Week 3 on the Road

Kings Canyon Sunset

Kings Canyon Gum

Olgas Sunset

Uluru Aboriginal Wall Painting

Uluru Sunset

Since our last update we have covered some miles, or kilometers as they say here.  We left Port Augusta on the morning of the 22nd, we filled up the car and headed straight north on the Stuart Highway. Our original plans were to do the Oodnadatta track but because of all the recent rains, the track had just opened and was a mess, and judging by the 4WDs we saw filling up in Coober Pedy, it was a real big mess, so we continued up the road and spent the night at the roadhouse in Marla.  Onwards to Uluru!  Now when I was here 25 years ago it was just a campsite near the bottom of the rock, now Yulara is a little township about 10 K from the Ulurau-Kata Tjuta National Park.  Yulara is the only place to stay in the area, but it has a range of accommodations from the five star hotel to the tent sites.  It has about 1000 full time employees and is the fourth largest town in the Northern Territory.  Anyway, the rock hasn’t changed, it’s still a huge sandstone monolith.  What we both found far more interesting because of the scale and diversity of birds, flowers and rock is Kata Tjuta or the Olgas.  It was interesting because although they are fairly close to each other (in NT terms) they are two very different places.  The Olgas are made up of sedimentary rock, and when I looked at them it reminded me of a red clay sculpture made with running the thumb down across each clay addition.   Absolutely fascinating, Charlie, you are missing out here.  As our treat, we went to Sounds of Silence, a dinner out in the outback under the stars.  Imagine being picked up by the coach and driven about 10 minutes from the resort and being dropped of with a view of the sun setting on Uluru in the foreground, and Kata Tjuta behind us, sipping cold champagne.  After the sun set, we walked to our tables that were set in white linen tablecloths, wine glasses, candles…the entree was a buffet of assorted Australian bush food, lamb, kangaroo, barramundi and other with a variety of salads.  After the plates were cleared and wine glasses topped up, all the lights were extinguished and we were given a really excellent talk and display on the astronomy of the southern hemisphere.  Then coffee and port was served alongside a huge array of desserts then the bus took us back to the resort.  It was an excellent evening.  After Uluru, we went to Kings Canyon and Watarrka National Park.  This whole area used to be a cattle station, but in 1989 it was turned into Watarrka National Park, with Kings Canyon resort being built to cater to the tourist in 1992.  It was my first time here and it was again, so very different from the other National Park.  The feature of this park is the Rim Walk, to be done early in the morning when the day is going to be as hot as it was.  We set out around 7:30 in the morning, wanting to complete the 3.5 hr walk before it got too hot.  The worst part was climbing to the tip of the rim.  Talk about a thigh burner, climbing over 1000 feet in a half mile, but once at the top it is pretty easy going, still plenty of stairs, but manmade ones with railings and not as steep.  Wonderful walk, fascinating geology, Charlie, man…  Tonight we are in Alice Springs, tomorrow, the Western MacDonnell Ranges then back up to Tennant Creek, Daly Waters, onto Katherine, Kakadu, then Darwin by the second week of October?