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Published: August 26th 2007
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Uluru
People walking up Uluru. This was before walking around the rock August 18, 2007 Ayres Rock
This morning we started our day with a walk around Uluru, the big rock. It was amazing. The walk around the base was 9.4km around and took us a couple of hours. The sun was shining and not a cloud in sight but it was still pretty chilly. The chilly wind was fine because it kept us cool and the flies away. During the walk it became pretty annoying because there were some really great parts of the rock, but there are signs up that say no walking or photography due to a sacred sight. There are a couple of Aboriginal tribes that hold Uluru very sacred. I have no problem respecting their wishes but I still don’t understand why you can photograph. I was kind of disappointed that the rock, being such a spiritual place, seemed more to be a income.
After the base walk we were going to do the climb. There is a sign at the base that asks people not to climb, but I really wanted to see the view from up top. They don’t want you to climb because of spiritual significance, so I guess I should take back about respecting
Mark
next to the rock their wishes. Anyways, we made it back to where the climb is and we were all psyched and warmed up after the long walk to find the walk closed due to high winds. So I guess we respected their wishes after all. Mark and I walked another 2km to the cultural center and then another 2km back to wait for our shuttle bus to pick us up. Mark and I were both knackered out so we decided to take a nap until we had to leave for the Sounds of Silence dinner.
The sound of silence dinner was a blast. The hotel shuttles you out to the dessert on huge coach busses. I was nervous because it seemed like there was a lot of people going but once there, the busses were split up. We started a sand dune watching the sun set while we sipped on some bubbly and beer. Waiters walked around with trays filled with minced crocodile in a small pastry, a hard bread with a slice of Kangaroo, vegetarian sushi, and smoked salmon. I tried the Kangaroo after the salmon, (I didn’t know it was kangaroo when I ate it, it looked like a small slice
flower things
they looked almost fake but they were pretty of beef) When we heard what it was Mark asked what it tasted like. “kinda like smoked fish, which is really weird”, Mark then had to point out I just had smoked salmon right before the kangaroo. Hum, it was the bubbly getting to my head. But if you want to know it really tastes like beef with less taste. It was fine. I didn’t like the crocodile at all. I think it was more mental.
The sunset, which was amazing to see the sky, Ayres rock and Kata Tjuta, another huge rock formation, change colors was absolutely beautiful. After the sunset we headed down a path to our dinner site. The dinner site was made up with tables of eight people with outdoor heaters in between the tables. Oh yeah, and everything was on top of the desert ground, red sand, which is now in my purse. We could still see the sun setting a bit, so the wait staff brought around the first course which was a pumpkin orange soup. I don’t like pumpkin but it was really good and warmed us all up a bit. While we were eating somebody was playing the didgeridoo, an Australian instrument.
a dead tree
look how blue the sky is!! no clouds either!! What a great sound, and if you want to know what it sounds like, the song he was playing could have been in a beat for a Justin Timberlake song from his new CD. That’s the only way I can explain it, sorry, you will have to google it and listen to it online, because it is unique. At that point all I needed was a kangaroo throwing a boomerang, a Koala on my shoulder, and Steve Irwin wrestling a crocodile because I really felt like I was in the Australia I always pictured. We had such a great time with the other couples at the table. They were all from Australia and we laughed a lot. One of the couples were especially great and I had a wonderful time chatting with Dennis around the fire. At the end of the night it was so cold so the fire was the only thing Keeping people warm. I’m still trying to figure out why more people weren’t standing around it. The food was good too. Some people weren’t thrilled with it, but it gave me a taste of Australian food and it was nice to eat something other than the usual
Walking around
We would all of the sudden walk up to a bunch of trees. It was strange since all desert around and then a patch of trees. things. After plenty of food, wine, and laughs we had to get back on the bus and arrived back around 10:30 at night.
Today was a remarkable day and we are so glad that Mark wanted to stop here. We are also glad that we stayed for two nights as it allowed us to explore and relax. We both want to go come back here. We love it.
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marc wirig
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Great pictures and we really enjoy your comments on the places you have been. Thanks for helping us enjoy your trip. Love, Dad.