Half-lap Day 21: Uluru -> Kings Canyon

When I woke up I heard dingoes howling from various spots around the campground. Later in the morning as we were getting ready to leave we heard a howl and then saw a dingo at the base of the sand dunes right near us. There was much excitement all round and he disappeared into the bushes before anyone could get a photo.

We packed up, which was a pretty big job after 4 days, and were ready to leave by 11. We waved goodbye to Uluru and set off back East. We stopped at Curtin Springs to get fuel and the kids and wandered around to see the emu (1 emu by himself, standing in his little food shelter and looking like he wanted to escape) and the native bird aviary (lots of budgies and other colourful birds). We continued the drive east and then turned to go up to Kings Canyon. We arrived at Kings Canyon resort around 2pm, after watching the ranges rise up from the flat ground for a while before we arrived.

The unpowered area was unassigned, so we looked around for a bit and found a spot near the fence with a partial view across to the ranges. There were ant holes everywhere, but they didn’t ever bother us. We camped next to a couple that Caitlin had met a few times (at Marla and at Uluru) so chatted to them on and off. While we were setting up a dingo wandered over to check us out – the first of many. The dingoes wander the campground constantly, and keeping food away from them is quite tricky. They aren’t aggressive, and they aren’t scared. The information around the park says not to chase them or lunge at them – it’s hard to know what to do when they are trying to steal things off our table.

Once we were set up I took the kids to the pool for a swim while Tony checked out the general store. Milk was $3 for 1L of UHT and the white bread was $5.50, meat was very expensive so we decided to use our current supplies of food while we were here. As we were getting ready to go Millie and I had a collision through the tent door (we both went to open it at once, from either side, and her hand collided with my ear, and as I stood up in pain my elbow collected her chin). I quickly opened the door and scooped her out of the tent, and as I crouched down to cuddle her and make sure she was ok, my pants split, from just above the knee to half way up my leg! I had a brief swim – the water was not quite as cold as at Yulara, still pretty cold though. A couple of other kids came to swim as well, a 14 year old boy and 6 year old girl. Caitlin and LiAM swam and played with the boy for ages, Millie and the girl played on the grass near the pool and in the playground. They were very similar and got on really well. The mum came over and we chatted for a while, and the girls went back to Millie’s friend’s caravan to do some drawing. After the swim everyone had a shower and Millie talked a bit more to her friend. We sat at the tent doing puzzles and reading and enjoying some quiet time.

I went up to the sunset viewing platform with LiAM – it was too cloudy for an impressive sunset, but we did chat to our friends from the sunrise platform at Yulara. There was a drinks bar at the viewing platform and LiAM was briefly excited – it was $5 for a can of soft drink, and between $9 and $11 for a beer, so we decided to leave those drinks where they were.

Caitlin was sitting and reading at the table before dinner and looked up to see a dingo standing on the table – gave her a bit of a shock! Millie and I met one in the dark as we walked between 2 caravans – it seemed a bit scared of us and we were a little nervous too, we edged past each other without incident, it was the first time I’d seen one that wasn’t fully confident. We had tuna and rice for dinner and then packed up our tubs so that nothing was exposed for the dingoes. We put stuff in the trailer or tent and stacked the rest. I sewed up my pants, and Caitlin’s leggings which had also split along the leg seam that day. LiAM left his window open so that he could see if any dingoes came – and just after I’d finished reading he saw a dingo climb up to the top of our stack of tubs and knocked the two lighter ones off the top. We scared him off before he took anything, and put more stuff in the tent and trailer and made sure that everything that was left was very securely fastened.

Half-lap Day 20: Uluru

Everyone woke up really early – I could hear dogs barking which I thought was strange, I hadn’t heard that here before, and by 6am all of us were awake and chatting which is very unusual. Later when I heard about the earthquake (6.1 on the Richter Scale, at 4am this morning, a few hundred kilometres from here) I wondered if that is what had disturbed us (and the dogs). None of us felt the quake, but the energy in the air and ground would have been different afterwards and animals would have been behaving differently.

LiAM and I went back up to the main campground lookout to see the sunrise, this time the rock turned pink and then lit up as the sun came over the horizon. Tony and the girls watched it from a sand dune near where we are camped. Once again it was so quiet up there, after the sun had risen though there was much talk of the earthquake. I saw my friend from the day before and we talked a bit more about the walk around Uluru and our plans for the day.

We had breakfast, played cards and got Tony and Caitlin ready to go for a bike ride around Uluru. Caitlin met another girl a little younger than her and spent time chatting with her about horses and travelling. Tony and Caitlin headed off with their bikes around 10am, LiAM and Millie played on the iPad in the tent, and I did some dishes and tidied up the campsite a bit.

