As we travelled to the Rock, we had to show our $25.00 each three day pass. There was only one operator on so the traffic banks up just like in Kerr Street in Ballina. Eventually we did get through and drove the 10 kilometres or so to the viewing area.
We were alerted to the area as the crowd was hugging the sides of the road. The road speed was sign posted to 20 km/hour for safety. Luckily I found a park about 100 metres from the main area. I had dropped Prue out shortly before this area so she would not miss anything as the sun was not far from the horizon.
As I have mentioned before, one has to wonder if we are in the right country as we constantly hear European languages spoken. Good for the economy though! In the caravan park, we have three young Japanese behind us for at least the night.
The sun was starting to come over the horizon and with each moment there seemed to be a change in the colour. In my life, I have never seen such a wonderful colour change in such a short period of time. I believe that our photos do not really do the colours justice but they are a reasonable representation of them.
After we had observed the sun change its colours on the Rock, we drove around to the area where people do climb from. The aborigines prefer that people do not climb the Rock. We walked onto the Rock but we did not climb too far either due to injuries or not feeling so fit. If I had been cycling every day I would have tried it. We watched various people going up with some going all the way and others not proceeding too far. One couple had their little children in back pack arrangements and made it safely up and down.
Our choice of walk was the “Mala” walk. It was self guided and displayed some incredible rock formation. There were some quite distinct paintings that are apparently vey old and some more recent. There was a scared women’s area. There were bits of information along the way so we knew what was in front of us.
After the walk and drive right around the Rock, we adjourned to the Cultural Centre for a coffee that today was very good. A different and more competent barista can make a big difference. Our time was spent perusing the art and artefacts on display. Some are very good but some seem repetitious.
Our next movement was back to the Resort area which is about 13 kilometres away. We dropped into the shopping precinct where Prue bought a new casual top and I bought some grocery items. Then it was back to the Karavan for lunch.
After lunch, we chatted with our neighbours. Both lots are from Victoria. Then I decided I felt good enough to try a bike ride. I rode around the Resort area. It was amazing to see so many homes as well as magnificent green oval in the desert. I wonder where the water from that comes from! I am led to believe that there are about 1000 people working here so the infrastructure would be needed to keep them here. There seems to be quite a large school along with Fire, Ambulance, Police and medical facilities.
Dinner tonight was a new experience. It was called “Sounds of Silence”. We were collected just outside of the caravan park in a big AAT Kings coach about 45 minutes before sunset and taken to a location not very far away. Eventually we arrived at a location that is totally out of sight of any buildings but not the last of the helicopters flying back to the airport.
On arrival we were given champagne and canapés to enable us to watch the sunset and again the changing colours on both Ayers Rock/Uluru and the Olgas/Kata Tjuta.
There was a little bit of cloud around but it only helped to introduce shadows and obviously different colours. These colours change all of the time. Eventually, the sun had set.All the dinner guests were asked to walk down a gentle desert sandy slope to where we were seated at silver service tables seating 10 people. We had already been talking with several couples so we all sat together along with four French speaking people.
Their English was a bit rough but we all were able to communicate.The first course was roast pumpkin soup, all in the desert with only candles lighting the tables. It was really beautiful. As we digested this course we were entertained by a part aboriginal, who was as white as me, playing the didgeridoo. He has played there for 9 years as well as stints overseas. He was very good and as he finished he told us how the instrument was made and used.
The main course was a smorgasbord of meats, vegetables and salads all with appropriate dressings or sauces. There was a selection of lamb, barramundi, kangaroo, and chicken sausages. The kangaroo was really nice. All the time we were eating our red wine glasses were being topped up.
Following the main course, we were entertained by a man who gave us a wonderful description on the stars and how to find various stars to navigate by. He embellished the descriptions with legends from the aborigines. As many of the guests were from Europe they were astounded at the clarity of the stars and most were seeing southern hemisphere stars for the first time.
Next was dessert, which again was a wonderful choice. All low calories, of course, especially for travellers to change their waistlines! This also included coffee and port. What a feast we had this night.
Eventually, we were transported back to our area of accommodation, as guests were either in the campground or in hotels. We were so well fed and enjoyed our short walk back to the Karavan. It was a fantastic evening in the desert.
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