Well I'm going to start out mentioning, that sleeping in a swag under the stars in the outback was not the most enjoyable experience for me. I hardly slept because I could feel ants crawling all over me. I even pulled about 15 of them from my hair in the morning! Gross! Then add in our 3:30 am wakeup call, and I was a little like a zombie.
We had enough time this morning to have breakfast, or like the Aussies say "breaky", put away our sleeping bags and swags and get ready before heading out to Uluru to watch the sunrise. There were a lot of people there, but we had a decent spot to watch the rock that wasn't too crowded. I think that the sunset was a little more beautiful, but it could have just been my attitude about the whole morning.
After the sunrise, we went to do a walk around the base of Uluru. I may have mentioned it in my last post. But Uluru is one large sandstone rock formation and it is a 5.8 mile walk around the base and the highest point is 1,142 feet high. This site is very sacred to the Anangu aboriginals of the area and there were certain areas of the rock where we were not allowed to take pictures. They have separate men and women areas and even today you could be speared for not obeying those sites. Plus it is a $5,000 fine if you get caught photographing in the restricted area.
Luckily it was still pretty early in the day so we weren't too hot during our walk around the base, but you know it's only going to get hotter.
After our base walk, we had a few snacks before Juno took us on a guided Mala walk. He explained a little of the differences between the male and female aboriginals, along with some plants and the stories that they believe about the area. It was really starting to get hot now. They had even closed the climb to the top of the rock because it hit a certain temperature (there were people going up it when we arrived). The aboriginals do not hike up Uluru because it is sacred. Each aboriginal has a totem, and only the males with the Mala totem can hike to the top. There's a big sign asking you to not do it because of how sacred they believe it is. Plus, it can also be dangerous. 36 people have died doing the climb, either due to the heat or falling off because it is steep or windy. There has even been an increased lack of respect given by those at the top, like going to the bathroom, golfing, and nudity. It's just really disrespectful and I was more than ok with just doing the walk around the base.
After our walks, we went back to the campsite to have lunch and clean everything up. We had to wait a little while for Juno to get gas but we got going a little after 12 to make our way to Kings Canyon. It's a 4 hour drive so it made a good nap time. We stopped for a nice view of Mount Conner and then again at Kings Canyon Station. There was also a point where 8 wild horses were on the road and we had to wait for them to cross. We have also seen a kangaroo and I saw 3 wild Dingos.
We spent some time at Kings Canyon Resort before going up to our campsite. We were able to swim for a bit before heading back to make dinner. The stars are spectacular, but after last nights swag experience we decided to sleep in the tent tonight. We can still see the stars from where we lay.
Goodnight!
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