Uluru 05/07/16

I was so happy when we actually got to see Uluru. It was so much bigger than I had imagined and amazing to look at. Kath and I just kept saying over and over how surreal it was and how we couldn’t believe we were actually there.

Lisa told us some of the aboriginal stories and cultural beliefs about the rock and it’s meaning. There were several ‘sacred sites’ where you couldn’t take pictures. Even though the walk is open to the public, aboriginal people ask that people respect their wishes and not climb. Looking at it, it was so steep I was not surprised when Lisa said around 36 people had died attempting it.

Lisa also told us about the belief that taking rocks from the site would cause bad karma. People regularly ship back ‘sorry rocks’ that they have taken and want to return. We did a small 1k walk at the base of the rock, which I where I really noticed how massive it was.

Whilst we were walking Lisa took us to a cave site where we saw some aboriginal art paintings. It was also the site that Wills and Kate visited when they came to Uluru.  

We had a quick look around town and then went back to our accommodation in Uluru called Outback Pioneer. To start with, we were going to have to share rooms with random people from other Topdeck groups, which none of us were really happy about. Luckily, Lisa managed to sort it for us so I ended up sharing with Kath, Emily and Jacinta. The rooms were so tiny and freezing cold.

In the evening we headed back to Uluru to watch the sunset. We had champagne, cheese and crackers whilst we watched the sun go down and took a million photos. The colours of the sunset made the rock look even more beautiful.It was so strange how time passed quickly just staring at the rock. It was incredible.

For dinner, we got to BBQ our own steaks which was fun. There was a live band playing so we ended up dancing loads and playing pool in the evening. As usual, Ricky, Lawrence, Kath, Emily and I were the last ones left so we took a compulsory duck face selfie.