Since 1993 Australia has used Dual Naming for a number of locations. So sites are for me confusingly named both by their Aboriginal as well as the European name. Ayers Rock had been generally the more common name in the UK rather than Uluru. The official name is the cumbersome, combined name of Uluru / Ayers Rock.

Left a photo of Uluru from the plane.

If you visit the Red Centre you have to be prepared for early starts. This time it was a 05:30 pick up to see dawn over Ayers Rock. An al-fresco breakfast seeing the changing colours of the rock was enjoyable, if rather crowded.

We opted for a full circular walk round Ayers Rock, 10 Km, starting at 08:00 & finishing at noon to avoid the main heat of the day. We had a very knowledgeable guide who explained the various different areas round the rock. In the sacred areas we were asked to not take photographs.

Close up to the rock it is easy to get a sense of scale, but difficult to take photographs to really reflect this.

Start of Climbing Route

Climbing the Rock is now actively discouraged supposedly on health & Safety grounds but in reality in deference to Aboriginal sensitivities. Though there have been 35 deaths on the Rock, most have been from heart attacks. The climb is closed when the forecast temperature is 36 degrees Celsius (or higher), which means in effect, most days of the year.

An amusing anecdote was told about the chain link hand rail to help climbers up the slippery rock face. A local farmer was paid to make it, who when he asked the officials how high it was meant to be was told “waist high”. Unfortunately the farmer was particularly short so most climbers now find the chain to be uncomfortably low.

The company we used for the various excursions we took in the Red Centre was, I believe, the largest one in Australia, AAT Kings I was very pleased with the tours and would certainly recommend them. The only slight quibble was that all our guides were “white” Australians and we never got to meet any indigenous Aborigines. I got the idea that the tour company may have had problems in the past with the reliability of Aborigines, as they will at no notice go off to religious ceremonies.

In the evening we returned for the Sounds of Silence Dinner. Frankly a bit of a let down. The only interesting dish in the help-yourself buffet was Kangaroo. Also being overcast, the astronomer’s night sky talk was less than riveting. You can’t win them all.

Below the inevitable Didgeridoo player.