29th - Uluru and Kata Tjuta

A small note; blogspot is fucking up - I am getting errors when trying to upload images, so you'll have to wait until later to get them. I'm to lazy to go through my text at remove references to the now non-existing photos.

With my trip getting closer to the end, I am now also getting close to having done what I wanted before I’m leaving Australia.

Today I drove from Alice to Uluru – a 4 hour drive, which made me appreciate the car’s air condition. It isn’t cold down here; on the contrary (the reception at the place I am staying at tonight has recorded a temperature of 37°C at 1500 today). So I’m sitting in the car being chilled with comfortable 20°C, and every time I get out of the car I get a slap in the face by the heat. That’s hot!

Along the way there were a couple of places with their own geographic names. But don’t think that it means that it is a town; it’s usually just a tavern/bar/small restaurant, a gas station (or two), maybe a house, a kiosk and a toilet. They were spread out with app. 100 kms in between, so it wasn’t necessary with intense planning to make it through without running out of gas.

I arrived at Uluru and took the first bunch of photos of the rock. What else? It’s more than 300 meters tall and has a circumference of more than 10 kms. Next I went to The Olgas, a bunch of stones similar to Ayer’s Rock but smaller individually. Far away they don’t look like much, but up close you realize how large they actually are.

I went back to Ayer’s Rock to take photos of it in the sunset. I took so many I have no idea if this is the best.

I am staying at Ayers Rock Resort, a place with a capacity of 5000 people. There are several hotels, apartments, a supermarket, a gas station and a shuttle bus going round the area. I think the apartment I’m staying at is intended for people staying a while in the area, as I have a complete kitchen available, dining room, living room, bedroom and large bathroom. Pretty impressive for a single night.