By Sid Astbury, DPA/Yulara, Australia
Britain’s royal Windsor family seem to like visiting the big red rock in the centre of Australia. Queen Elizabeth was at Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock, in 2002 and Prince Charles was last there in 2005.
But the third in line to the throne appears to be planning to go one better, not just spending a couple of hours for a photo opportunity at the rock but staying the night within sight of it.
The betting is that the duke and duchess of Cambridge will stay at Longitude 131, a super-luxury campsite that offers the nearest bookable beds.
It is the only suitable accommodation at Yulara, the closest settlement to the site, and all 15 of its tents were booked months ago for the period of the royals’ stay.
“We don’t know for sure but I can’t see them staying anywhere else,” said Yulara tour guide Ned Thompson. “It’s the tops.”
Guests are guaranteed an uninterrupted view of the rock from their beds and an uninterrupted sleep courtesy of a ban on children under 10.
Prince George, who has already made one public appearance in Australia, was to stay behind in Canberra with his nanny.
There are lots of photographs in the royal scrapbook of visits to Uluru. In 1983 Prince Charles famously wore a safari suit that complemented the red desert sand. Princess Diana had on a blue cotton dress.
There will be pictures aplenty of the Cambridges too. They are set to attend a cultural performance by the local Ananu people who live in nearby Mutitjulu village.
The Ananu hold the rock to be sacred and do not like visitors climbing it. Longitude 131 also asks guests to make do with walking round the base rather than scaling the 347-metre-high block.
A walk round the base is close to 10km, so the likelihood is that the latest Windsors to visit will be driven round.
Since it was handed back to the Ananu in 1985 and signs went up urging visitors to keep off, there have been fewer and fewer climbers.
Travel guide publisher Lonely Planet also urges visitors to see but not touch. It has compared climbing Uluru with “clambering over the altar in Notre Dame Cathedral or striding through a mosque during prayer.”
Around 300,000 people visit every year, with the natural monument ranked alongside the pyramids, the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef on travellers’ must-see list.
Harold Jorg, who with wife Greta was up well before dawn to see the sun rise over the rock, has visited Australia many times and reckons Uluru is worth the effort.
The couple from Hamburg in Germany stayed at the main hotel complex in Yulara, which like Longitude 131 is just on the fringe of the national park that protects the icon.
“It was the best experience,” Jorg said. “There were two rainbows over the rock. The best experience in Australia.”
Those whose job it is to draw international tourists are delighted that the glamorous young couple are staying the night in sight of the rock.
Simon Birmingham, the federal member of parliament in charge of national parks, recently canvassed options for reversing a fall in visitors to national parks like Uluru.
“We need to have a look at whether the accommodation offerings are of a quality that are attracting visitors, that will provide good strong revenue streams for traditional owners,” he said in a statement.
“That’s not necessarily hotels these days; it’s often in the form of ‘glamping’ in luxury tents.”
A couple of the world’s biggest celebrities booked in for a bit of glamping - glamour camping - within 20 kilometres of Uluru national park would bring just the sort of exposure he might wish for.
Britain’s Prince William holds his son Prince George while standing next to his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, in Sydney.
