Alice to Curtin Springs and on to Yulara and Uluru

Gertie, the Emu

Thursday 17 June headed south on the Stuart Highway; could end up in Adelaide if we continue in a straight line. Destination is Curtin Springs Station for the night. Changing scenery, red rock hills and bright orange sandy soils, dry river beds and then we entered moonscape country before the turn west on to the Lasseter Highway at Erldunda.

Mt Conner

The third of the great rock formations of the red center came into view east of Curtin Springs. Mt Conner is a spectacular stand alone massive rock and sand table top mountain, 700 million years old. Ade's poetic description of Mt. Conner, "a fortress wearing a tutu!". Down the road a way we saw a huge wedge tail eagle sitting on the side of road eating a roo carcass. A stunning sight in this desert but not able to stop the car and van at 100 kph to take a photo. Curtin Springs Station is our first free camping experience; ie. no connected water and power and we "done good". We settled in once we figured that we had correctly turned the refrigerator to gas, and I realised the microwave wasn't going to work on battery. Dry and dusty and red dirt everywhere and more sensational views at sunset of Mt. Connor with a magic pink, purple and red sky. Resident Emu we named 'Gertie' came visiting making her own unique rumbling burping sound.



Red Dirt and Sunset
Our Van - Curtin Springs Station
Friday 100 kilometres to Uluru, the big rock and I am very excited. Scenery has changed to prehistoric times; She Oak type trees with a straight trunk and weeping foliage and later on we found out that they are Desert Oaks and common in this part of Aus! Our first glimpse of Uluru, one of the worlds natural wonders, about 50 k's out of Yulara is spine tingling. Yulara is a purpose built town for campers and visitors in general, supporting the "tourism" and protecting this heritage area. A great campsite where we met Dave and Sandra from Albury and their beautiful Doberman, Gemma who so reminded us of our Xandria. It was great to have a Dobe fix again. Unhitched the van and headed out to see Uluru close up, and I wonder how do you describe this massive rock in the very center of Australia. It's more spectacular than all the photos.

Uluru

We drove around Uluru which rises 348 metres and 9.4 kilometres girth. At least two thirds of this weathered rock are under the surface. The local Anangu people regard Uluru as a sacred site and discourage visitors from climbing. The cultural centre was well worth wandering through to learn about the way of life, religion, philosophy and knowledge of the local Aboriginal people. I found their food and medicine, sourced from the native vegetation a very interesting read. Tomorrow I'm hoping to climb or partly ascend this gigantic rock.

The Climb