Two for the Road

Flying in, we arrived at the most remote airport either of us has ever been to. One small runway, and a tiny terminal in the middle of the desert.

We were immediately greeted by the most punk pigeon either of us had ever seen, with a pretty cool liberty spike on it’s head. This ended up as the scariest animal we saw, a huge relief for me as I was imagining snakes, kangaroos and dingoes (oh my!). Below you can see a couple of the other birds we glimpsed in our time here.

Pretty much everone who comes here stays at the Ayres Rock Resort, a company with a bit of a monopoly on tourism to Uluru and the surrounding area. We were a little suspicious we might be in for a Disneyland type experience due to this, but the reality was quite different.

We heard on our airport transfer (which takes about 10 minutes) that the nearest town to the resort is Alice Springs, a mere 5 hour drive away. This was a lovely reminder that visitors really are a captive market.

We purchased a number of ‘experiences’ from Big Uluru. Here’s a rundown of what we got up to and our thoughts on the value:

Outback Sky Journeys

This was a stargazing experience, where a guide told us about the night sky with a mix of scientific and aboriginal explanations and stories. We loved this one and thought it was worth what we paid (about £30 each). Because we’re in such a remote location there were just SO many stars. Our photos didn’t do it justice at all, and we also got to see some dwarf galaxies and planets (Saturn and Jupiter) through a telescope which was a first for us both!

Sunrise & Segway

As we chose the hottest time of year to visit the outback (hey, at least we had a real flavour of desert life) we opted for a tour of the famous Uluru rock on ‘off road’ Segways rather than on foot. This was a good choice and other than minor dizzy spell cured by some electrolytes we made it the 12km around the base. It was a stunning ride and our guide taught us about some of the stories about the rock and its significance to the Anagnu people. This tour also included a sunrise breakfast from an Uluru viewing area where we saw the rock transition from silhouette to striking orange as the sun rose – it was a pretty unforgettable experience and we thought it was worth the £120 per person price tag.

Field of Light

An enormous art installation (the size of several football fields) designed by a British artist. It was visually stunning but it was a little one note after a few minutes. We were also hurried through by ushers towards the end of our visit who seemed keen to get home after a long shift – can’t really blame them in the 37°C heat at 11pm but it made the £25pp fee seem a little steep.

Wintjiri Wiru Twilight

This is is a drone and light show which was designed in conjuction with the Anagnu people to tell one of their tales – the Mala story. It’s about an evil spirit who came to destroy a tribe who were conducting a ceremony. Ignoring warnings, the tribe continued and the spirit arrived taking many forms, a giant dog, the trees, the rocks and the birds. It kills many of the tribe but some escape.

There were some high windspeeds when we went to the show, so sadly the drones could not fly, but we still enjoyed the light and laser show with narration at ground level. This really exceeded our expectations, and the whipping wind really added to the atmosphere. We also had a cheese hamper as part of the experience and unlimited wine which obviously we made it our mission to get out moneys worth from. At the end the staff confirmed that we’d get a partial refund since the drones didn’t fly – not sure how much we’ll get back but it’ll be a win as we felt like the experience we had was worth the £100 per person ticket price.

Didgeridoo workshop, Bushtucker talk, Gallery of Central Australia (GOCA)

On our second full day web zipped between a few FREE activities that Ayres Rock Resort offers guests. These had some charismatic presenters and we loved that we got a bit more knowledge about some Australian stereotypes.

Like most places, ultimately it’s as expensive as you make it, if you chose to dine at the restaurants every night and book every premium experience you could easily spend thousands in a few days, but really we found it pretty easy to budget here, by shopping from the supermarket, and choosing our experiences carefully!

We learnt loads about the indiginous Anagnu people and all staff sincerelly spoke about the tribe and how important they have been in shaping the approach towards tourism in the area. The key seemed to be about respect and asking visitors to take the time to understand the traditions and significance of life in the outback, from the mouths of those who have been passing down their knowledge for at least 30,000 years.

It was a truly awe inspiring visit, so a little crispy from the desert heat and with our trainers stained orange from the desert dust, we head back to Sydney and step into Christmas!

Iris