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!