Next day started with a painful 4am start to watch the sunrise and Uluru light up. We head to the base whilst it's still cool and take a steady 3 hours to walk around. Whilst it's still possible to climb Uluru the local Aboriginal people ask that you don't because this is a sacred site to them (many people have died in the attempt as well.) It's a beautiful walk with waterholes and some ancient paintings in caves and with the rock changing shape and contrasting with the blue sky and green gum trees by the time we're finished it's intensely hot and increasingly deserted.
A visit to the visitor's centre for medicinal ice-cream and then to learn about the significance to the Anangu people. Uluru has double world heritage listing both for cultural significance and geological significance. Geological it's a monolith (put simply) resistant to erosive processes because of lack of joint and cracks, much of its bulk is underground, like an iceberg. Its's 348m high and 9.4 km diameter, the colour comes from the iron-containing minerals having oxidised.
We have another more restful afternoon, avoiding the heat and later go to a different spot to see the sunset. It's overcast towards Kata Tjuta but at the last minute the sun appears in a spectacular manner.
No comments:
Post a Comment