ULURU / KATA TJUTA / ALICE SPRINGS 24/02/2009

I was waken up by Ruth at 4:30am. There was not too much time to get ready, but we managed to have breakfast. Then we drove to the place where we could see the beginning of the sunset, but we did not spend there too much time because then we went to another place. There were a lot of other people observing Uluru when the sun was rising. It was a great view, but the mountain did not change as much as I thought it would. Uluru was orange.

After the sunset we drove to the car park and we went on a walk around Uluru. Brave Ruth stayed on the bus sleeping and gaining energy. The walk lasted 2 hours 30 minutes. It is possible to climb Uluru, but in fact it seldom happens because Aborigines do not permit it too often. They say that it is because of the weather and heat. I think that if they do not want people to climb they should resign from this opportunity. Personally I did not want to climb. I respect Aborigines and it is great that they give this opportunity to walk around Uluru. However, there are signs asking the toursist not to take pictures in particular places because those places are sacred for them.

Walking around Uluru was great because Uluru has got many different faces and colours and looks different in many places. There are pictures on the rocks showing how Aborigines comunicated with one another.

Flies are present there all the time. I still remember taking pictures there when my hands were almost black full of flies. They live there so you must get used to them. That's it.

After finishing this fantastic walk we drove another 30 minutes to get to another Aboriginal mounatin Kata Tjuta, which is also called the Olgas. Aboriginal name Kata Tjuta means "many heads". We walked around the Valley of the Winds. It was a pleasant walk with silence all around. It is amazing because even in the Kings Canyon there were people from other trips but it felt like we were alone and we could easily commune with nature. It is great that there are still places like that.

We came back to the Ayers Rock Resort where we had a fast lunch. After the lunch we were divided into two groups. Those who stayed with Ruth went to Adelaide and those who were coming back to Alice Springs, like me, joined Ben's bus.

Ben's bus was GREAT because the air conditioning was out of order! It was so hard to imagine how to travel on the bus with such heat. Well, it was not so bad. It was not a luxurious travel, but we were able to survive:-) All windows were opened and there was wind so it was quite nice. The only problem was lack of water. I wanted something cold to drink. The only water I had was hot and I had to drink it. I was dreaming so much about cold water!!!! I was thinking only about water, but there was no water in the Outback. After two hours of drive we turned left to the petrol station. Oh my God everybody was so excited that finally we could drink something cold. I drank cold Ice Tea in one swallow. It was what I wanted. The last time I was so thirsty was in Rome when the temperature was around 40 degrees.

Coming back to the bus was not bad at all after drinking something cold. It took us another two hours to get to Alice Springs. I was a bit surprised because I thought it would last longer. I left the bus first. It was a fantastic trip and I have got so many great memories.

I LOVE OUTBACK

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