The Beauty of Uluru – Lynzi Judish

Bucket list check #661 – Ayers Rock

Yulara, Australia

My beloved Uluru, aka Ayers Rock.

Uluru is one of those huge bucket list checks you look forward to for a lifetime. It’s like seeing the Eiffel Tower or Niagara Falls. It’s a big check and it’s a damn big rock.

Before I went, I had to understand one thing: what makes this a rock and not a mountain? Well, a rock is one solid piece while mountains are made of rocks. Uluru is the largest rock monolith in the world!

So, what else makes this rock so cool aside from being, well, really fucking big? Uluru is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it’s a sacred place to the local Aborigines people, who first settled there over 10,000 years ago. If that doesn’t blow your mind, I don’t know what will. According to Wikipedia, the origin story of the rock is as follows: “Uluru was built up during the creation period by two boys who played in the mud after rain. When they had finished their game, they travelled south to Wiputa … Fighting together, the two boys made their way to the table topped Mount Conner, on top of which their bodies are preserved as boulders.” It’s also said that anyone who steals a rock from around the formation will be cursed. People have tried to contact government agencies in the area to mail rocks back because they think the curse did indeed work. There are also regions around the rock that are so sacred they are not allowed to be photographed.

What I know about the rock is that it’s really fucking cool. I mean, it’s enormous and you can see it from miles away. And the color in the sunrise or sunset is the deepest orange. It’s breathtaking! Walking around the rock was really neat to see just how large it is and to see the deep formations up close and personal.

However, my favorite thing about Uluru was the Field of Light. Artist Bruce Munro created this huge light installation in the land around Uluru and it’s one of the most breathtaking things I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m afraid my photos don’t do it justice. You really need an aerial view or something further away to get the full effect. I highly recommend Googling it to see some more images. My group got to walk through the installation at sunrise and then watch the sunrise over Uluru. It was so magical. When I say that I mean tears to your eyes magical, that’s how cool it was.

This bucket list check is probably one of my highest recommended to date because it’s literally once in a lifetime awesomeness. The only thing I might suggest (if you can afford it) is to do the camel ride and dinner with the lights via Ayers Rock Resort. We couldn’t afford anything but the tour, but if we had the money, we would have easily spent it.