Friday, June 15, 2012

Day 1 #4: Uluru Base Walk

9th June 2012
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After a welcome lunch at Yulara prepared by Megan, we drove right up to Uluru, with some great views of the rock along the way.
(3.17pm, from the bus window).

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We drove past the section where people were climbing.  Three of our group elected to do the climb.  35 people are known to have died while attempting this.
(3.25pm).

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Aerial picture of Uluru from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Uluru1_2003-11-21.jpg

I was surprised to discover that the rock is roughly triangular in shape, when I imagined it to be a neat oval.  The sandstone rock stands 348 metres above the surrounding plain, with most of its bulk lying underground, like an iceberg. It has a total circumference of 9.4 km.



The rest of us did about two kilometres of the Base Walk from Kuniya Piti in the east to Mutitjulu Waterhole in the south.  Because the sunset is so early at this time of year, this is all we had time for.

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Taking a break along the walk.

This section was mainly in shadow, which presented a different aspect of Uluru.
Along the Base Walk:
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Up close and personal – getting in “touch” with Uluru.
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Peter pointed out the shadow forming the shape of an Aboriginal man.  Can you see him?
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While making the obligatory toilet stop after our walk, we saw some tables set up for a group to have dinner while watching the sun setting over the rock.

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Not a bad view to look at while having dinner.
(5.32pm).

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Back into the bus, to go and pick up our climbers.
(5.38pm, from the bus window).

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Climbers
(5.39pm, from the bus window).

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More climbers.
We collected our climbers, who were still alive, and headed off to watch the sunset.
(5.39pm, from the bus window).

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