The road to Uluru was long and straight, but never boring, even though there was seemingly nothing in sight for miles around.
The Stuart Highway, nothing for miles
We stopped off en-route near Mount Cook. Mum had packed an ‘eskey’ with cold drinks and sandwiches. Having not had much to eat over the past few this was very welcome. As we stopped for lunch, the heat became apparent, the temperature had soared to 36C and the sunshine was beating down. No joke about needing a hat then.
Stopping for lunch
Our view for lunch
We then continued to Yulara, the resort just outside of the national park. This is a purpose built resort in the desert, housing tourists in a variety of hotels from back packers accommodation (where I’d stayed in 2004) all the way up to 5 star luxury. Personally, I found this place a bit strange, but there are simply no other accommodation options in the red centre. We’d booked a self catering apartment which was perfect for our needs. The next few days were spent exploring the National Park, visiting Uluru and Kata Tjuta. This involved lots of sunsets and lots of walking, which was rather difficult in the hot climate. The walk around Kata Tjuta almost killed us! We cheated when it came to the Uluru base walk, and took the car instead, well, it did have air conditioning. We parked up at various point and walked to the base of the rock.
Uluru about an hour before sunset
Uluru a few minutes before sunset
Walking around Kata Tjuta
Walking around Kata Tjuta
Sorry, we cheated – our air conditioned tour around the rock
Here’s the reason why, climb closed due to forecasted temperatures of 36 or above (it actually got to 39)
Sunset at Kata Tjuta
One evening, we took the opportunity to partake in the ‘Sounds of Silence’ dinner in the desert experience. I’m happy to admit that I was a little sceptical, but it turned out to be an amazing, memorable experience.
Drinks at sunset, overlooking Uluru to the left and Kata Tjuta to the right
Sunset behind Kata Tjuta
Dinner in the desert with Kata Tjuta as a back drop
The didgeridoo player
I'd thoroughly recommend this experience to anyone, even taking into account the rather steep price.