So yes, I’ve now made the pilgrimage to Uluru (aka Ayer’s Rock) and I can tell you that it is absolutely amazing. I wasn’t really expecting it to be, of course. You tend to develop a bit of cynicism about these tourist attractions after driving hundreds of kilometers. But Uluru has certainly been worth the trip. Just think of a rock almost the height of the old World Trade Center towers encompassing an area around the size of lower Manhattan. I’m pretty sure, anyway. It’s a six mile / 10 kilometer hike around the thing. It dwarfs everything around it and you can’t see the top of it from the hiking trail.
There are black stains running off it where rivers of water flow when it rains (since rocks can’t absorb water). It actually struck me of being like the moon, because you can’t get away from it. It is so big, iconic, and prominent that it seems to follow you wherever you go — just like a really large full moon skirting along the horizon as you’re driving down the highway, keeping its same position as everything else scoots by you: No matter how fast you go or how many trees or buildings you pass, it’s always in the same position just looking back at you.
Driving right up to Uluru it is one of the most awe-inspiring experiences. Of course, the big show comes when the sun goes down and it lights up bright orange. That’s when everybody whips out their cameras. As tacky as this might sound, it’s lots of fun to hang around in the designated positions waiting for the right moment. It seems everyone there has a story to tell about how they got there. Being in the middle of Australia in the middle of nowhere, it’s a big trip for everyone. There is a real pilgrimage feel to the experience. Many are people who’ve spent their entire lives in Australia and were just making their first visit.
To be honest, there is another rock formation in the same national park that it even more impressive: The Olgas. The Olgas may not be as iconic or symmetrical as Uluru, but they are actually much larger and more interesting to wander around. There is a nice 3-4 hour hike around them that is really beautiful with the red sand and wildflowers in bloom at the moment.
In addition to these attractions, there is also a beautiful range of mountains running east and west of Alice Springs (a bit of a drive to the north) called the MacDonnell Ranges that are full of gorges and canyons. I spent one night camping at a beautiful gorge in the West MacDonnells before going to Uluru for a few nights, and another night camping at King’s Canyon (which I believe is Australia’s biggest canyon) afterwards.
The entire area has been freezing for camping, but I’ve been surviving just fine. I know the temperature dropping to at least 0 Celsius (32F) the first night I camped at Uluru, but it is an area that is known to drop down to -5C in winter. It’s funny because I had one last balmy night camping at Wycliffe Wells, and then the next night I was freezing in the MacDonnell Ranges.
Kings Canyon was quite spectacular, but no Grand Canyon (of course). There was a 3-4 hour rim hike that was quite interesting and grueling. Unlike the Grand Canyon, where you hike down in to it and then back out, the King’s Canyon had to be climbed first and then climbed down. I think the movie Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ended up there, but I’m not absolutely sure.
The coolest part of King’s Canyon were the little oases caught in some of the crevices of the rocks. They said there were plants there that had used to grow more widely in the area 100s of millions of years ago when the climate was vastly different in the region — but those plants have managed to survive in these pockets of water the canyon catches.
