So we left Kings Canyon and headed towards Uluru and its resort town of Yulara. Yulara is the rip-off capital of Australia. Hotels in this complex are upwards of $500 a night and they can charge what they like because there is just nowhere else to stay if you want to visit Uluru. To put this in perspective, we had paid something like $80 for our hotel in the centre of Alice Springs with all mod cons. We had been reading Bill Bryson’s book about his travels in Australia and when he arrived at Yulara, there were no rooms left anywhere so he ended up driving all the way back to Alice Springs. Kaye had told us that she had booked us into a cabin at $360 per person because there was nothing else available but we had managed with the help of the Tourist Information Centre in Alice to find a 2 bedroomed cabin on a camp site for $150 for the four of us. It had a kitchen, a double bed in one room and two bunk beds in another but for that price we were lucky to get it and again, the toilet blocks and showers were clean and functioning.
Before dinner, we decided to visit “The Olgas” – a mountain range which we found quite impressive. It was about a half hour drive from Yulara and worth visiting though again, the temperature was 40 degrees and the flies as thick as pea soup. We took some photos then headed back past Uluru which we would be visiting next morning.
Everything in Yulara was expensive. Wine was $5 a glass ($28 a bottle) and beer $4 for a small bottle. We bought a few provisions and Gordon prepared dinner for us which we ate outside the cabin. We did some laundry and showered and decided to have an early night as we’d had a long day and we had to be up before sunrise in the morning. Unfortunately, we forgot to switch the cooker hood off and between that and the air-con which rattled all night, none of us got much sleep. Next morning, we were up at 5 a.m. and packed up quickly then drove to Uluru.
We had been told that the only time to see ‘the rock’ was either sunrise or sunset and sunrise this morning was at 6.30. We joined a convoy of tourist cars and buses all heading that way (we passed a wild dingo on the way there too which was quite exciting to see) and then when we arrived, we all burst out laughing. It was like a hippy scene at Stonehenge with all these people milling around gazing at the rock as if they were waiting for a mystical experience. It was cold before the sun came up – about 20 degrees – but Uluru itself is awesome. It looks exactly like the photos which everyone has seen and it changes colour as the sun hits it, hence the advice to see it at sunrise. It was definitely worth seeing but for me, the moment was spoilt by the hordes of picture-taking tourists. (Quick statistic- Uluru is 1,150 feet high, a mile and a half long, and five and a half miles around).
As soon as the sun was up, the tour buses filled up and they were all on their way again but we stayed around a bit and then decided to drive right round the rock. I thought the side away from the sun was most impressive so perhaps sunset would have suited me better but what I didn’t like were the dick-heads (mainly though not exclusively, Japanese tourists) who had decided to climb the rock, despite it being a sacred place to the indigenous people. We went then to the Cultural Centre where we had a coffee and then joined a tour ($25 each) which
was lead by an Aborigine guide, Mark, who spoke in his own language which was then translated by a young Australian guy, Ambrose. The tour took 2 hours and was very good but I found it really funny. Mark would mumble something (we decided he mumbled to stop the flies going in his mouth and he should have had a fly-hat like us! but the language sounds weird anyway as it is made up of only 2 vowels and 12 consonants)…… so he would mumble something and then Ambrose would say “Mark says…….” and then give us his version of what Mark was mumbling. Every time Mark spoke, Ambrose then went “Mark says……” and really it could have been anything. Mark could have been saying “These f***ing flies are driving me mad” and then Ambrose would say “Mark says ‘Welcome to Uluru’”. In fact, we decided that Mark understood and spoke perfect English and was probably making it all up – “Abo-scam” (why else would they have a no videotaping rule?) And that camel dung and kangaroo tail markings—all planted there before the tour! We did, however love the story of the greedy blue tongued lizard man and the crested bird man.Anyway, he gave us the history of Uluru which has been passed down verbally through the generations. Elders are respected as they have the greatest knowledge and the Aborigines have their own laws and punishments.
We were shown how to make a fire by rubbing two sticks together (but it didn’t quite work and nowadays, they use matches) and how to make glue from leaves. Then the men were given a lesson in spear- throwing and we ladies got to balance a bowl on our head. We were told about the Abo culture still practised today and about some of the punishments – men who have spears pushed through the soft parts of their legs (14 times- 7 per leg) and women who hit each other with sticks until one of them bleeds – it all sounded very far fetched but he swore it was true and apparently, once the punishment has been administered, the matter is forgotten and no grudges are held. The revenue from the tours is used to fund things like the building of schools. There is a charge of $25 per person to enter the National Park which houses Uluru and 75% of the fee goes back into maintaining the park. The remaining 25% goes to the indigenous people. Only $2 per stay (not per person or per night but per stay) in a hotel in the overpriced Yulara finds its way back to the Aborigines which is a disgrace. This was a good 2 hour tour and definitely worth the money. As soon as it was over, we got back in the car for the 800 KM - SEVEN HOUR drive back to Coober Pedy.
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