You might recognise the name Uluru otherwise more commonly known by white settlers as Ayers Rock. It's name was changed back in 1993 to it's original Aboriginal name. (that has been used for thousands of years.)
Uluru. A large rock in the middle of Australia - so what ?
Well it is probably the most famous large rock in the world - one of the oldest - and one of the most extraordinary. It is of course a World Heritage Site.
Uluru is described as a 600 million year old sandstone monolith. (Dinosaurs roamed a mere 250 million years ago). It rises 348 meters (1142 ft) out of its flat desert surroundings. It is taller than the Eiffel Tower. It's base circumference is 9.4 km. It is an extraordinary sight.
It is a sacred place of the Anangu people and climbing Uluru was permanently banned in 2019 in deference to the Anangu.
Before I write more about Uluru I want to just mention the challenges of getting there.
If you look at a map of Australia Alice Springs is in the middle - the red hot centre. Totally isolated. Most people visit by air. Road trips into Alice are 15 to 20 hrs minimum and not without dangers. However the village that serves access to Uluru -Yulara - is a further 5 hour drive - one way.
Ayers Rock Airport was developed to what it is now in around 2010. 300000 people visit Uluru each year and the majority come via AYQ and then stay at what is known as the Ayers Rock resort. This a series of hotel and lodge accommodations (a bit incongruous in my view). However Ayers Rock Airport is not served from all Oz cities and none internationally.
Put together this means getting to Ayers Rock is not easy and you have limited choices when you get there and at a cost. I am in no doubt it is worth the effort ! See below :
One of the main characteristics of Uluru is it's red sandstone colour. The red colour is in effect rust - because the sandstone has some sort of ferrous - iron content. What is magical about Uluru is different light intensities change it's visual colour. This makes viewing Uluru at sunrise or sunset particularly attractive prospect especially as colour changes are not uniform over the surface.
So our plan - a sunset on arrival - next morning a sunrise and then a base circumference walk which is just over 10k. One thing to reference - temperature. Land heats up faster than the sea but cools faster too. Temperatures here are very high and there is no sea for thousands of miles to generate a cooling breeze. The heat stays like a hot oven. But the heat is very dry. Much different from the high humidity heat you get in the tropics. I enjoyed the heat but you have to be careful - it can quickly become dangerous for the body. Minimum intake of 5 litres of water per day is recommended. We did the base walk around Uluru but the authorities close all the paths at 11am because it is considered too hot to undertake safely.
Our sun set was memorable because it was the first I had seen Uluru. There was some low cloud that affected the sunset spectacle but the huge rock sticking out of the ground is as spectacular and surreal as you would hope. Next morning we were up very early and rewarded with the full sun rise effect including a rainbow. The pictures below give a feel but I can assure the scale and grandeur in the real is another level.
Rich and I then got up close to Uluru and followed a clear trail around the base. It is about a 10 km walk. From up close you experience the vast red walls of Uluru and feel a special sense of space and wilderness. We encountered just a few other walkers. I remember stopping for shade and to take on water - just standing there looking at Uluru and the enormity of where we were really sunk in. A special feeling. Please see the photos below.
Finally I am going to try and explain my simple understanding of how Uluru was formed and why it is there. Here goes.
Going back 6 or 700 million years ago much of Australia was under ice. A river was formed from the subsequent ice melt and eroded rocks. As the river slowed rocks were deposited but sand continued to be swept down river until the river slowed enough to deposit the sand. This was the sand that would eventually form Uluru. Later the sand was flooded by an inland sea. The weight compressed the sand to form a type of sandstone (with ferrous minerals in it) - the sandstone that formed Uluru. But here is the critical bit. Subsequent techtonic movement created uplift and the sedimentary sandstone rock with horizontal layers was turned 90 degrees. The sandstone layered rock was now vertically layered and this is what we see today. The rock is harder than it's surroundings. Of course it was once jagged but erosion by wind and rain over 500 million years has given us the smooth rounded shape we see today. A couple of amazing facts. Uluru is probably the biggest single lump of rock in the world. Scientists don't know for sure but estimates are we only see a small portion of the rock and the rock has at least 2 km and up to 6 km below ground level. The other is Uluru is being eroded and in theory getting smaller. But actually while it is erodi g the flat land surrounding it is being eroded even faster. So the net effect is Uluru is getting bigger in its landscape.
It took a lot of effort to get to Uluru but totally worth it in my view. Thank you again Rich for making it so special.
