ULURU

                                                 One Big Rock 

      Uluru is an Aboriginal word referring to a water hole near the summit of the 1150-foot high sandstone monolith, commonly known as Ayers Rock. It is one of the world’s greatest wonders. Like an iceberg, two-thirds of the huge rock lies under the ground. There are many caves in the rock and 75 art sites. The Red Center of the Outback is geographically in the center of Australia.

     The Outback is pretty barren and there is little civilization, just farms with huge amounts of acreage. During the long ride we saw many road-trains on the well paved flat road. A road train is an 18 wheeler with 5-6 trailers attached. They seem to go on forever and are tricky to pass; however they clip along at a good speed and there is little need to pass them.

     The Northern Territory government built  the only hotel complex in the area. It accommodates four hotels ranging from five-star to a backpack hostel, post office, restaurants, and a store.

     In the early evening, the ride to Uluru from the hotel was a short one. While I gazed at the rock in amazement, the driver and guide set up a small table with snack foods and champagne. Sipping champagne is traditional  while watching the sun set on the rock. Sunsets are fantastic with the colors changing about every two minutes. I’ve seen a lot of beautiful sunsets but this one did not disappoint as the colors were magnificent; however the changing colors were difficult to photograph without a really high-tech camera, so I just watched trying to commit the experience to memory.

     The next morning I got up early to walk the five and a half miles around the rock before it got hot under a blazing  sun. Because Uluru is sacred to the Aborigines, the once popular activity of climbing the rock to the top is discouraged. Half of the emergency calls to the Flying Doctors involved accidents while trying to climb the monolith, broken bones a common mishap.

     We all decided to honor the culture and walk around the rock rather to climb it. Because of recent rains, including the night before, the path around the rock was wet in places and at times it was necessary to maneuver around puddles and spongy soil.

     In spite of that plus stopping to read interesting signs along the way, we finished the walk in two hours. Starting at daybreak we watched the sun rise over the rock. It was a memorable hike and by the time we finished the temperature was beginning to climb. It was going to be another hot day! It was time for breakfast.