3 hours flight from Sydney to Ayers Rock and here I am in the red land.
Coming closer to destination we saw Uluru which looked massive even from the airplane.
After we landed I noticed that airport staff was wearing fly nets and I quickly understood why. It was incredibly many of them flying to my face and around. Tour guide Andy from Mulgas Adventures met us outside and we started the unforgettable adventure.
First of all he drove us to the main touristic spot - Ayers Rock/Uluru which is well known for being the giant monolith/ sandstone rock in Australia which stands 348 m high. It’s a sacred place to the Aboriginal people of the area and as per their wishes climbing the rock was banned few months ago.
We did 1.5 hours walk around the rock which was impressive having in mind its height and red color which is actually due to oxidation not a rock color itself. As it was around 30 degrees, we had a pleasant walk there except for thousands of annoying flies. To take a photo was quite challenging because to stand still was impossible and they appeared in almost all photos.
The last entertainment for the day was sunset viewing with a glass of champagne!
After the sun went down, we headed to our campground where we enjoyed camel burgers and were told about night adventure - sleeping outdoors in the swag under stars. Knowing the fact that there are many venomous snakes and spiders in Australia, it didn't sound exciting. Even though I was tired I managed to sleep maximum 1 hour because we were woken up at 4 am in order to be on time for the Uluru sunrise viewing.
We were the first ones to arrive there which was amazing because we had the chance to watch so many changing colors of the sky and the rock. I never knew that for the sunrise it's better to arrive at the viewing place 1 hour before that because the views are much better than at the actual sunrise time.
After meeting the sun we continued our trip at the Kata Tjuta National Park - Rim walk. Kata Tjuta in Aboriginal language means many heads due to many domed rock formations.
It took us around 2 hours to do the loop but the walk was more enjoyable than Uluru one. There were many beautiful views in the sacred place worth visiting.
After the walk we drove 3 hours to Kings Canyon. That evening we had 3 course dinner prepared on the fire - freshly baked Damper bread, kangaroo ragu with vegetables and marshmallows! Cozy chats next to the fire ended a great day. Even though some of us saw dingoes nearby, I had a perfect sleep outdoors.
Next morning we had to wake up at 4 am again in order to start the walk in Kings Canyon in the dark and to watch the sunrise at the top. The start of the walk called "Heartbreak Hill"by the locals was quite challenging and steep. With the sun rising the beauty of the gorges and canyon was revealed which was a pleasure for eyes. The walk was average difficulty but it was the most enjoyable part of the whole trip. Probably not many people heard about this national park because it is further away from Uluru but to be honest it so worth visiting that I am going to advise everyone to spend more time in the area and definitely visit this place. It's magnificent with many domes, gorges and water holes. I fell in love with this place!
But the cherry on the cake was a private campsite with no water, shower and toilet. At the beginning everyone seemed to be shocked and stressed but all of us finally agreed that it was the best camping experience that we have ever had or will in the future.
Fire, laugh, drinks and sleep under millions of stars ended the memorable adventure.
I could have never thought I was gonna say this but I loved sleeping in the swag and gazing at the stars. I wish I have done more camping trips in Australia because it is amazing!
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