Ayres Rock

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The Red Center of Australia

First of all, it is actually Saturday the 16th and we have returned to Sydney from Ayres Rock and Alice Springs which are in the middle of the Australian continent a far piece from anywere. Internet access was limited so we are posting a couple of "catch up" diaries while we were off line.

We departed Cairnes to Ayres Rock via an uneventful Quantas airlines flight. We arrived at a small airport just outside the Uluru (Ayres Rock) National Park to discover a small resort area with 3 or 4 hotels just minutes from the Rock located in the middle of the Outback. We checked into our hotel, Sails in the Desert - a Voyages resort - we settled into our room, had a nice lunch and joined the afternoon tour that took us out to see Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) which is a sedimentary rock outcropping rising from the Outback plains and is as big as Ayres Rock, just not as widely known.

We then headed on to Ayres Rock to view the Sunset, a big deal in the park where tour buses pull up in a viewing area and set out tables with wine, cheese and crackers. The sunset on Ayres Rock is great as the predominately red colors (iron oxide) shift to subtle shades of purple at sunset.

Later, we returned to the Hotel for dinner. Our room had a spa so we ordered up a bottle of wine and enjoyed the ambiance. Most noteably was the sky. No light pollution so you can see the spirals of the Milky Way, communication satellites and the Space Station & the Shuttle orbits but MOST impressively, the Southern Cross. The Southern Cross, like the Big Dipper in the Northern Hemisphere identifies the North Star, points to the Southern Star but is more precise in that it also identifies East, West and North in addtion to South. Absolutly stunning to see for the first time.

Tomorrow, we travel by bus to Kings Canyon and Alice Springs where we will overnight.

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Photos

Ginny leaving Cairns
3 hour flight, good movie, food was NOT good - some weird sandwich!

John leaving Cairns
That sandwich does NOT look very good to me either!

Nice room in the Outback
The Sails in the Desert spa room was very nice.

The room had a jacuzzi spa tub!
Given all of our sightseeing, this is just what we needed. Order the GOOD wine!

Kata Tjuta (the Olgas)
Rising out of the Outback these formations date back millions of years and are sacred ground for the Aborigines for thousands of years.

Ayres Rock sunset (1 of 2)
Wine & cheese, new friends and a good time.

Ayres Rock sunset (2 of 2)
Subtle shades of purple as the sun goes down. Very nice.