Owing to the hotel’s kitchens not opening till 6:30am we got a half hours sleep in today. Our first trip was a walk around the back of Uluṟu . It gives you a view of the Rock that you don’t often see and the surface has some strange eroded features that I have never seen before in photos of the Rock that I have viewed.
Our peaceful walk was rudely interrupted by a swarm of people on Segways. I mean, really! We then headed on to the Uluṟu cultural centre where they do a really nice coffee. Next we drove on to the Olgas and we were having a sandwich lunch just in the car park when we were hailed by a work colleague, and his wife, whom I had not seen for nigh on 17 years. It really is a small world. The above photo was of a tiny desert plant growing on the edge of that carpark.
After lunch we walked into the Olgas by way of Walpa Gorge. The constitution of the Olgas is very different from Uluṟu. Its rocks are made up of what is described as an amalgam of smaller stones. The guide said it was like a plum pudding and close inspection confirms that this is a pretty accurate description. It was a pretty walk but I have to say the Olgas lack the mystical pull of Uluṟu.
Our evening’s entertainment was the Field of Lights. This was put in by an English installation artist back in 2014 and has proved so popular that it has been kept going. Now I have to confess that from afar I was a bit sniffy about this whole concept. I mean when you have the magnificence of an Outback sunset over Uluru how is a lot of coloured lights going to improve on that. Well having seen it, I have to admit that this was one of the exceedingly rare instances where I was wrong.
We stood, drinks in hand, on the top of a sandhill watching the sun set over Uluru then as the last vestiges of light faded away, the field below us started to glow with patches of different colours which intensified as it got darker. When it was totally dark we walked down the hill and wandered amongst the lights. It was a magnificent experience.
Hardys’ Travels 