Driving along the Lassiter Highway the first point of interest you see is Mount Connor or Fooloroo as it’s jokingly known as you might mistake it for Uluru from a distance. On closer inspection it’s nothing like it but nevertheless it is a big red mountain rising out of the flat desert. You have to drive another 100km further on before you see the real thing. It is amazing – no photo can really do it justice and, as the light changes during the day, or you view it from another angle it looks completely different, almost like a living creature. We took one of the walks round the rim which should have been idyllic on such a perfect day with such amazing scenery but the flies put paid to any real sense of enjoyment. There were enormous numbers of them, landing on your face and body so it was necessary to walk along flapping the map continuously in front of you – my wrist was sorer than my feet by the end of the walk! Some people had gone to the lengths of purchasing fly nets to wear over your head but we decided not to go quite that far.
After the walk we headed to our hotel, The Desert Garden. All accommodation, from camping to 5 star is contained in one village, just outside the national park and run by the same company. It works very well though the prices are pretty hefty but then everything has had a long way to come – it’s over 1500 km to the nearest city in any direction! Our mid range hotel was nice though I was slightly wobbled about a note warning us about a poisonous centipede plague and to ring reception immediately if we discovered one in our room and to keep our luggage zipped up at all times. I spent the whole time looking out for centipedes. There was also the biggest spider I’ve ever seen outside a zoo sitting in a large web just outside our door so I was trying hard to enjoy the scenery and the experience despite the fear of scary creatures!
We decided, since we were probably only doing this once, that we would go the whole hog and book a helicopter sightseeing trip and we were really glad we did. Just 3 of us and the pilot took the trip and flew over the rock and also Kata Tjuta or the Olgas, which lie about 25 km to the west, giving us an incredible view of both natural wonders and the surrounding countryside. The pilot was also pointing out camels – over 700,000 live in the desert and are breeding like mad having been introduced in the 19th century. I lived in Abu Dhabi for a year so I’ve seen loads of camels! I was hoping for kangaroos but didn’t see any. After the flight we dashed for the car in order to get to the sunset viewing spot and watch as the light changed and eventually drained away from the brooding monolith.
Next morning we set off to get a closer look at Kata Tjuta which is made up of the same rock but has multiple domes (the name means ‘Many Heads’ in the local language) and is equally impressive. We were able to walk up between the domes – the Valley of the Winds, which was totally stunning (and due to the high wind fly free which makes all the difference). We had a fabulous walk with great views and a real sense of the mysticism of the place. It’s easy to see why these are sacred to the indigenous population. After our morning walking we took the drive around Ayers Rock so that we could see it from all sides, we decided against another walk due to the build up in the fly population.
Finally we headed for the airport to hand back the hire car and check in for our flight to Cairns. The charming check out lady congratulated us on having luggage which was spot on the weight allowance for economy – we’re getting pretty good at this now! The red centre was a fantastic experience and I feel enriched for having seen it though not without its challenges – just to prove my point there was an even bigger spider at the airport, though thankfully on the other side of the glass from the departure lounge!
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