Ayers Rock was discovered by William Gosse on 19 July 1873 and is named after the then Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers. At its highest point it stands at 348 metres (1,142 ft) and is a full 863 metres (2,831 ft) above sea level. If you plan to climb Ayers Rock, which is highly recommended for the spectacular views of the vast Australian interior, we suggest you wear a hat, wear shoes with plenty of grip, take lots of water, and don’t forget to slip, slop & slap.
This video (part 3 from a series of 4) provides an excellent idea of what the climb up and the view from the top of Ayers Rock is like. Part 1 shows just how difficult the initial ascent is, and part 4 shows the pinnacle – you can tell you reached the top because they put a bin there so you have somewhere to rest the tinny you brought along to celebrate – but we thought this video had the best combination of view, climbing experience, and interesting rock formations.
I look forward to taking the wife and kids up to the top one day. Given they are yet to be born and they will need to be big enough, I plan to do it some time in the mid 2020’s, because the NAP.
The rock itself, once you’re on it, looks like some kind of alien landscape. I imagine it might be something like climbing Mount Olympus on Mars, which I also hope to do one day, and I can see where the creators of No Man’s Sky got some of their ideas for their own alien landscapes.
It is probably too slippery to climb in the rain, but the waterfalls created by a downpour on Ayers Rock are pretty cool.
Finally, I think the true potential of Ayers Rock remains to this day unfulfilled. I propose something similar to the video clip of Bon Jovi’s Bed of Roses, when a Chinook helicopter had to be chartered to get a grand piano onto the top of Kings Peak, Utah.
They could hold a festival on the top, and call it Ayers ROCK Festival. It would sell itself.
It’s your XYZ.