Why You Need to visit Ayers Rock, if you ever come to Australia

The mysterious Red Centre is what you imagine when you think of Australia and it has been on my To Do List since I moved here in 2011. But I put off making the trip because of how expensive it usually is to get to there.

Flights from Sydney to Ayers Rock can be between $250 - $500 each way. Locals often reason that it's cheaper to holiday outside of Australia, than to travel to the middle of it.

Nonetheless, I had a little break between jobs earlier this year and decided last minute to just go for it. I booked a quick four-day camping trip to the Outback with the Rock Tour Company.

I'm so glad I did.

It turned out to be one of the best travel experiences of my life: filled with ancient culture, incredible vistas, other worldly landscapes and unforgettable nights of sleeping under the stars.

Ayers Rock is located 335km south west of the town of Alice Springs. It is called Uluru to the Pitjantjatjara Anangu, the Aboriginal people of the area and it is sacred to them.

I arrived by flying into Ayers Rock airport, where I was picked up by the tour bus and met the strangers I would be spending the next 4 days with. It was mixed group: an older couple, an Asian family, two European backpackers and fortunately, four other girls traveling alone like me.

Our driver wasted no time in getting us straight the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park: 1,326 sq km of sacred land which holds the rock formations Uluru and Kata Tjuta.

Within a few hours, I was sweltering in 40 degree heat, looking up at the majestic infamous sandstone Ayers Rock.

Standing 348 metres high, with most of its bulk underground, Uluru felt to me like a massive breathing guardian spirit: an old but robust woman who had seen the landscape and people around her change for over 600 million years.

As I walked around the 9.4 km circumference, taking time to really take her in, Uluru surprised and captivated me. What appears to be a solid and smooth monolith from a distance and in photos, is actually a collage of cracks and fissures each filled with stories and personality of its own. I felt like I was meeting someone fascinating for the first time. Every surface seemed to hold a picture and tell a story, I saw birds, trees, rivers, snakes and characters in the rock face. It is no wonder that the traditional owners of the land, have so many stories related to Ayers Rock. They say, "No other place in Australia is so rich in mythology, song-lines and stories, or so associated with events from the Dreaming." (The Dreaming indicates a physic state in which or during which contact is made with ancestral spirits or the Law or that special period of the beginning." Mudrooroo, Aboriginal Writer.)

I was saddened to hear that visitors desecrate this revered site by insisting on climbing it. They do this despite a specific request from the local Aṉangu people for it not to be climbed because of its great spiritual significance. But still over one third of visitors climb Uluru. Just looking at the steep craggy 800 metre incline, I can see how it might tempt the daredevil tourist. But add in the stifling 40 degree heat and you have a death trap. It is certainly karmic fate that there have been at least 35 recorded deaths of those choosing their own will over honouring the wishes of the rightful owners.

As the sun set, our group retreated to a spot about two kilometres away to watch Uluru change into an evening gown. That's when she showed another side of her: watching either the sunset or the sunrise over Ayers Rock is a mystical experience. The sky becomes a silky dress of orange, blue and purple hues. It seems to dance and then drape itself around the dominating auburn rock outcrop.

After you have been mesmerised by Ayers Rock, there is still so much to see and do in the area. On day two, we hiked for four hours amidst The Olgas, the under-stated neighbour of Uluru that lies just 35 kms west. Within its 36 dome rock formations, there are many walks to be explored.

On day three, we hiked the incredible Kings Canyon for 6 hours. With its dry red rocky surfaces it seemed to me like I had stepped on Mars. But I would turn a corner and then be surprised by hidden lagoons which reminded me that I hadn't left Earth at all.

The highlight of the whole experience was definitely sleeping in a swag under the stars for two nights. Yes, I was afraid of being eaten by dingos and bitten by my imagination's pick of poisonous snakes. But when the sky turned to black and mother nature put on that spectre of a light show, I was transfixed.

At home, the hum of the city never leaves you. But out here, feeling the heartbeat of the earth against my back and hearing the singing silence of absolute stillness, I felt a little closer to God.

Once the four-day trip was over, I felt like I had only glimpsed the wonders of Australia's outback. There was so many other museums and natural attractions that I knew I missed. The stretches of desert-like terrain that touch the horizon, the sizzling hot red dirt, the sense of being in the presence of such history and mystery combine to make Ayers Rock, perhaps one of my most memorable travel experiences.

If you ever visit Australia, make sure it's ticked off your list.

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