Uluru to Alice Springs

After a couple of hours sleep I think about getting up and going down to Uluru for sunrise. But when I open the curtains I witness the strange site of bucketfuls of rain pouring down.

This not only makes the decision void but cools the air enough for me to doze another couple of hours.

When we finally fully awake the rain has stopped and there is a nice cool feel like the desert is breathing again. We head down to Uluru for a closer look, but having had little sleep and with a decent drive ahead of us to Alice Springs, we opt not to walk around the rock. The option to walk up it is not available to us due to predicted high temperatures, but I'm fairly sure I wouldn't do it anyway. The real 'owners' of the place have stated many times that they would prefer people not to; not only is it a sacred site but the local aboriginals feel a very real and very deep responsibility for the rock and anyone who ventures upon it, and people being the idiots they are, it causes distress when something happens.



Everyone has their own view about this, but I'm quite happy to respect the people who've been here for thousands of years and besides, if you climb the rock all you get is a view of the surrounding desert, whereas if you stand at the bottom you get to see the rock, which is what we came to see.