Today, we all had stuff to do before venturing further. I got a new chair, Les did an oil change (in the K-Mart carpark). The girls went shopping for some more food supplies. It turns out that today is a public holiday in the Northern Territory. So I was informed when I sat out front of the Opposite Lock shop at 0930 and the doors were shut. A bloke came along on his pushie and asked if he could help. He just happened to be coming in to catch up on some work on the day off. Anyway, he opened up and sold me a chair and gave me a good price to boot.
At around 1100, we set off for the 'rock'.
After only a lunch stop, we arrived at the Yulara Camping Ground a bit before 1700. Yulara is a resort (almost a small town) which has been established to contain the tourist inundation in a single 'caged' area within the confines of the National Park area. To get to the rock from here, you pass through a check point style gatehouse where you either show or purchase your pass. A 3 day pass costs $25 to access the Uluru / Kata Tjuta Park.
Judy and I set off to catch a glimpse of the sunset over Ayers Rock. When you approach this monolith, you get a sense of awe in it's presence. I can't help but wonder what the first human thought when they first stumbled upon this phenomenon. Its chameleon like appearance as the sun changes position in the sky is amazing. While we were there, it changed from orange to red to brown in a space of about three quarters of an hour.
Very impressive!
Links:
Google Maps reference is -25 14.167, 130 59.417
See more images at... https://picasaweb.google.com/106361511620108780730/Day3106082012
