Heading To Ayres Rock

[EvilDaifu]

Hi hafadude,

Thanks, those pics are intense, especially the first one showing the steepness up.

I'll look into staying on-site.

[Adam]

Just watch something like Wolf Creek while your up there Gary...

You won't get out the car again.

[harvyk]

  hafadude said:

EvilDaifu,

Yeah, that climb up Uluru is steep. I would not take kids under about 13 up there. I will try to attach a couple of my trip photos to give you an idea of what it's like. One of the shots shows the first stage of the climb and you will even see that part of it has no supporting chain so when you come down, some people skate down on their bums. Turned me off  The other shot shows how far up I already was when I took the other shot. You can also see the Olgas (Kata Juta) in the background. Piggy back? Absolutely no way even if the kids are small, unless you are Arnold the Terminator!

←

It is very steep, I'd only consider taking kids if they are happy to walk for hours on end without complaining (take them for a few hiking trips first, if they complain don't take them up the rock) and no way should piggy backs even be thought of, has hafadude has said there are some very steep parts which your going to be worried about keeping your own weight upright, last thing to need is to have the weight of someone else on your shoulders...

Also take a very good coat, whilst the stereotypical desert is oftan very hot, it can very mighty cold at the top of the rock. (It was the day I went there) I don't know exact temps but I was wearing basically the same clothes that I'd normally wear going skiing, and yet I was back to t-shirts and jeans when I got back down the bottom.

[hafadude]

Guys,

With accommodation in Alice Springs, if you want self-contained apartments, you can also try Alice on Todd apartments. I haven't stayed there but a friend who did said it was fine. Got all the gear in them, 1 or 2 bedrooms and only 5 mins from town (like anything else there!)

[cdm]

Don't end up like this guy

Mystery man

[Logsie]

Cheack out king canyon it is bueatiful ,olgas and if thinking of going to ayres rock dont worry about going on tours as it is quite well signed and if you are up for it go for a walk around the rock (about 9-10kms) but wander in from the track to the rock and you will find alot more artwork then what they show all the tourists. The olgas are bueatiful on sunset ,but you cant get right up to the spring anymore as it is protected .The Valley of Wind walk is about 5 or 6 kms if I remember right .There is also some nice walks out at Ormiston Gorge .Another drive you could go to Hermannsburg which is 124kms west of alice. Where you can see how the aboriginals were converted into the western ways also there is a famous australian aboriginal artist (Namatjira) who lived there .Here is a example of 1 of his works

Anyway here a few ideas hope you have a great trip

[Logsie]

Oh and a word of warning dont stop and help the aboriginals , as 1 will come out onto the road or be on the road and after stopping 10 or more will come over the hill nrxt to the road and rob and take your car.Dont know what the roads are like from melbourne to alice but from tennant creek down then west these are the case.

[EvilDaifu]

Hi hafadude, cdm, logsie and harvyk,

Thanks for your tips.

[hafadude]

Very happy to help out. If by some chance you get to Darwin (1-2 days drive from Alice) you can catch up with some of the T owners here. We're not too bad really You can see places like Kakadu and Katherine Gorge in the top end and its totally different to central Australia

Give us a yell if you need any more info. Otherwise have a great trip!

[Kimberley Scott]

I know you are taking your family, so you will probably not be doing constant high speeds.

I used to drive from Darwin to Melbourne in an EL XR8, I would pump the tyres up high like 44 psi the night before and then let them down to 40 PSI first thing in the morning. Everytime I did that first high spped run from Darwin to Katherine I would recheck and always my left tyres were higher by 5-6 psi than the rights. It must have been the camber on the roads.

Something to keep in the back of your mind anyway.

Enjoy

Scotty