Day 7 Erldunda to Uluru

At 11:00 am after the final 249 km I arrived in searing heat at Uluru resort camp ground. After finding a shady, grassy spot, I've erected the tent and am lying outside trying to stay cool in 37deg (5% humidity!). The Rock is closed to climbing due to heat and wind.Plan is to do a shaded walk in the Olga's.

Passed two cyclist heading west. At least today, they had wind assistance.

I have not seen any motorcycles since the 3 guys taking 3 wks to do the same trip as me.

A story from another camper:

Last night a group of three 4wd vehicles in the camp ground had a partly disassembled Suzuki dr650 dirt bike on the roof. This group had crossed the Simpson desert via the French Line (roughest track) in their 4wd, so the motorcycle on the roof seemed an odity. Turns out they had come across 3 motorcyclists from Sydney crossing the desert. The younger of 2 brothers had to be helicoptered out after suffering severe hyperthermia and convulsing. It took many hours to get help and the eventual evacuation. The 4wd travelers said it was a very tough situation to chance upon, but had heard he was stable and ok. The two others continued ahead only to break the clutch level, so then scavenged parts off the bike on the following parties roof. Simpson desert & motorcycling is a crazy, crazy recipe for a trip.

In the afternoon, I rode the 45km out to Kata Tjata (The Olga's) and did the shorter Walpa Gorge walk as the other one was closed. We had not made it out the rough dirt road in the Kombi in 1981, as I decided to turn back to preserve the vehicle for the 1000km dirt to woomera. These days it all bitumen.

After the shorter walk at the Olgas, I went to the rock sunset viewing spot and took many photos.

Dinner was cooked at the bush kitchen. Lots of nationalities cooking including a Japanese and French couple

Had a chat over dinner with Glen (on a 2009 Vstrom), his son Sean (Honda CB400) and John (new 1200cc Yamaha Super Tenere). They were on a three week trip from Melbourne and were doing a loop back down the Oodnadatta track.

The plan is to be up early for sunrise and climb the rock.