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We arrived yesterday on a Qantas flight from Sydney. If you want a good view of the Rock on the way in, I recommend you sit on the left side of the plane. The jet flies past Uluru and then does a turn over the desert so steep and low, it appears you could reach out and drag your fingers through the red sand.
We caught a bus into the "town" of Yulara, picked up our rental car from Jared at Hertz (nice guy), and made the short drive over to the Outback Pioneer Hotel and Lodge. I say "town" because the whole thing is privately run as the Ayers Rock Resort. This was Susan's first time driving a right-hand drive car on the left side of the road. It takes a little getting used to – always turning on the windshield wipers when you meant to signal, remembering to head all the way over on a right turn. Susan's mantras are "near left" and "far right".
We'd arrived around lunch time and each had a burger (Susan's sans bun) at the Gecko Cafe. I can't recommend the burgers. [Susan: nor can I!] Then we headed out to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. We got about as far as the park boundary before I started whining about it being hot. The air conditioning was broken. Well, sort of, it was broken on my side of the car. What an odd failure mode. Cold air on Susan's side and hot air on mine. We drove it back to Hertz and asked for a different car. This time, Jared gave us an Australian-made car (who new?) – an Epica – and we were set. It even had an awesome switch-blade key, which amused Susan. "How long have you been here?" Susan asked Jared. "Twenty two months and 5 days," he said, without skipping a beat. The desert can be harsh.
The desert of the Australian Outback is everything we hoped and expected. It is an amazing alien landscape with weird trees. The weather has been fantastic, with a nice breeze and highs in the mid eighties. Susan loves how the trees grow tall and spaced apart, and the silhouette they create against the deep blue sky. Plus, there is a lot of green that contrasts beautifully with the red sand. We took in this beauty as we explored around Kata Tjuta (aka The Olgas), a series of large stone outcroppings to the west of Uluru. Withe the exception of the flies, for which I highly recommend having a bug net that goes over your head, the park is a magical place. Susan and I watched the light of the sunset play across the red rocks and headed back to the Outback Lodge for dinner.
When we returned and stepped out of the car, I looked up at the stars and saw, to my surprise, the International Space Station cruising overhead. I was big and bright. This is the third time that I've just looked up and watched the ISS go over. I think they are stalking me.
The Outback Lodge is a nice place for budget accommodations. Our room is nothing fancy, but it is clean and has a mini-fridge. We have to content with a community shower and restrooms, but that is a minor inconvenience. We had dinner at the Outback BBQ. You ask for meat and then cook it yourself on the grill. They have beef and chicken, as well as local fare like emu, kangaroo, and crocodile. Susan and I wanted emu sausage, so I asked if it was gluten-free. The guy had no idea, so we opted for the fish. On the whole, the meal was so-so. The salad bar and corn-on-the-cob was rather sad. And it was about $30 AUD per person. Cheaper gluten-free food can be had at the supermarket across the resort.
After a good night's rest we headed back into the park to tour Uluru. The rock is quite a sight. We also stopped by the Cultural Center. Susan and I both felt that the presentation at the center was a little, well, odd. The park is on Aboriginal land and is run by the tribe. They allow you to climb Uluru, but really would rather you didn't. Really. The impression we got from much of the text in the center (and it is almost all text) is that they would rather visitors not be here at all, but that maybe they couldn't do much about it and had decided to be nice. Also? The first quote I read when walking in basically chided tourists for taking pictures and not seeing Uluru for what it really was. It bothered me that my way of understanding and appreciating the world was put down in a place that asked me to learn and understand about the ways of others. [Susan: and it would have been nice if they had a natural history center as well.]
Even so, I understand why this place is sacred and special. The rugged beauty of this fantastic desert landscape is well worth the visit. Tomorrow, we drive north to Kings Canyon to see where Priscilla: Queen of the Desert was filmed.
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