Uluru to Rainbow Valley Day 20 to 28

Eva is starting to grasp our itinery. “Are we going to Uluwooo?” she piped up as we left a freezing free camp at Curtain Springs. A big day of driving has taken us from SA into NT and 80km from Uluru. Lissa and I woke at 2am to the sounds of munching. She wasted no time finding and escorting our unwelcome mousey friend back out into the cold. The thermometer read minus 2 degrees. Thermometers lie.  Sir Douglas Mawson would have been shivering. It seems that we have hit a particularly cold snap with icy winds keeping things fresh. Each night there is a battle between a warm sleeping bag and a full bladder. 

My hair is getting longer and flattening out. At the moment I resemble an unkept bogan lego man or perhaps a rejected contestant from “Farmer wants a Wife”. Never mind.

Our campsite backs onto orange sand dunes which lookout to the rusty icon. The facilities don’t match the splendour of the scenery. The campsite fills and empties like old lungs as people stop just long enough to see the sights. It’s windy and clear with the cold nights keeping the flies away.

As we drive closer Uluru grows out of the sand dunes, changing shape slowly. It’s a pretty mind blowing sight from the base. A ranger takes us for a Mala walk around the base pointing out the features and cultural practices of the Mala people group. 

The indigenous owners ask people not to climb, but it is the wind that is keeping tourists off the rock today. Watching Uluru change colour as the sunset change proved to be a predictable,yet thrilling highlight.

Talking about highlights, how about camp stove Naan? Or for the sweet tooth, stove top apple pie (Naan stuffed with Sam’s Apple and Cinnamon Jam). Tops.

Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) can be seen 35 kilometres away from Uluru. The cluster of orange boulders is an equally impressive sight. Walking around the base of the rocks felt like walking on the surface of the moon.

To complete the big 3, we have parked the Trak Shak facing the sunrise over Kings Canyon. 

We tackled the 6km loop around the Canyon. After an initial climb to reach the top of the ridge, the path meandered through spectacular rocky gorges either side of the cliff edge. Eva managed the 4 hour walk with a little encouragement from Mr Lollybag. It was worth the effort.

There are many familiar faces since we joined the predictable tourist trail. One such family joined us for dinner. They are a couple of Expats from Scotland with son and daughter (9 and 4). They have planned a similar journey to ours however they are travelling light in a pop top VW. The kids have enjoyed playing with their lego rations.

As soon as the sun sets here, the dingos emerge from the bush to scavenge and steal. Shoes and meat are the favoured booty. Before leaving Kings, we joined the happy campers in the beer garden for some good old fashioned bush entertainment. An interactive mix of music, bad jokes and audience humiliation had us begging for more. Eva even joined Kael on stage at one point in the night.

On our way to Alice we cut back to the highway and across to Rainbow Valley for a sunset overlooking the striking sandstone formation. There are just enough bumps on the road to scare away the crowds. A frosty -3 degrees made for a restless night but the kids love the bush camping, Naomi especially.

Kael remains a favourite with the oldies. He’s like a little Johnny Howard. Tonight in the shower he was trumpeting away the tune of Stevie Wonders “Part time Lover”. Probably best left as an instrumental.