The bike ride was much easier than the walk and they both really enjoyed it. They said it was the easiest ride they’ve done so far, and the long bit of the walk didn’t seem anywhere near as long on the bikes. When they finished they let us know, and we got ready and caught the shuttle bus (we just missed one by about 30 seconds so waited 15 minutes for the next one) to the camel farm where we met the others. We wandered around and looked at the many many camels in their pens, then the kids asked if they could do a short camel ride. They were happy to go on their own, so the three of them rode in a camel train around a big yard, with Uluru in the background. They seemed nervous but excited, and they all really enjoyed it.

Once they were off and said goodbye to their camels we looked at the baby camels (so cute!) and then bought some food to feed some of the other animals – kangaroos (who stayed up the back of the pen and weren’t interested), ducks (who were very keen), an emu (who pecked the food right out of our hands and was quite terrifying until we got used to him – I spilled my entire first handful when I screamed (a little) and pulled away as he pecked at my hand – but I tried again and we found it was easier if we just had a few pellets and he was good at just picking them up one at a time, if we had a whole handful he’d try and get it all at once and that was scary. LiAM’s hand got pinched a little by his beak, but he tried again and it was all part of the experience) and a water buffalo (who really really loved the food and kept putting his head over the fence towards anyone who looked like they might feed him – he used his long bluish tongue to lick the food from our hands, so we all ended up feeling rather slobbery. So cool to feed and pat him though and have a really good look at his horns – they looked like metal, but are made of hair).

Our food was eventually all gone and we went back to the gift shop. Millie bought a plush camel, and the others bought magnets or keyrings of the camel they had ridden. I bought a tub of natural fly repellant, the staff said it was incredible and I’d heard other people talk about it too – it did make a different, the flies still buzz around but don’t land and stay on our faces.

We eventually said goodbye to the camels and went back home for some lunch. We had eggs and baked beans and spaghetti, while Tony watched the football and Caitlin talked to her new friend, and then I took the kids for a swim. It was nice to swim on a warm day, although the water was still freezing. We didn’t swim for long as we wanted to head out to Kata Tjuta and needed to be there well before sunset.

We quickly got ready and drove out to Kata Tjuta – about 50km. It was cool to see it up close after seeing it on the horizon for the last several days. I’d forgotten how many different rock formations it is, and it’s so much more impressive up close than from a distance! We drove to the Valley of the Winds and did the short walk to the first lookout. I had a little dummy spit on the way as I felt like everyone was complaining every time we walked anywhere and it was spoiling my walk and I wanted them to enjoy it as well… I was quite embarrassed afterwards, I really had wanted to avoid doing that, I don’t want the kids to feel they HAVE to do something just because it’s what I want to do. Everyone decided to keep walking and we talked about it a bit, the kids said that they aren’t complaining so that we will stop walking, it just helps them feel better when they are tired, and they are usually happy to be there. I was really embarrassed then because that’s usually how I feel when I’m walking too ‘why am I doing this, it’s too hard’ and then feel great when I stop to rest and look at where I am or reach my destination or whatever. So we all felt a bit better afterwards and I promised I won’t try and fix things if they talk about how hard the walk is.

The lookout was nice, I’m glad we made it. A view further in to the Valley of the Winds, and a pretty view back the way we’d came. With the blue sky the red rock looked so vibrant, especially with the late afternoon sun. As we walked back to the car, the sun on the rock changed so much, into a very brilliant red, as it sank behind a nearby hill and perhaps a few clouds. We thought that was the sunset, and it was quite beautiful, then looked at the time and realised there was still 8 minutes until the sun actually disappeared. We jumped in the car and zoomed around to the sunset viewing area and were there in time to see the last rays of sun on Kata Tjuta, even more impressive with the wider panaroma from being slightly further away.

We had decided to eat there before driving back, so made sandwiches and hot chocolates and ate at the picnic table. While we were eating the moon rose from behind the rocks – it was almost dark by now so it looked amazing, this bright light silhouetting the rocks from behind. We took a few extra minutes to soak up the sight, then packed up and headed back towards Yulara. The national park closes at 7.30pm at the moment, and we passed through the exit at 7.27. Heaps of time.

A very quiet night back at camp, Millie played with her camel (who had been having a nap all afternoon), Caitlin talked to a friend on the phone and LiAM played on the iPad. We were in bed as quickly as we could be and I read until I was falling asleep.

