Uluru : we signed the pledge

The old catch phrase used by the Northern Territory has so much truth in it.

" You'll never ever know, if you never ever go."

My visit to Uluru and perhaps more so the neighboring Olgas (aka Kata Tjuta) was one of surprises and revelations.

I had no intention of walking up this huge rock, and the Aboriginal owners encourage you to sign a pledge to not walk up a sacred site.
One of the reasons, however, for the currently huge influx of visitors is that no one will be allowed to climb it after October this year. So this picture is one that by next year will be so incongruous.

As a result, full of FOMO, people are dragging toddlers up this rock face, polished smooth by thousands of tourist feet, stooping to grab a link chain guide rope that was set far too low for most adults, forgetting to bring sufficient water, sometimes being overcome by the heat and requiring rescue.

'Rescue' necessitates the aboriginal rangers to rush up the 350m high rock, requiring other climbers to halt for a while on the steep slope. Back down in the campsite, we heard folk complaining about how they were inconvenienced by those same rangers!

But what surprised me?
Those shady lush spots near a water hole at the base, the caves with paintings and physical signs of inhabitation for thousands of years. The roughness of the rock, the fertility of the desert and the immense size of both enormous rock features out of the otherwise flat plain. Walking in Kata Tjuta, was akin to walking in dry dock between two enormous ships.
The changing colours, though a cliche, were remarkable.

It was worth the drive.