Uluru/Ayer's Rock

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Our next little trip was out to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which most of you probably know as Ayer's Rock. It's in the middle of the Australian Outback, technically considered "semi-arid" and not desert. It's so far away from any other towns- the nearest "city" is 1,200 kilometers away and the main road west is a dirt road for thousands of miles. They've actually had above average rainfall for a few years, so there is a now a lot of green vegetation- including plants and animals that haven't been seen in the area for decades or maybe ever.



That all said, it is a very bizarre place. We flew into a tiny airport close to Ayer's Rock/Uluru, and a shuttle took us to our hotel, which is actually part of a very big resort. It's so strange. We were in the middle of what looks like a desert, but there were luxury hotels, a spa, a grocery store, a bank and post office, shops, restaurants, etc. It just didn't seem right. We had read that there were shuttles available to the national park, but didn't realize until we got there how expensive they were and how infrequently they ran. There's a big push to do guided tours. We tried to rent a car, but there were none available. It actually turned out pretty well because we went with a small tour company that only takes a few people out at a time and our guides were great. We learned a lot more with them than we would have had we gone by ourselves.



Our first tour was at sunset and we got to ride on camels! They're really interesting creatures, and all have different personalities. There was a baby camel that reminded us of Kimble- full of sass. We woke up early then next morning for a sunrise around Uluru/Ayer's Rock. It was 12 kilometers total, and we were able to get up close to the rock. This particular tour was really interesting because the guide told us all of the Aboriginal stories related to the different geological features around the rock. Our afternoon was filled with a nap and a hike through Kata Tjuta, or The Olgas, which is another rock formation near Uluru. It actually looks quite different when you get up close, and lucky for us it wasn't blazing hot despite the sun. Our last night in Uluru was a really cool experience- we got to watch sunset from a good spot and then ate dinner under the stars in the middle of the desert (they have a kitchen set up out there). After dinner the guides did a "star talk" to explain some of the constellations. The moon was actually really bright, so we missed out on a few things, but we saw a great shooting star and it was cool to see the southern cross, since we can't see it in the northern hemisphere.

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