Outback At Last

Here we are, in the Australian Outback!    We flew from Sydney to Uluru this morning (another early morning!).  We are near Ayers Rock.  We saw the Olgas this afternoon after we checked in.  We flew Qantas again--we could use self check-in and carried on our bags with no hassles.  We were served lunch--a cauliflower salad with chick peas and pumpkin in a strange sauce--not good at all.  We all picked at it.  Nothing else (except a drink).  While we were filling out forms for our rental car, Annie realized that she left her hat on the airplane under her seat.  She went to the desk and, being a very small airport, they found it right away.  We are staying at a campgound in a cabin--it is the only reasonable accommodation in the entire area.  After we checked in, I realized that the car rental person forgot to give me back my credit card, so we had to return to the airport!  Then to the grocery store for some snacks for a late lunch--a bunch of fruit and some chips to go with our water.  Then on to the Olgas (Kata Tjuta).  They are a group of rock formations in the state park here.  We went to the Laughing Horses and walked a few miles there to the first lookout, then to the Gorge and walked a few more miles there.  Then we went to the sunset lookout to watch the sunset which is supposed to be spectacular.  Well, it was quiet and serene when we got there--about 45 minutes before sunset; a few other people were there. Then a family with obnoxious children came and other people began arriving and setting up camera tripods, then the tour buses started arriving, setting up tables to serve paper glasses of wine and cups of trail mix.  All of those people stood in large groups talking loudly, once even singing, totally destroying the quiet and serenity of the moment.  Oh well, it’s a public space, I can’t dictate everyone else’s behavior.  (Oops--almost put a “u” in behavior!).   The Olgas were beautiful and slowly changed from orange to purple in the sunset (6:06).   Back to the grocery store to get food for dinner and breakfast and lunch tomorrow.  

Evidently Ayers Rock is best seen at sunrise (thats 7:30), so we will eat breakfast on the way there and make a lunch, because we leave right afterward for King’s Canyon.  Randy said that the walk around the base is 6 miles, then there is the walk up.  The children and I will probably skip the walk around and save our feet and energy for the steep climb up.  

The Outback is mostly desert with conifers and some deciduous trees--all very short.  Small tufts of grass grow in the red dirt.  The ground is all either red dirt or red rock; the plants shades of green and brown.  The children love it--love the colors and the different landscape.  Also--best of all--it’s warm and SUNNY!!!!!  We changed into capris and only put our sweatshirts back on when the sun went down (it got chilly quite quickly--we are glad we’re not sleeping in tents tonight!).