Day 6… Alice Springs, Uluru, Katja Tutja
My mistake for the next few blog entries, is that i am writing them 5 days after the fact. I havent had the time or energy to write each night, but now we’re in Port Douglas (North Queensland), and i have a little more down time to fill in the blanks.
Today we rose at 5:00 or so, to get ready for our pickup at 6:10am from the Alice Springs Resort. We were picked up by Australian Adventure Tours on time, but the truck/jeep/hybrid had to be changed to another passenger bus, as the original was having problems. After picking up all the tourists (15 in all), we set out from Alice Springs to Ayers Rock. The drive, unbeknownst to me, was to take 5.5 hours. We stopped about every 1.5 hours at various small places along the way. A Camel farm ($5 per 5 minutes for a ride around a fenced area)….then the gas stations to fill up. I dont know the exact distance, but we were going 130km per hour for 5.5 hours, so i guess that makes it around 600-700km (500 miles ?). Eventually we arrived at camp in Ayers Rock, with a view of both Uluru and Kata-Tjuta. After dropping off the food, and Kylie (the tour cook), we headed off for a quick drive around katja-tjuta and Uluru. We stopped at Katja-Tjuta (The Olgas) for a 1 hour walk into one of the valleys between the rocks. It was a beautiful area, and amazing to see the large boulders that were forced out of the side of the rocks by melting water over the course of the ice age.
Once this walk was over, we drove to a spot to watch the uluru sunset, which was awesome. The rock changed color with the descending sun, and was spectacular to see. The whole process from start to sunset lasted about 45 minutes. The tour provided apetizers and wine for us while we watched, and everyone was definitely awe-struck by the range of colors. The photos probably wont do it justice, but i still took enough to get a good enough idea.
After the sunset, we drove back to the campsite for dinner, which Kylie had prepared for us. I think i recall it was steak and salad for us meat-eaters, and spring rolls/salad for the vegetarians. It was a good meal, and more than i expected.
Dinner ended quickly, and we headed to our permanent tents for a good night’s sleep. We were given two twin beds, with sheets,a blanket and a comforter. Melody and i actually slept in the same bed with all the available covers on us, just to be as warm as possible. Melody will tell you that she was pretty cold. I was not as warm as i would have liked, but i was not overly uncomfortable. We were given the option of using swags, but they could only be used outside. If you dont know what a swag is, you can either google it, or my quick explanation is: a canvas and leather sleeping bag that is about 2.5 feet wide, and 7 feet long. It is designed to be a heavy sleeping bag that can be rolled up, with everything you need kept inside it.
Melody and my shower strike has begun though, as the shower block was less than acceptable to Melody, and i wasnt too keen on getting my head wet and then walking around in 10 degree weather (celsius).
Tomorrow….Ulutu Base Walk, Drive to Kings Canyon.
