We’re currently looking over the stunning Watarrka (Kings Canyon) where we’re spending the next couple of nights. Watarrka is on the lands of the Martutjarra people, and we acknowledge their elders past, present and emerging.
After only a short drive from Uluru, we’re currently sitting up on the Luritja sunset deck at the Kings Canyon Discovery Park – a stunning view as the sun sets this evening, and we’re all writing in our travel diaries. We’ll hopefully stay here until sunset now that we’ve got a spot staked out – hard to know how busy it will get in the next hour or so.
Where we’re staying is probably as close as we’ll get to camping or caravanning for this whole trip – just a really simple lodge room in the caravan park here with 5 beds in it, and a table and chairs – that’s about it. Shared bathroom and shared kitchen. But for two nights, and with a lot of things we want to do, it’ll be perfect. And with views like what’s above, who cares!
This morning, before we left Yulara and Uluru, we jumped on some bikes and did a ride around the base of Uluṟu! Having spent the last couple of days doing a tour, and walking to a few places ourselves, spending the final day just going around the entire base of Uluṟu was a perfect way to end the time there. You’re able to ride along the same track as the base walk, but they’re very clear to highlight that it’s a walking track – not even a shared track – so walkers always get priority. But for those that have been to Uluṟu, you’ll know that the walking track around the base is wonderfully flat, so it’s perfect for just slowly riding around and enjoying it all.
We took just over two hours to complete the whole 15km. We headed off at about 8am, and with a requirement to ride anti-clockwise, that made the first half of the ride fairly brisk – the south-west side of Uluṟu was completely in shade! With nearly numb fingers we all pressed on, pausing a couple of times to look and read a bit more. There’s been so much to learn about Uluṟu and the information that Aṉangu have shared with us, and it’s been hard to remember it all – so being able to visit a couple of the sites again and re-read things was a nice opportunity.
With it all being flat, and knowing that we had two hours, it meant that we could take it at a fairly leisurely pace. The kids really enjoyed being able to get back on a bike after 6 or so weeks. Still, 15km is long, and by the end of it, we were all a bit glad to be able to get back into comfy car seats instead!
Tomorrow will be a busy day – off to do the Kings Canyon Rim Walk nice and early, and then after a bit of a break back here at the Park, we’ll head down the road where some of the local Martutjarra people run a cultural experience. We had already booked it in some months back, but recently friends who were here also headed there and said it was amazing – so we’re all really looking forward to that.
For now, I’m going to finish watching the sun set, and then we’ll head across to the bar & grill for what looks like a really nice dinner!
