Alice springs.......or ayers rock

My main reason for traveling to Australia, despite the fact that I love it here, was to see some of the geological wonders that Ayers rock has to offer. My hopes had risen up and down at the many different options presented to get to Ayers rock. There was the train, the bus, and of course the joys of renting a car. I was disappointed to learn that I would not be able to fly in to Ayers rock directly, but was happy to find that I could take a three-day tour from Alice Springs. I booked my flight there and then booked a week at a hostel for the low price of 100 NZ dollars. My departure was an event itself. I was persuaded by someone from Wales to come out with the group after I dismantled him in table tennis and proved once and for all that the UK was a shade worse than the US at best. I had a 7 am shuttle to catch and irresponsibly took on these plans. I got lost on my way home and spent at least an hour wandering in the wrong direction, if you know Dad ask him about his LSU football game and compare to that. I was quite surprised and still a little out of it when I woke up at 6:15 am. I packed as quickly as possible and jetted downstairs to catch the shuttle in time. I went to check in at the self-check kiosk and was denied when I chose my destination, this should have been my first clue something was wrong. I proceeded to check in with a human and when I told him my destination, Alice Springs, he looked at the ticket funny and just handed it to me and told me what gate to get to. I, in my haste to pack, forgot that I had my cutlery in my carry on bag and was held at security and questioned about the nature of the knife. After we cleared up the fact that I was an idiot I opted to throw the knife away. I got on the plane and to my joy realized that I had the whole isle to myself! Thank you hangover gods. I sprawled out and fell back asleep only to be woken up for tea. I looked out the window and took in the amazing sites that belong to the nothingness of the Australian outback. I then saw the familiar shape of Uluru in the distance and then realized we were headed down for a landing. Now I need to set this up. Alice Springs is at least 300 km away from Ayers Rock, home to Uluru, and even though I’m not an aeronautical genius, I knew something was wrong. We landed at the Ayers Rock airport and I thought, shit, I have done something wrong. I went inside and checked on my itinerary and sure enough I had booked into what was previously known as a non-existent airport. This of course makes my hostel booking in Alice Springs worthless and the travel agency claims no responsibility for the mishap of booking me into a hostel 150 miles from where I was flying. I caught the free shuttle into town and booked into the Ayers rock resort, at 36 AD a night, and toured around the resort. This town is in the middle of now where and during peak season is the fifth largest city in the Northern Territory with 7500 people. 90 percent being tourists and the other 10 percent resort workers. The first thing you notice in Ayers rock is that it is entirely flat and that there are an infinite amount of flies bombarding you. So bad the flies are that you must wear a facemask, continuously slap yourself, or suck it up and eat the flies, my face is sore and red. I booked my tour and then hopped on the couch for a quick nap. Around 6 pm I set out to see the rock from 20km out and catch it at sunset. The clouds were minimal and the colors of the rock would amaze anyone who wasn’t blind. I went to bed early and woke up at 4 am to catch my sunrise tour and guided walks. The sunrise was phenomenal and we arrived just in time, hundreds of people showed up moments after us to crowd the viewing area. After the sun rose we went on a guided 2 ½ hour walk, us being my tour group. Uluru is a sacred aboriginal spot where many rituals take place. So sacred is the spot that there are actually places that you cannot photograph as per the requests of the Aborigines. We started the walk at one of the sacred spots and heard the stories that were associated with them. It is amazing to hear the stories then look at the features of the rock, they mesh perfectly to almost a spooky degree. The walk took us around the outside of Uluru and along the way we learned more about the Aboriginal stories surrounding it. I was excited to start taking pictures and after my first one my camera died. I told someone around me in hopes that they may offer to let me upload their pictures after the tour and was met by a, “that blows”. Thank you American assholedness and thank you San Francisco for breeding them, that’s where he was from no shots at the family. I managed to take 40 pictures by turning my camera on, pushing the button, and then shutting it off instantly. I wish I could have taken 1000 pictures because the rock was so awesome. There is something truly amazing about this rock that is unexplainable but so easy to feel while you are there. Tomorrow I am taking a tour of the Olgas, a more broken up rock formation that is equally as fascinating, and then Friday I am doing a sunset tour to see Uluru from another angle as the sun drops behind it. Although I had a few mishaps on the way here and essentially pissed away 100 bucks I cannot think of another place I would want to be than here. Well, Ok I can think of thousands but I would like to feel culturally sound right now. The day was long, the heat was unreal, and the flies are God awful but the culture around here makes this trek all worth it. I will be uploading pictures, the ones I managed to take, in the upcoming days and hope this update finds you doing well. Until next time!