Half-lap Day 19: Uluru

I had been worried that I’d be grumpy for the whole time we were at Uluru, but when I woke up the next morning I felt much better and excited to be here. I was up well before sunrise, so I wandered up to the lookout at the campground (I couldn’t find the path in the dark, so went over the sand dune for a little way until I hit the path). It was a cloudy morning, and the sky to the east was soon glowing red, so brightly it looked like it was on fire. Uluru looked pretty cool slowly emerging from the dark, and the sunlight on Kata Tjuta was impressive. There were about 20 people at the lookout, and everyone was completely silent, it was pretty cool. We watched the sky in it’s various stages of red – once the sun hit the horizon though it was completely behind the clouds, so there was no lighting up of Uluru, the sky was suddenly grey and uniform. Still a spectacular morning though.

I started chatting to another lady up there, we compared cameras then talked about our trip and our kids, she also has a Caitlin, about a year younger than mine. When we compared itineraries they were remarkably similar for the next few days.

Back down to the tent where I pottered around and everyone gradually emerged from bed. LiAM and Millie and I played cards for a while. We took our time getting ready, and headed over to Uluru around 10.30. Our plan was to do the base walk around Uluru, and we were pleased it was cloudy and quite a bit cooler than the previous couple of days. Being right up close to Uluru was impressive as always – it is SO big and it constantly surprises me, I think my brain can’t comprehend its size and so shrinks it a bit in my memory. We started at the Mala parking area and walked to the right – I wanted to make sure we at least got as far as the Mutjilipu waterhole, so we went the direction that would get us there the quickest.

At some places the rock was almost sheer – looking up to the top was incredible. In others there were folds or caves in the rock, it kept changing constantly and, where it is permitted, I took loads of photos. Some areas are culturally sensitive and it is requested that no one takes photos there – because the place is part of the story and belief of the local people, it is supposed to only be viewed in it’s actual location. I enjoyed looking at those parts too, and imagining the generations of people using these areas for their ceremonies and learning. We ran in to the lady I’d met in the morning, and met each other’s families and had a bit of a chat.

The first third or so of the walk was through trees, it was quite green on that side. The waterhole was very cool, there was still a trickle of water running in to it. We saw water in one other place and the rest was dry. We saw lots of different types of ants, and several bugs – there really haven’t been a lot of animals around in this region, compared to other places we’ve been. LiAM saw a kangaroo. The last 2 thirds of the walk was mainly further away from the rock – so we got a longer perspective of the view, which Tony preferred, while I preferred the bit where we were close up and could see lots of detail. The middle third of the walk seemed to take forever – we could see features on the rock which didn’t seem to get any closer for a very long time, and for some of it we were more exposed to the sun, which was occasionally peeking through the clouds. Tony gave piggy backs to each of the kids at different times which helped them get a bit further. After a while Caitlin offered to carry Millie in the sling, so we set them up and Caitlin walked a long way with Millie on her back, we were all quite impressed.

This side of Uluru was less green but had different flowers – lots of banksias on this side. We played games to pass the time – first person to see an ant (easy), first person to get a fly on their face (also easy – except for Caitlin who was wearing her fly net), first person to see a bird – less easy. Right near the end of the walk we went back close to the rock and were able to go in a little cave and see more of the folds. There was a short walk to a gorge but everyone was just keen to get back to the car so we skipped that.

Back at the car we sat on the ground for a while and recovered our energy. The walk was 10.6km and we did it in about 5 hours, so a huge effort all around. It was only 90 minutes until sunset so we decided to stay and watch that. We popped in to the cultural centre and bought a couple of pieces of cake to share, then drove to the sunset viewing area. We ate the cake in the car, then Tony made us all hot drinks while we waited for the sun to set.

There was blue sky behind the rock but it was cloudy in the west, so there wasn’t direct sunlight on Uluru. It still looked so amazing though, rising up out of the desert by itself. About 20 minutes before the sun set, it broke through the clouds briefly and Uluru was lit up by a brilliant orange light. It only lasted a minute or two, then the sun slipped behind clouds again, and it was amazing. Very exciting to see. The sunset itself was again a bit of a fizzer as the usual gradual colour change didn’t happen, although we could see a bit of a change as the light dropped. The moon rose behind Uluru shortly after the sun set, which was cool to see.

Back to camp and we were all exhausted. I went to have a shower and Tony was going to cook some chicken that I’d bought at a greatly reduced price that afternoon – when he opened it, it didn’t smell great so we ditched that idea and had soup and noodles for dinner instead. Once we’d eaten we were fairly quickly in to bed and read for a very short time.

Half-lap Day 18: Uluru

I was up at 5.30 and some of the other campers were already leaving. The rest of the family got up at 6 and quickly ate some breakfast, I made tea and coffee for Tony and I and we were in the car by just after 6.30. The sky was beginning to lighten as we started to drive. Approaching Uluru, it was a black silhouette against the slightly orange background of the eastern sky – very very impressive. We bought our National Parks pass on the way (and were given an information sheet in German – could be handy if we want to learn some German on our trip) and kept driving around to the sunrise viewing area at Talinguru Nyakunytjuta (I might need to check the spelling of that!), watching the changing light on Uluru as we went.

