Uluru/Ayers Rock

We made it to the center of the Australian outback, Uluru (formerly called Ayers Rock). We both had mixed feelings about going. As one guy we met put it when we asked him if it was worth seeing: "Well, it's a big f---ing rock." Several other people told us it was absolutely a must-see. So, due to these mixed reviews, and the fact that I live close to mountains and am not that impressed with big rocks, I had wondered if I would really find it that impressive. It was not what I expected, fortunately, and I am happy to report it is very worth seeing. The tourism companies put this thing on a million postcards for a reason.

Ayers Rock is known for its view at sunset, and this is what Grandma Fran was raving about. The hues change, and depending on the clouds, it turns dark red and sometimes pink. The sunset we saw did the dark red thing:





But, if it was just for the sunset we saw I might not have been as satisfied with the visit as I was. Honestly, changing color rocks are not THAT impressive. The thing about Ayers that made it so cool was how it looked upon closer inspection. This thing, this huge f'ing rock, is not shaped like anything I have ever seen before. You drive up closer to it and (tries to explain) it's scaley, and there are rib-like waves weathered into it. Furthermore, it's all one giant (10 kilometer circumference) mass of rock, so everything kind of.. runs together. From afar it looks like it's a sandstone mass like you might find in Moab, but it's not. It's not sandstone at all, and it doesn't have that same kind of vibe. It may be one of those things you just have to see for yourself, but here are some pics anyway:


Click on this for a larger version, this gives a pretty good idea of what I mean by the waviness of the rock.


A view from one of the sides. The dark lines are curves in the way the rock is shaped, the "waves".


A view from the along the trail up to the top (click for a bigger version). Notice the wavy hill on the right, that's what the entire rock looks like. The rock closer to the camera shows off the scaley aspect I mentioned.

The climb up it was intense. The first part of it you're climbing almost vertically at times, holding onto a large chain. After the chain ends you walk up and down the huge stone 'waves', following a white dotted-line of paint, until you reach the top. This is a very difficult climb (stopped multiple times on the way up to gasp for breath and drink water), but so many people from around the world consider this climb up the iconic rock the cornerstone of a visit to Australia (so my guidebook says), and the rock looked so fascinating from up close, that there was no way I was going to pass it up. Anyway, the view from the top and along the way is more than worth it.


The "chain" section of the trail up the rock (pointed at with arrows). The arrow on the bottom left shows you the tiny figure of a person about to attempt the climb, to give you an idea of scale. Our rental car on the right.


The Korean guy who beat us up took our picture. Notice the shadow in the middle right, that's a cloud's shadow over the outback plains behind us.

Oh, and a funny thing during the sunset viewing. Some little kid asked his dad, "Why didn't they move Ayers rocks over there?" and pointed to some flat area. Anyway, Ayers Rock was cool, and climbing it was the high point of the visit to Uluru. I recommend it to anyone who travels to Australia. Not seeing it would have been like going to Paris and skipping the Eiffel Tower.

After Uluru/Ayers Rock we also visited a placed called The Olgas that was, according to one of our guidebooks, "more spectacular than Uluru." It really wasn't even close, though. Just some rock that wished it was Uluru.