Date achieved:
Saturday 13th May 2017
Where?
Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory, Australia
Why is this experience on the Challenge List?
It’s always appealed to walk around the entire base of Uluru so that I can grasp the sheer size of it. When I was looking up things to do at Uluru I found that you can Segway around the base and this definitely seemed like a better idea and there was a tour guide that could help to explain everything as well which seemed to be the best way to understand the culture and significance with Uluru.
Description:
The morning after arriving, the bus picked up my auntie and myself to go and ride a segway around Uluru. Now, I had been on a segway before in New Zealand about 10 years earlier and it was mind blowing riding this machine but all I did at that stage was ride around an empty paddock. It made it slightly easier to be able to manipulate the segway when I first got onto it but it didn’t prepare me for the 4×4 wheel driving we would be doing!
When we arrived at our starting destination, we had to do a crash course of how to go forwards, backwards, stopping and how to manoeuvre around objects. Once everyone in the group (10-15 people) had finished the introduction we were able to start.
The tour guide sets the pace and it’s a gentle starting pace that allows everyone to keep up and then later picks up. The terrain is quite bumpy with random little rocks but its lucky that this segway has the four wheel drive wheels as most of the time you don’t even feel them.
The entire journey around the base of Uluru is 12km and the tour took roughly 2 and a half hours. Throughout the journey we were able to stop at many memorable places, such as; the waterhole – which if your their at the right time of the year it can look like a small waterfall, we only saw it trickling down, the face on the rock, looking briefly at the old runway from the planes and multiple areas which had Aboriginal rock art.
By the end of the trip we felt like pros on the segways but when we hoped off we all had jelly legs but it was an achievement to say that we had navigated our way around Uluru by Segway.
Would I do it again?
I think for this experience I’m really glad that I did it once but I don’t think I need to do it again around Uluru. I would encourage anyone that hasn’t done it to give it a go, it truly was amazing and an easy way to experience Uluru.
If I go back again, I would like to just walk around the base of Uluru.
Highlight:
One memorable highlight of the trip was that we got to stop at some Aboriginal rock art. Unfortunately some early tour guides used to throw buckets of water on the rock art to enhance the colours, which has resulted in the rock art now being faded.
Although it has faded being able to view this rock art at Uluru was a very special moment for me.
Cost:
We purchased the $159 tour, as it allowed us to get return lifts to and from the hotel and it came with everything that we needed.
Further information:
If your short of time or just don’t want to walk around the whole base of Uluru then is perfect for you. A professional tour guide is with you at all times pointing out the best things to look at and keeps everyone on track.
I would recommend taking sunscreen or clothing to cover yourself as you are fully exposed to the sun and lots of water too.
If your worried about not being able to ride one cause you’re too old, don’t worry about that either! About a month after this trip I got my grandmother to ride one in Singapore (she was 68 at the time), she still talks about it to this day and how much fun it was!