over the drive.  We pulled over and thankfully all tyres were good and I think we had just come off the road a bit with the van as the road was narrow with parts of the side worn with pot holes, so obviously we hit one of them - mental note: sit more to the right unless there is someone coming or behind us wanting to overtake.  That is the benefit of the reversing camera on the caravan.  Jason has it on whilst driving so we can see if anyone is coming up behind us.

This made me laugh as really we are in the middle of nowhere.

 

We eventually spotted the mountain.  It was actually called Mount Connor, so of course we had to pull over at the lookout and get the kids photos with it so Jacki could show Connor (our old neighbours and Hamish’s mate).  Now I was on the lookout for Uluru, and whilst I didn’t expect to see it from 200km away I was shocked that I couldn’t see it until about 30km away from the campground.  I would like to say that it was this magical moment where it took our breath away and we just sat quietly in the car taking it all in, but I would be lying.  The reality was that the kids today were just over the car, Kayla was cracking it, Hamish was upset and well we just wanted to get to the caravan park and unhitch.  Life on the road with kids, you just can’t pick what kind of day they are going to have.

Jason and the kids in front of Mt Connor

First view of the rock - can you see it?

 

Today I think was just one of those days that was put here to test us.  Even checking in the lady at reception wasn’t overly friendly and when we got to the site we were allocated there was no way our van was going to fit.  So I thought a quick call to reception and she would kindly allocate us another spot.  Of course I was trying to get her to understand that our van wouldn’t fit but that was a bit harder than one would expect and then she just told us to pick another spot, except I had to do it now!  I couldn’t call back and tell her where we parked, I had to pick a number now.  So I just went with the one beside where we were meant to be.

Our plan of attack was to set up and relax inside, giving the kids a break from the car before heading off to explore Uluru.  I went to do a load of washing, but no water was getting to the washing machine, tried the sink, nothing.  So out Jason went in the heat to see if the tap was on, yes, but it seemed there was little pressure.  Tried other taps, nothing.  So I went to the amenities blocks, not even a drop of water there.  Phew, nothing was wrong with the van, it was their water pressure issue.  So off to reception I went to tell the not so nice lady there was a problem.  Luckily she had obviously finished her shift and a much friendlier and happy person was now there and kindly got the maintenance people onto it. 

By now we were itching to go and see Uluru, so we packed up the kids and drove in.  It is actually around 15km away from the campgrounds and on the way you have to buy passes into the park ($25 an adult, our kids were free).  Obviously we don’t mind, but we assumed it would be 3 days from the time you bought it so if you bought it at 3pm on Friday it doesn’t expire until 3pm Monday.  No, not the case, it expired when the park closed on Sunday.  So we had wasted a good chunk of a day.

Now we got our special moment of just looking at it in awe and how red and steep it is.  No photo can do it justice or what you see when you are up close.  We drove the whole way around just mesmerised.  I did say to Hamish to look at the big rock.  H responded that his hand was bigger.  Yes the moment may have been lost on the kids but for us it was a major thing that we had always wanted to see.  We returned to the van for a quick bite to eat before returning to the sunset viewing area hoping to capture the shots of it changing colour as the sun goes down.

Family photo in from of Uluru.

Waiting for the sunset.

Hamish enjoyed playing in the sand more.

 

We met a lovely group of friends who kindly took our family photo in front of the rock and then we waited.  Well we did, the kids loved playing in the red dirt and with the sticks.  Honestly we didn’t think we would get the photos of the beautiful red glow due to the cloud cover.  Even a lot of people started to call it quits and left, but we were determined and in the end it payed off.  Just as the sun was about to go down it appeared underneath the clouds and this amazing red glow with shadows cast over uluru.  It was stunning and everything we expected it to be and more.  I had to admit, I was grateful that we visited in the off peak time as we never had an issue with parking as there are heaps, but just seeing how full it is at this time of the year makes me wonder if you would have to get there extremely early to get a park in the peak season.

The sun hitting the rock.

It was constantly changing - just beautiful.

 

Back to the van it was for some dinner and to get the kids to sleep so we could decorate Hamish’s birthday cake and the caravan in preparation for Hamish’s birthday the next morning.  It is so much fun doing it all up knowing the look you will get the next day when he would wake up.  They are only little for such a short period of time and before we know it he won’t be so excited or easily impressed. 

All decorated and waiting for Hamish.

 

Hamish was up so early and was super excited for his birthday.  He couldn’t even wait for Kayla to wait up before starting to unwrap his presents.  We had booked a surprise flight over Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon for his birthday.  We kept it from him until the shuttle bus picked us up and he spotted the plane.  Oh this was going to be the best birthday ever for him.  All was going well until we went to take off.  It was so rough, I started to wonder if it was actually safe to be up there flying.

Getting into his presents.

What a birthday surprise.



Family photo before we headed off - if only we knew!

 

Kayla then decided she didn’t like the headphones or the sound of the plane, and came and sat on my lap.   She then started cracking it about 15 minutes into the flight.  Still seeing Uluru from the sky was fantastic.  Off we headed for Kata Tjuta, but by now Hamish was starting to cry saying the seatbelt was hurting his tummy.  I could clearly see it wasn’t too tight but I had no idea what was wrong.  We got to enjoy seeing Kata Tjuta – another very impressive formation of rocks. 

Jason all excited.

Hamish loving the headphones.

Flying over Uluru.

Now over Kata Tjuta.

