Monday 19th July 2004 - Day 309/366 - Yulara, Northern Territory.

We were up in time to watch the sun rise on Uluru.  It's special, I'll give it that, when the Rock glows. 

I wasn't going to climb the rock out of respect for the aborigines, however Matt reckoned I should do it whilst it's still open.  The climb was actually closed due to strong winds so we had to do the 9.4 km base walk.  By the time we were back the climb had been opened.  We only had an hour.  The climb is far harder than I imagined.  It's a real calf buster, very steep and windy.  I don't mind admitting it was a little scarey.  The chain starts a little way up the surface and surface is all smooth so it's quite a chore to even get to the chain.  We managed to get as far as the top of the chain before the climb was closed again.  We'd only made it as far as a third of the way up the rock.

After lunch we tackled the 7.4km trip around the Valley of the Winds in the Olgas, or Kata Tjutu. 

We watched the sunset at the rock.  It's another great moment if only there were less people there to watch it.