Australian Outback - Urulu and Kata Tjuta

Today I was taking a one way guided tour from Alice Springs to Urulu.  Urulu is also known as Ayers Rock and is basically a big giant rock in the middle of the outback.  We started early, leaving Alice Springs at 6:00am.  Without stopping the trip would have taken about 5 hours, so a little longer than driving from NY to DC, except here, there was nothing in between except the outback.  After a couple hours on the road we made a quick stop at a small little diner/gas station that seemed to be set up just for tour groups to have breakfast.  Adjacent to our breakfast stop we had the opportunity to visit with some Emus.  There were fine, but it just made me miss Chirpy.

We made another stop at what the guides called Fool-uru.  (It has an actual name but I forget what it is.)  Its a mountain that looks a lot like Urulu from a far, but it isn't.  Apparently back in the 80s some groups of tourists were actually fooled into thinking they saw Urulu when they had not.  Also at this stop were lots and lots of flies, so I debuted my combo flynet hat.  I'd purchased this before my trip and was glad I did as the flies were quite annoying.  I was told by the guides that this wasn't really even peak fly season and that they are almost always around.

Fool-uru

Combo hat and flynet

Across the road from Fool-uru was a small hill to climb and on the other side was a view of a large salt pan.  Beyond that its just open road through the outback.

Our next stop was Kata Tjuta.  I guess you could call it the "other" major rock formation near Urulu.  After 5 hours on a bus, folks were v excited to see it.

We got out for a bit and were able to take a walk around Kata Tjuta.  Here it is up close.

After Kata Tjuta we stopped several more times to visit the Urulu visitor center and do a few short hikes around the base of Urulu.  There were several caves that from a distance you wouldn't even realize were there. There was even a little watering hole.

Then the moment we were all waiting for.  Urulu at sunset!  It really is huge with a circumference of over 5 miles.  As we learned throughout the day the aboriginal people see it as a significant religious and spiritual symbol and they have many stories and interpretations about what all the various formations and markings on the rock mean.  Many of the stories are kept secret and the guides are actually required to be certified to tell these aboriginal stories.  We got to the rock about an hour before sunset.

It had been a few days since I had any champagne, so I was past due, though I have to say, whatever this was did not compare to what they served on Cathay! :)  Also, as you can see my combo hat/flynet really messed up my hair, but I don't care.

As the sun started to set, it was neat to see the rock change colors.  So of course I took lots more photos.  No filters here folks!

As you may have noticed I was wearing a Star Trek t-shirt and during dinner this man from Scotland just looked at me and said, "What is your favorite series?"  At first I had no idea what he was talking about, then he pointed to my shirt and I realized he meant Star Trek.  Without hesitation I proudly said "Star Trek Voyager!"  He laughed and called Kate Mulgrew an over actor.  Can you believe it?!  I mean he's right, but still, leave poor Aunt Kathy alone.  The was part of the show's charm (and really part of mine too right?)  He of course was a die hard TNG fan.  Typical.  We also talked a lot about Patrick Stewart's other work, to include his cameo on the sitcom Frasier.  Which led us to a conversation about Cheers, to include his thoughts on Lillith, Carla, Norm and Diane and the careers today of the actors who played them.  Nothing like mediocre American television to bring people together.

After the sunset, we packed up and I stayed the night at the only resort within the vicinity of Urulu.  The next day I'd be heading to Melbourne!

Australian Outback - Alice Springs

The day started with a early flight from Cairns to Alice Springs.  My ride was on a Qantas Boeing 717.  It was my first flight on Qantas so of course I dressed for the occasion. The flight was quick and comfortable. They served a complimentary hot breakfast which was nice, though I'll spare you the photos of my ham and egg calzone.

Me, pre-calzone

My ride from Cairns to Alice Springs

Alice Springs is basically in the middle of nowhere in the Australian outback.

There really aren't any other towns, small or large, for several hundred kilometers in any direction.  Alice Springs has a population of about 25,000.  It was quite hot with temperatures reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  Apparently this is the norm, but the "river" in the middle of town was completely dry, and usually is about 11 out of 12 months of the year.

Todd River in Alice Springs

This is a shot looking out over the "river" from the middle of the bridge that crosses over it.

I spent some time having lunch and exploring the small downtown.

It was nice to see lots of "Yes!" rainbow banners all around this small town.  Australian citizens are currently voting by mail to legalize gay marriage.

I relaxed for a bit in the afternoon then headed back out in the early evening to climb Anzac Hill, a hill on the edge of town with some great views.  At the top of the hill was a monument dedicated to Australians who served their country.

I stuck around to watch the sunset and I finally remembered to bring my selfie stick!  Though, is there a trick to make it look like I'm not holding a selfie stick?  I felt like such a rookie.  Oh, is there also a trick for not feeling like a complete dork walking around with a selfie stick?

There is smoke in the above photos because apparently they'd been doing a "controlled burn" somewhere to the west of Alice Springs in the outback.

For dinner I went to this bar called Monte's.  It had a fun, relaxed and dare I say "hipster" vibe.  Seems like a lot of people come to Alice Springs to position for tours out to Urulu or other outback excursions (like I was doing) as there were lots of tourists hanging out.  I had a burger that came with a congratulatory note.  I enjoyed it.

I turned in early as I had to be up at 5am for my trip to Urulu!

Cairns Day 3 - Kuranda, Birds, SkyRail and a Train

Day three begins with a SkyRail ride up over the Rainforest to the small little town of Kuranda!  The SkyRail ride was about 45 minutes and it made two stops.  The first for jungle selfies, obvi, and the second stop was to take in the waterfall.

SkyRail over the Rainforest

Jungle selfie featuring jungle themed pocket tee

Waterfall

After the waterfall stop I had a SkyRail car all to myself, so of course I had to take more photos.

The SkyRail drops you off right at the entrance to Kuranda, a small little village with shops as well as a butterfly sanctuary, a bird aviary and a place you can hold a koala.  Here's the entrance of the village and then some photos of me at the bird aviary, my chosen excursion.

I then made my very first close friend of the trip.  A bird, who I'll call Chirpy.  He sounded a lot like me actually and we became fast friends, even though he scared me a little bit.  This was probably Enzo's mini freak-out #2 of the trip for those of you keeping count, though again I mostly got over it.  I didn't really do anything to get the bird to chat with me, Chirpy I guess just took a liking to my charm and aura?  If only it were always so easy? :)

Chirpy and Me

If the photo isn't enough, don't worry, Chirpy and I also star in our own 10 second video, with audio too:

After saying goodbye to Chirpy, I had lunch and spent some more time checking out the shops of Kuranda.  Lot's of didgeridoos! Then I made my way down to the little train station for the scenic ride back to Cairns.

Certainly some great scenery to take in from the train and from a slightly different perspective compared to the ride on the SkyRail on the way up.

Finally to end the day I had dinner with an Aussie I'd met in Cairns which was a real treat!  Shh, don't tell Chirpy.  It's so funny talking to someone who speaks the same language but uses so many words that you're not used to.  It was nice to hear about Cairns from the perspective of a local.  Tourism really is what seems to keep the whole town in business.  The place he selected for dinner gave me a chuckle.  Am I going to Outback Steakhouse?  Ha, though I will say the steaks were great and there was no bloomin' onion on the menu.  Sorry I didn't photograph the food or him, cause like, that's weird.  I did sneak in just one photo:

With that, my time in Carins comes to close.  Up next Alice Springs in the Australian Outback!