Thu 30 Aug

Morning spent on the Anangu Mala walking tour around Uluru. The Anangu being the local Aboriginals. It was really interesting to hear about Uluru through their eyes. The temperature has gone up a few degrees in the last week or so here, and this seems to suit the flies very well. They are the same size or a little smaller than the flies at home, but the feckers are far more persistent. Couple of interesting facts, 300m or so of Uluru is visible above ground but apparently about 3000m of rock stretches below ground. The rock was actually formed from the build up of sediment at the bottom of a gorge where the gorge has obviously eroded away many years ago, and whats left is the sediment. It can up to 6 years here in the Northern Territory with no rain. They don't have the same seasons that the rest of us get, it just gets cold, then hot then very hot and they hope somewhere in between for a little bit of rain.

The Aboriginals ask that people don't climb Uluru due to its significance as a sacred place for them, and also because its a dangerous climb. They don't however forbid people from climbing. Apparently there are still around 100 visitors a day who decide to ignore this and climb anyway. I think that's bad form, but there ya go.

Went on a camel sunset tour in the early evening which was good fun. The sunset wasn't as spectaculour as last nights, but it was a bit different being on the back of a camel. Am going to drag myself up early in the morning to watch the sunrise. There's a lookout point in the grounds of my hotel, from where you can see Uluru. The sunsets have been lighting up Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) in the evenings so hopefully the surise will bring more light on to Uluru. I'll have to see in the morning.