Szilvia GombolaUluru
March 19th 2008 00:58
Uluru in my opinion has to be one of the most amazing natural wonders of the world. I had seen it plenty of times on TV, but I wasn’t prepared for the beauty of seeing the rock up close and watching it change colour at sunrise and sunset. Unfortunately, we only had two days there so everything was a bit rushed.
Flying into Uluru should be a tourist attraction in itself; you can see miles of red desert sand from the airplane window, and take the perfect shot of the rock from your seat.
After landing in Uluru we got off the plane to be greeted by a 40-degree hot breeze, which believe me, is a shock after arriving on a plane so cold my toes took hours to thaw. Another thing that hits you after you land is the very friendly Australian bush flies that are obsessed with landing on your mouth nose, ears and trying to crawl all over your sunglasses.
Most of the activities in Uluru are based around sunrise and sunset for several reasons. The desert sky is beautiful at these times and it is just too hot to go out during the day, especially in February when we were there.
On our first night, we went to a sunset dinner, which involves a fantastic buffet meal (try the crocodile meat) in the middle of the desert where you can watch Uluru change colours as the setting sun disappears. Soon as the sunsets the flies disappear almost immediately (it is uncanny), and you can enjoy your meal in piece. Well apart from the night creatures that knock into you and grasshoppers jumping into your wine glass. After dinner when it is dark enough to see all the stars, the real treat of the evening began. An astronomer gave a very interesting talk about the stars and pointed out the various constellations including all the zodiac signs.
After the presentation, three telescopes were set up so that we could look at some of the stars and planets a bit closer. One was set up to look at the Milky Way which of course you can see with the naked eye. The second was to look at star that looked like a white fire in the sky that changed colours, amazing! The third showed Saturn so clearly that you could actually see the rings. That was amazing, definitely the highlight of my evening!
We got back to our hotel at midnight, then we were up again at 4.40am to be picked up and taken to watch the sunrise. We had breakfast prepared for us including billy tea and dampa that is traditional aboriginal bread.
The sun rose surprisingly quickly and again the rock looked magnificent. After breakfast we headed over to see the rock close up. The guide gave us a talk about the patterns and we had a walk around. I did not climb the rock out of respect to the aboriginal people.
We went back to our hotel, submerged ourselves in the pool, and read magazines for the rest of the day because it was too hot to do anything else.
That evening checked out the sunset again this time from the back of a camel. Camels are not native to Australia, they were brought out in the 1840s to help build the railroads across Australia's harsh terrain. After they were no longer required camel farmers were instructed by the government to shoot their animals. Most couldn't bring themselves to do it so set their animals free. They adapted well to the climate and now there are around 18000 camels in the wild. A camel ride is fantastic through the desert well worth it!
Uluru is a great place to visit I highly recommend it.
Flying into Uluru should be a tourist attraction in itself; you can see miles of red desert sand from the airplane window, and take the perfect shot of the rock from your seat.
Just flying in is a tourist attraction
Most of the activities in Uluru are based around sunrise and sunset for several reasons. The desert sky is beautiful at these times and it is just too hot to go out during the day, especially in February when we were there.
sunset over uluru
After the presentation, three telescopes were set up so that we could look at some of the stars and planets a bit closer. One was set up to look at the Milky Way which of course you can see with the naked eye. The second was to look at star that looked like a white fire in the sky that changed colours, amazing! The third showed Saturn so clearly that you could actually see the rings. That was amazing, definitely the highlight of my evening!
We got back to our hotel at midnight, then we were up again at 4.40am to be picked up and taken to watch the sunrise. We had breakfast prepared for us including billy tea and dampa that is traditional aboriginal bread.
sunrise over uluru
The sun rose surprisingly quickly and again the rock looked magnificent. After breakfast we headed over to see the rock close up. The guide gave us a talk about the patterns and we had a walk around. I did not climb the rock out of respect to the aboriginal people.
We went back to our hotel, submerged ourselves in the pool, and read magazines for the rest of the day because it was too hot to do anything else.
That evening checked out the sunset again this time from the back of a camel. Camels are not native to Australia, they were brought out in the 1840s to help build the railroads across Australia's harsh terrain. After they were no longer required camel farmers were instructed by the government to shoot their animals. Most couldn't bring themselves to do it so set their animals free. They adapted well to the climate and now there are around 18000 camels in the wild. A camel ride is fantastic through the desert well worth it!
camel ride at sunset
Uluru is a great place to visit I highly recommend it.
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Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
when there are no people around, what are they landing on?
Comment by Sara Dobson
My Turn
Who knows where they land when there are no people?