 

By now with two kids upset the piolet asked if we wanted to continue onto Kings Canyon which would be another 1 hour and 40 minutes.  Only crazy people would say yes, and I am glad we weren’t crazy.  We had worked out Hamish was actually motion sick, and so I had him across from me trying to keep him calm, Kayla on my lap cracking it and trying to get off me lap.  I have no idea if she was sick or just hated being refined to my lap and I was wondering why Jason wasn’t being much help.  When we landed he explained that he was that close to being sick too but we only had one sick bag which we had given to Hamish.

Trying to keep Kayla entertained.

I think he may have started to feel sick here.

Jason recovering.

Hamish too.

 

Needless to say we won’t be doing any more small plane flights on our holiday – maybe we will see if helicopters are not as rough.  Though being the good Mum I am, I took photos of the boys while they recovered back in the lounge at the airport.  The company refunded us a good portion of our tour which I was impressed about as I really didn’t think they had to as we were the reason we landed so much earlier.

So back to the van we went for some much needed rest.  We decided to save the cake until the afternoon when everyone’s tummy was more settled.  When they boys started feeling better we headed off to the marketplace area for lunch which was delicious before checking out the sails resort and retreating to the van.  I had a nice nap but unfortunately Kayla didn’t have hers until late and didn’t wake up until 4pm – so knew we were going to pay for it that night.

We finally got to do the birthday cake and enjoyed that before heading out to Kata Tjuta for the sunset.  It wasn’t as spectacular as Uluru as the sun was behind the clouds, but it was still beautiful to see and we caught up with the same fellow travellers who we had been next to the day before.  They kindly offered to take another family photo for us.  The sunset was really spectacular and there was also a storm with lightning out to the right so that was great to see.  It was actually really hard working out which way to look and take photos.

They are actually taller than Uluru.

The flies where annoying Hamish.

Another family snap.

Having a play with the camera.

Sunset, but it looks like a fire.

Our car really does look at home in the bush!

Loving the clouds.


 

Sunday was a slow morning but we aimed to be at Uluru by 8am for the Marla walk.  It is a free walk put on by an indigenous ranger around part of the rock explaining the significance of certain areas and the sacred areas of the local people.  This walk leaves from the same point in which you can also climb the rock however it was already closed due to strong winds at the summit.  Just looking up though, you could imagine how hard it would be to climb it.  At the bottom they have a sign asking you not to climb and explaining why, after reading it I don’t understand how people cannot respect their request.  They call it the old man’s scar as it hurts them to see the worn track of the climb on Uluru.

Our awesome guide - Clinton.

Hamish with a traditional spear thrower.

Learning so much.

Our crazy boy being the centre of attention.

 

We learnt so much from this walk, but unfortunately the kids weren’t too into it and half way through they decided to have a fight which of course interrupted the tour guide who was ever so patient and took Hamish over the railing to stand with him.  Of course once over the railing Hamish obviously got stage fright with everyone looking at him and stood there like a goof.  One for his 21^st I am sure, got to love them.  After that Hamish decided he needed to go to the toilet so poor Jason had to take him back whilst Kayla and I finished the walk.  On the way back we met up with Jason and Hamish coming back so I took the kids back to the car to cool down whilst Jason finished the bit of the walk he didn’t do.

Would love to be here when it rains.

The base is just amazing.

The waterfall here would not flow for long after rain.

 

On the walk I learnt that they are looking at potentially closing the climb to the top in 2020.  The reason that you are still allowed to climb it now is that at the time the government handed back the land, the traditional owners wanted to close it but the Government wouldn’t allow it.  Obviously we are moving with the times and are getting more respect for each other’s sacred sites because the number of climbers is dropping every year.  Apparently near the rock it is 15 to 20 degrees hotter as the rock soaks up all the heat and radiates it back out.  No wonder we were feeling it and it was only about 9am. 

Afterwards we returned to the resort marketplace where we had some morning tea.  We scored a table inside in the air-conditioning, however half way through I had to go outside as I was freezing.  Unbelievable considering it was 39 degrees outside.  Next we checked out some locals doing some painting before going over to do the boomerang and spear throwing.  They even gave Hamish a boomerang for his birthday as he was still wearing his birthday boy badge from the day before.  We did explain it was yesterday but they still gave it to him.  I can see him wearing it for the rest of the trip! After getting a good laugh out of all our attempts we retreated back to the caravan to get out of the heat.

Very serious stuff this.

Learning how to throw the boomerang.

Off he goes.

Jason getting some tips.

They had a blast.

Our artwork with the artist.

 

The afternoon saw us return to the main area to watch some cultural dances.  We all got up and had a go at the different dances.  Not something I would normally do but Hamish wanted to do it and said that I also had to.  I would normally shy away from it all but I am trying to get outside my comfort zone and also set the example to Hamish as really it is all a bit of fun.  Mind you it is easy when there are another ten or so other people up there giving it a go.

See I got up and danced.  Was a bit hard whilst holding Kayla.

Then Jason and Hamish gave it a go.

Pretty good Kangaroos I have there.

Hamish loved it and they were fantastic with the kids.

 

Finally we ended our stay with doing one last trip out to Uluru.  Just as we were leaving the campground it started raining, but not heavy so we continued on.  It didn’t last long and suddenly we saw a beautiful rainbow starting to appear.  So we quickly pulled into the sunset viewing area to try and capture it.  It took a few attempts and some quick learning on how to use the cameras but Jason finally scored the perfect shot.  Next we went on to do one last walk at the base of Uluru.  This time we went into the waterhole which was just superb and an easy walk in.  On the way back we stopped at the sunset viewing area again to take it all in for one last time.  Unfortunately today we weren’t so lucky as the sun was blocked out by the clouds.

So captivating.  The waterhole.

Checking out the local plants.

Jason's awesome shot.

It might be a long drive up through the centre of Australia, but even if this is the only thing you stop and see, it is well worth the drive in our opinion.