Day 7 & 8 - Uluru and Kata Tjuta

Yesterday started differently than any of the other mornings. We didnt wake up from Olivia nor from our other alarm. We woke up from the cold! The two days before we had been driving south from the tropical Top End to the Red Center where the days are still hot (30+) but the nights get very cold (5 degrees). We didnt really expect it to impact the inside of our motorhome so heavily :-) Meanwhile we have added a blanket (also for Olivia).

After long thinking and debating, we decided to do Uluru-Kata Tjuta in 2 days (it deserves more time than the "Japanese style" 12 hours in&out) with a long sleep the first day which was very welcome. We would have had it if it wouldnt have been for the cold and (more importantly) Hanne's alarm that we forgot to turn off and left next to Olivia's bed. So everyone awake at 7am. Getting Olivia to fall back asleep required all tricks of the book: putting her between us, warming and giving her milk and then waiting and playing a bit. We succeeded and eventually got up at 10:20 for a walk at Kata Tjuta.

Everyone knows Uluru, but Kata Tjuta is at least as beautifull. It is a site with 36 giant round rocks standing in the flat desert. Really impressive and very nice walking in between them. We did a 2,5 hour walk with Olivia on my back. Really nice. We then went to see probably thé tourist highlight of Australia: sunset over the big red rock that is Uluru. Seeing it change colour from orange to dark red to brown really was a nice sight and we have the postcard picture now in our camera. You can see it as picture of this blog (although Olivia does block part of it :-)).

The next morning we decided to "go all the way" and take in a sunrise at Uluru as well. The sun rises at 6:34 so they recommended to be in the park latest by 6 which meant getting up at 5:15 which hurt like hell. Especially since we only decided to do the sunrise at 23h the night before. So, sunrise it was. If I have to choose between the sunset or the sunrise, I probably couldnt. I know Hanne would choose the sunset because it was warm outside, you could put your chairs out on the viewpoint and drink a glass of wine while Olivia is playing in the red sand (yes! She played in the dirt! And she got all red). The sunrise is cold, no chairs and Olivia stayed in the car with Hanne. So easy choice for Hanne. Not so easy for me because sunrise is simply special. The feeling of a new day beginning, of the sun starting to warm your back (which was freezing after standing there for 45 minutes - remember 5 degrees), and then gradually seeing the earth come to life and seeing Uluru with Kata-Tjuta in the background. A bit of magic.

After the sunrise we did an interestig guided walk at Uluru and then a walk by ourselves. In between we went to the Cultural Center and finally learned about the Anangu (aboriginals). I wont spend too many words on it here but my summary would be: 20,000 year old culture, seems to have stopped evolving 1,000 yrs ago because it is still incredibly basic, conflict with the white people continues but not violently anymore, ugliest people on earth (uglier than the Bolivian mountain people). More details when we get home.

The downside of our sunrise endeavour is that we are bloody tired, especially since we drove another 3 hours afterwards to get to King's Canyon where we are now.

Day 9 - King's Canyon

Today we went for a beautifull 3,5 hour walk up and on the rim of King's Canyon. The Canyon is in an area that consists of hundreds of layers of sandstone (each between 5 and 50cm) with a red surface. The layers have become visible in the canyon and created a magnificent landscape (compare it with Bryce Canyon) where it is possible to do a very nice walk. The start was very steep but much easier than Gonlum since they had created a sort of stairs in the rock. Once on the rim, the walk was quite easy actually. Luckily, as I had to carry Olivia and Hanne had to carry food and drinks for 3. Inside the canyon, there is an oasis called "Garden of Eden" which had birds singing and flying around all the "sudden" outburst of green and water in a narrow valley. Interesting geological phenomenon.

We have decided to take a half day "off" and only drive back to Alice Springs tomorrow. As a result, I am now standing next to a (broken, grrr) washing machine waiting for the wash to be ready and will then go for a swim. The sky is blue, temperature is 33 degrees. Feels like old school holidays :-)

Tomorrow we drive back, hand back our motorhome and have a quick look at Alice Springs.

Ciao mates!