The climb doesn't look too steep in the shot below but believe me it is. They have deliberately left a gap of about 50 metres at the bottom between what is know as 'Chicken Rock' and the start of the chain because they were sick of having to rescued people due to vertigo. It is the hardest going back down as it really loads your knees up. The climb you see from the base is only the start and it continues up until you get to the highest point 2/3's of the way along the top. It is very undulating with many sliding on the short steep drops into gully's along the way.
Climbing Ayres Rock and the cars like ants, ( mines first on left ).
Following the white paint to the very top and Mike Jaggers lips!
As my wife was driving away from the Rock, she was moving across to the other side of the road to miss what she thought was another dead kangaroo until it walked way and it turned out to be this 2.5 metre perentie. Chased after it to get this photo and it was pretty big and historic looking. Well I took over the driving again and seeing this was a fairly straight well maintained road in a territory that has no speed limits on the open highway, I thought I'd find out what it could do. As the photo shows I managed just over 150 km/h ( 95 mph ) which is not bad considering that I was running a 3.55 diff ratio and 31's ( and yes I had a 31 tooth Speedo gear with reads 1% under ) and pulling a full loaded trailer, full length camper pack and a car full of luggage and three people going slightly up hill into a head wind in 35*C ( 90*F ) outside temperature.
A 2.5 metre Perentie and not bad for fully loaded with trailer, roof rack, headwind and uphill!
On the way back to Alice Springs there is a little visited place called Rainbow Valley which due to the sand track in keeps the caravans and coaches out. The name comes from the many colours found in a cliff face and would make a great shot in the setting sun but for us it was unfortunately overcast. From there it was back through Alice Springs heading north again visiting places like the Devils Marbles, Katherine Gorge ( where we wanted to hire canoes to paddle through it but due to flooding were not able ), Edith Falls and my favourite stop at Mataranka Thermal Pools. This is where you hit the tropical forest from the open wood land before it for the first time and this natural hot spring is free to soak in. Off to Litchfield NP. which is popular with the locals as it is croc free under the waterfalls in the many rock holes around this very underrated place. From there it was to the top and middle of this Territory and Country in the capital city of Darwin. More of a country town with only a few souvenir shops open on a Sunday in the main mall.
Jazmyn at Rainbow Valley and a termite mound.