Living at the Rock

Hi Guys,

This is Nick from the Rock. What rock you may well ask.

We live at Ayres Rock in the center of Australia. Or to be more correct, Uluru, or at the little resort village of Yulara. All one and the same thing basically.

Yulara is your typical company owned town. They own and run everything accept the local bank and the Post Office. They still own them too and collect rent from them as well as the medical center, child care center and other operations that all go to make up the small community.

The community is completely self contained being a long way, 450Klms., from anywhere else which is Alice Springs, the nearest town and shopping. A five hour drive away, means we don't get there very often and have to make do with the local supermarket, which is adequate, once you get used to the higher prices. Being company owned, we do get a 10% discount there on our groceries being staff.

So by being self contained means we have our own water treatment plant. The water is pumped up from the artesian basin and is very potable. It is amusing to see tourists spending hundreds of dollars on arms full of bottled water from the supermarket when the water from the tap is just as good. Still need to drink plenty of water out here as it gets to 40 degrees and more during summer. Very hot and lots of flies and many tourists walk around with fly nets on their heads. One lady wondered off over the sand dunes here a couple of years ago without enough water or head protection. She got disorientated in the heat and they found her dead next day.

We also have our own sewerage treatment plant and electricity plant. The electricity is generated using diesel fuel and is in the process of being converted to LPG gas. All communications come through the huge radio receiving tower transmitted from tower to tower over the dessert. That gives us fairly normal telephone and TV reception but can go down sometimes in a storm.

We get an occasional storm here with extreme light shows and lots of rain, although it is fairly rare and it may only rain a couple of times a year. This means it is always dry, hot and sometimes windy. You can see the windstorms coming sometimes as the sky goes red. The sand here is a red color and you have to quickly close the windows of your house and car to stop them filling up with sand.

We see lots of tourists and that is natural because that is the only reason we are here. The average stay is only the one night but there is always at least 1000 in house so the airport is very busy. Yes, we have our own airport here with six flights a day every day with hundreds of tourists arriving and leaving. The hire car companies and bus companies are always very busy. Never seen so many buses as out here. A lot of tourists arrive in Alice Springs and start looking for the rock not realizing that it is nearly a days drive away. So they have to hire a car there or take a bus trip to get here. Consequently, Alice Springs has a big tourist industry too.

We have been here four years and haven't climbed the rock yet. Almost did on a couple of occasions but the climb was closed on those particular days. It is often closed if it is too hot or windy on top. I remember one tourist recently decided it was too hot so he took his shoes off and climbed in his bare feet. The rock looks like a huge lump of ironstone and can get pretty hot in 40 degree heat. By the time this guy reached the top the soles of his feet looked and felt like they had been barbecued so he was unable to walk anymore. They had to get a rescue chopper in to get him down.

There are some plaques at the base of the rock dedicated to a few who have died there. Some have fallen off chasing hats or dropped camera to close to the edge. One guy had a dream of climbing the rock all his life and finally managed to do it when he was sixty. Just got to the top and died of a heart attack. All this means of course that we have a dedicated and well trained team of paramedics, fire crews and rescue people who can quickly assist anyone in trouble. There are many car accidents too nearby as drivers inexperienced with the long roads and frequent animals on roads come to grief. Some of the four wheel drive roads close by too get their fair share of accidents when drivers try and go too fast for the conditions.

We do see animals here apart from the normal small beasties like nasty snakes and lizards. You will often see dingoes wandering through town looking for a tasty rubbish bin to tip over and make a mess. And driving to Alice is dangerous if attempted after dark. There are lots of camels wandering the dessert and many come to grief on the highway. With no fencing, cattle are a constant threat to safe driving and of course the kangaroos at night are everywhere. Any of those can make short work of your car if you happen to hit one. We have been very lucky so far and missed them all but to be constantly alert while driving can make it very tiring.

So why are we here at the end of the earth. The average stay by staff here is about three months so we have done pretty well at four years although we have nearly had enough and looking for a change soon. The only accommodation here is company owned of course with the rent deducted from your wages and is fairly basic but comfortable.

Well, because my wife is from the Philippines and arrived in Australia with two daughters in their twenties and none of them could drive, we needed to find employment for four all in the one place. This fitted the bill so we have been here ever since. The girls have learned a trade here and we can now move anywhere but they still don't drive. One of these days. You don't really need to drive in the Philippines as the transport system is really good and cheap. But that is another story.
Catch you soon, Nick

Hi Guys,

An interesting place alright. Come and have a look sometime, Nick

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