Uluru aka: Ayers Rock

It’s unlikely you’ll be able to climb Uluru even if you want to — the climb is closed 5/6ths of the year (whenever it’s windy or temperatures are predicted to rise over a certain heat, at which point it’s just plain life-threatening to climb).

But I’d also recommend not climbing just because you’ve been asked not to by a people who’ve got no ability to do anything BUT ask nicely, given an unfair arrangement whereby their longstanding relationship with this land was eventually recognised and ownership of this area granted, but only on the provisor that they lease it to the government long-term, which strips them of the ability to have any control over that which they legally own. It’s symptomatic of the poor way in which we’ve treated the indigenous population of this land overall, and, to me, seems symbolic of your endorsement of that treatment if you do climb.

The base walk’s recommended much more highly anyway for getting a sense of the place — there’s not a whole lot to see from the top of the rock, and what I think would be interesting to see from a high angle — the shape of the thing from above — would be better done from a plane, helicopter or balloon flight, all of which are available to do.

Seconding the warning about flies! Ohmygod, they’re bad! There’s a rock painting some thousands of years old in Kakadu, depicting an Aboriginal guy holding various items including a bird wing, used like a fan to swat the flies away; so I think we can say the fly problem’s pretty long-term! ;)

don’t climb Uluru. The Indigenous people ask you not to and you can see so much more by walking around it.

sadly, the two times we came here, we never got close,

one because it was too windy,

and another time because it was the indigenous peoples ritual day or something stupid. :C

all I did was watch the sunset slowly go down, hungry, thirsty, hot and more then ever, bored. .__.

The first time in 1988 I climbed the rock and though it was great. However coming back in 1997 it did not appear to have been a good idea any more. I instead respected the spirituality of the locals and just watched amazed…and that is what I recommend

Uluru is such a rugidly beautiful place. You must see the sunrise at Uluru, but nothing is more spectacular than the sunset! The rock changes into all sorts of shades of that infamously glowing orangey-red. The only killer out there is the flies! Heaps and heaps of them! Don’t forget to buy a flynet or you will go mad as they will never leave you alone. Good thing is they go away after dusk and come back a little after dawn