There were already a lot of people there but the sun was still below the horizon. Uluru was quite visible now, still a dark brown mass rising out of the ground. We walked up to the main viewing platform but there were too many people there for me and the kids so we moved back down to one of the lower areas. It was exciting to watch the sunlight slowly hit different bits of the rock, and gradually light up the face of it. We could also see Kata Tjuta from here and they were lit with sunlight earlier than Uluru, quite impressive from a distance. While the sun was rising some of us noticed a kestrel fly into a nearby tree. Another, smaller bird (who may have had a nest in the tree) starting scolding the kestrel loudly. As we watched she moved closer and closer to the big bird, sounding warning calls the whole time, and eventually she started dive bombing the kestrel. It held it’s ground for a while (it seemed to just be ignoring the smaller bird) but eventually had enough and flew away, being chased for some time by the smaller bird, who kept diving at it the whole way – into another tree and down near the ground and eventually across the plains until the small bird was happy it was far enough away from her tree.

LiAM is happy that we gave him his birthday present early - he was very keen to get a photo of Uluru (or in this case, a photo of me taking a photo of Uluru...)

The kids and I wandered along the paths and watched the changing light from several different view points. The one we ended up at seemed to have the best view, on ground level, straight across to the rock. Many of the other vantage points had trees in our line of sight – which didn’t detract from how amazing the sunrise was. We eventually wandered back up to where Tony was, and found him chatting to a guy who used to supply presses to De Bortoli. Nearly everyone we’ve spoken to has lived near somewhere we used to live, or near some of our family, or works somewhere we’ve had something to do with… There’s always a connection.

Back at the carpark we were happy to find flush toilets – my worst ever toilet experience was a Uluru in 1997, so it was a relief to see that the toilets have been upgraded quite a bit since then! Once we’d used the facilities we drove all the way around Uluru – so amazing to see it from so many different angles. I’d forgotten how wriggly the outline is, I tend to think of it as just being a big oval. We stopped near the place where people can climb it (the climb was closed and we had no intention of climbing anyway) so the kids could get close to it. Then we popped around to the cultural centre as LiAM wanted to get a souvenir.

Caitlin and I spent quite a bit of time in the art gallery, watching two indigenous women painting – one woman was working on a dot painting that I loved more than anything else I’d seen in the gallery. I would have loved to buy it – someone else had already said they wanted, and it was a little out of my price range anyway. I could have stayed there all day watching them work. LiAM bought a little Uluru snow globe, and Millie bought a note book with a dot painting on the front, and Caitlin a scrunchie with a dot pattern on it. Tony bought an Uluru tea towel – we figure tea towels are handy and practical souvenirs! LiAM was eyeing off the cakes at the café – they were $6 a piece so I said we could buy a whole cake to share from the IGA later and it would probably be cheaper. He was happy to wait.

Back to the campground where I waited in line to find out the details of our new site. It was a good sized site (I’d been worried, some of the sites here are really narrow, and we wouldn’t be able to put our awing up), right near a toilet block, and with shade. We had a bit more to eat back at our tent, then started to do a weird sort of pack up – we put things away where we could, and shoved a heap of stuff in the car – it still took a while and it was a little frustrating to have to pack up so much to move such a short distance – but we needed to put the tent all the way down to move it. We didn’t put the cover on though, just piled everything on top of the folded tent and tied it down for the short drive. Tony and Caitlin had already ridden their bikes over and Caitlin helped Millie ride hers.

Setting up was also a bit of a pain since we normally have a break in between putting the tent down and back up again and we weren’t really in the mood. I hadn’t really eaten enough and I think the busyness of the last couple of weeks was catching up with me and I was rather grumpy. Everyone seemed tired so we decided to simply spend the rest of the day at the campground rather than going out for more sight seeing – sometimes we need to rest! We got everything set up and had some lunch, and I eventually got our washing hung out to dry. LiAM and I went to the IGA to get milk and cake and a few other supplies, which picked up everyone’s mood a little. After lunch Tony took the kids to have a swim and I stayed at the tent, catching up on some banking and email and so on, and enjoying the down time.

The kids came back and had showers and we had pizza rolls for tea (tomato paste, ham, kabana, cheese and pineapple wrapped up in flat bread and cooked in the fry pan). Not quite pizza but the closest we could get with the equipment we had! Everyone was exhausted, LiAM went to bed and listened to music before the rest of us wandered in and we read Brisingr for a very short time before people started falling asleep.