Ayers Rock Resort

Just so you know, you may need to click on the sunrise pictures to see any detail of the actual rocks.

I hope you can see that it is an extremely beautiful place. There is a high iron content in the soil and it is just red sand, everywhere. Since it is dry and sandy, I guess it is desert, but there is nothing deserted about it. There are trees and shrubs everywhere. The whole place is teeming with life, though it does become more obvious after the sun goes down.

People come primarily to see Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock. The rock is important in the dreamtime folklore for the local aboriginal people. There is another large rock formation nearby, Kata Tjuta, also know as the Olgas, but really, people come for Uluru. Because of this, there is an airport and a resort and tour companies and buses, all of the local industry focused on that tourism.

The two formations are part of a national park, but everything tends to revolve around the resort. Even the locals who work in the area frequent the restaurants and bars of the resort. There are a few things that the resort does well. For one thing, there is a free transfer between the airport and the resort, and there is also a complimentary shuttle between the various areas of the resort (there are five different accommodation options, plus a shopping area), the camel farm, and the park. Different tour groups pick up at the resort, so while you are there transportation is not an issue.

The downside is that everything is very expensive. Of course, everything has to be brought in from miles away, so that accounts for some of it, but the lodging prices are pretty bad, maybe running about triple the price of what you would pay for equivalent lodgings elsewhere. Oddly, the food prices are where I would have expected to be gouged more, and they weren't as much higher, proportionally. We tended to find food and beverage prices pretty expensive anyway throughout the entire trip.

So, if you can pack some non-perishable sealed foods when you go, it can be a good thing. Fortunately, you can see everything in a relatively short period of time. And you definitely should go. It is beautiful. You probably just don't need to spend very long there.

We stayed at the Outback Pioneer Lodge (the only one cheaper than camping). You can reserve individual bunks in rooms of twenty or four, with restrooms similar to what you would have at a campground. If you don't mind hostel living, that should work for you. We ended up with a private room, which was four bunks and our own bathroom. It was better than the bunks, but still not great. However, Outback Pioneer is entertainment central if you want live music or something, and they do have one of the most interesting restaurants.

At the Pioneer BBQ and Bar, you can purchase meat and grill it yourself. That is somewhat innovative, but it is really the meat selection where they stand out. In addition to your normal beef and chicken, you can also purchase kangaroo, crocodile, emu, or barramundi.

We never ate there. Julie was always worried that various things were going to make her sick, with Maria not being much better. I am a bit more adventurous, but I have my limits. If there had been a buffet where you could try the different items cooked by someone who knew what they were doing, I would have tried them all. As it was, food was too expensive to risk blowing your budget one something you wouldn't be able to finish. Also, everyone warns you that if you overcook kangaroo it gets really tough, and as a first-timer I would be almost guaranteed to overcook it.

I will say, we found mixed views on eating the native wildlife. Some people would point out that kangaroo meat is much healthier, with no cholesterol, and it controls the population, all of which is true. At the same time, others who admitted the point about cholesterol would admit that they still couldn't bring themselves to eat "Skippy". Oddly, I think all the ones for eating kangaroo were men, and against were women, but we didn't poll everyone.

For tours, you can book through the Voyages site, but you may find some crucial information missing. We had an issue with this where we had planned on going on a camel tour and it did not work out. You may wish to look up the actual tour provider and try and get more information through them.

You will see a broad selection of sunrise and sunset tours, because that is how people really like to see the rock. We did not book one of these, and I was glad later upon talking to some people on our Mt. Conner tour (next entry), because they said it was pretty but you were with 2000 other people jostling for position. However, this is one thing that was great about the Outback Pioneer Lodge. There was a lookout in the middle of that area of the resort, so I decided to try it.

The day were were leaving (we only stayed two nights), I got up in the dark, pulled on some clothes, and grabbed my camera. Julie and Maria each took turns waking up, telling me not to do anything stupid, and then falling back asleep. (It's not exactly synchronized nagging because they were at different times and neither heard the other one.)

I headed up the path, and with a very short climb I had an excellent view of both Uluru and Kata Tjuta. The only sound was birdsong. Eventually another couple joined me, followed by one lone man, but we didn't disturb each other so we were able to watch the sunrise in peace. Sure, if everyone starts doing it that won't be any good either, and I don't know if the other areas have similar views, but it's worth a shot.

http://www.ayersrockresort.com.au/
http://www.environment.gov.au/parks/uluru/index.html