Last winter we spent a week visiting the spiritual heart of our nation, Uluru (otherwise known as Ayers Rock). Overseas visitors were there in numbers, but I hope that it’s also on every Aussie’s bucket list. To describe it as memorable is an understatement. 

A day after we did a guided tour of the site, my dear bike-widow wife let me take off on my own for a four-hour ride around Uluru. I enjoyed it so much, that I did it again the next day but in the reverse direction.

For the $50 half-day bike hire I had a three-speed step-thru cruiser with wide soft tyres and a comfortable saddle. Simple but effective. Electric assisted bikes are unnecessary as the slow 15 km track around The Rock is perfectly flat. It’s sandy in parts, but the wide tyres make it safe and stable.

At different places the path travels away from The Rock so you can see it from a distance, then it goes close to its base. The colour and shape varies depending on which side you are riding and the angle of the sun. It is astonishing to hear that 80% of The Rock is underground and all we see Is the end part. 

It is a strange, almost over-powering feeling to ride around this magnificent cultural heritage site. You can sense the presence of centuries of inhabitants and continuous storytelling that is now being so carefully preserved by its Indigenous caretakers for the benefit of all.

 I saw only a handful of walkers on the entire path and the isolation was wonderful.

You stop often because there are so many interesting features, like this dreamtime rock pool guarded by a sheer cliff wall. The colours your see in these images are true to life; the red rock and the surrounding red earth are amazing.

Truly a memorable ride.