Day 24 - Ayers Rock

Up at 5.10am for our climb to the top of Uluru.

Ruth stayed behind, she made the choice not to climb.

At 6.45am Kevin, Glenn, Paige in her harness, Levi in the backpack and myself went on our adventure.

The first section with the railing is the hardest, once you get to the first platform you don’t realize that you are only half way. From here you followed the white lines over the undulating surfaces, passing small rock pools, grass, and flowering plants.

Great spot for a Family Pic.

Kevin was having a small heart attack when Levi decided to run!

Altogether as we reached the end we counted to 3 and touched the direction compass. We stayed for around 45mins at the top, then we started our slow descent back. This was lot harder and we soon understood how 1 person a year on average looses their life on the rock.
We got to the bottom at 10.15am.

As we drove to the cultural centre in the afternoon we saw people climbing the rock, one person was laying a few hundred feet from the bottom. At 3pm in 35 degree heat we thought they were mad, we later learnt a 40 year old man had a heart attack and died.
The rock was closed the next day in respect for him and his family.

The Cultural Centre was disappointing, we thought there would be literature of the many stories of the rock to read to the kids.

Paige loved the paintings and bush food, but there was no one to educate her on Aboriginal life.