Today was a magical morning! We left the hostel at 5 am in the morning while it was still dark and drove to the Uluru sunset point. Yes, the sunset point so we could see the rock with the sun rising behind the rock and then return later for the view of the sun casting a red glow on the rock. It was so dark when we arrived I couldn’t see anything. I stepped up on what I thought was a platform, walked forward, and then ended up stumbling down hard on my ankle. A rush of pain pulsed through my body as Matt came over to check on me. It hurt so much and I wished I had just used a flashlight to see where I was walking. I decided I probably just rolled it and wouldn’t think about it.
I didn’t fully understand why we were at the rock at 5 am if the sun did not rise until 6:30 am but I soon realized it is all about the moments leading up to the sunrise. Sure enough at around 5:22, the sky behind the rock turned a dark blue color silhouetting the rock in front. The stars were still shining and it was beautiful to be able to capture the starry sky with the glow of the sunrise. No regrets waking up this early to see the magical sight.
As it neared sunrise time, a golden orange hue colored the horizon behind the rock. It was such an amazing sight to witness the sky go from pitch black to orange and slowly transition to blue. As it got lighter, we munched on breakfast bites while sipping hot chocolate for a magical morning.
Following our epic morning sunrise, we headed to Kata Tjuta National Park. Kata Tjuta is a sacred site for the Anangu and like Uluru is a rock site. For the Anangu people, it belongs to the men and is used as an initiation side for boys to become men. To preserve the sacred site, only about 25% of Kata Tjuta is accessible to visitors. Kata Tjuta is known as a conglomerate which means it is a combination of rock and mud that had formed together. It is made from sandstone and the lines going across are not completely horizontal anymore which shows that the rock is no longer in an upright position as it once was. Therefore, it is described as an iceberg where the rock is actually laying on it side in the ground and what we are seeing is just the tip of the iceberg. It actually stretches in the ground for at least 2 km. The same going for the Uluru rock and it is believed that the Uluru rock stretches at least 6 km in the ground. The red color of the rock comes from the iron content in the rock as it oxidizes and rusts. The variation in the red color depends on how long the elements have been exposed.
It was a very bright and hot day at around only 8 am in the morning. Our hike took us through up and through the rocky trails of the Kata Tjuta National Park as Steph educated us about all of the desert plants that were growing. The main shrub that was growing everywhere was actually an invasive species. It only burns at a temperature of 800 degrees Celsius which would mean that killing it would result in also killing off native wildlife that could not withstand such temperatures.
The hike was very pretty and I was surprised that we actually went for a real hike although we did stop very frequently along the way for everyone to catch their breath. The hike allowed us to see all of the ins and the outs of the sacred rock. My ankle had a dull pain on the way up climbing all the loose stones and gravel but I didn’t think too much of it until the way down. On the descent my ankle was screaming in pain. It was excruciating! In retrospect I definitely should not have done a hike on a sprained ankle but I have no clue it was sprained after just falling on it a little. I guess it was my body’s way of telling me to slow down. I was limping so badly at the end Matt agreed to carry me the rest of the way to the bus and even gave me his seat so I could rest my leg. What a real one!
Steph very nicely wrapped my ankle for me and would help me along the way when I needed it. When we arrived back at the hostel Matt carried me to my room but I knew since I couldn’t walk on my leg that I would need crutches. I called the hostel reception and they said they only had a wheelchair so I took it. I think Matt had way too much fun wheeling me around.
I had signed up for two more activities for the day - a helicopter tour and a segway tour. There was no way the segway tour was happening so I canceled that but I figured I could still do the helicopter tour.
The helicopter tour was 25 mins and was the perfect amount of time to see the Uluru rock from above and Kata Tjuda. Seeing it from above put in perspective just how big both rocks were. The Uluru rock stands 2,831 feet tall and people used to be able to climb it. There was a chain that was nailed in at the top and visitors could climb up to the top. It wore away the sandstone and was recently banned and you can still see the white line from the damage of people treading all over the rock. The Uluru rock is known as the world’s largest monolithic rock!
Being in a helicopter was much cooler than a plane. I was in the co-pilot seat and had a glass bottom view. I had such amazing views of the scenery down below! It was amazing to be able to see the topography of the land. It also allowed me to see the entire Kata Tjuta National forest. What we had hiked earlier in the morning was just a fraction of how massive the park actually is. I may not have been able to walk but I sure was able to fly!
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