A little bit of a rocky start as Mark did not fit in the airplane whatsoever. Poor guy was all crammed into a very tiny space for over 3 hours. Needless to say this airline has been taken off the list. He survived and was very happy to get off the plane.
As we walked in to the tiny airport there was a great sign about the dangers of dingos. Strongly encouraged not to feed them as they are indeed wild animals. I was really hoping to see one, but unfortunately we did not.
We arrived at our 4.5 star hotel in the middle of nowhere to find that they might have been ranking that out of 10 instead of 5. It wasn't all that bad, but based on the price it should have been considerably nicer with much softer sheets. Luckily, we had the weekend pretty packed, so we weren't spending much time in the room.
After stocking up on some water and snacks for our hike the next day we were off on our first tour, the Sounds of Silence dinner. Here we got to watch the sunset over Uluru and Kata Tjuta while sipping on some delicious champagne and listening to the sounds of the Didgeridoo. After the sunset we had an award-winning buffet dinner. Not a fan of buffets whatsoever, but it was award-winning, so I toughened up and gave it a chance. It consisted of some traditional Australian foods including kangaroo, crocodile, barramundi, and emu. Not to much of an adventure-seeker when it comes to food, so I stuck with the barramundi, which is a common white fish here. Mark on the other hand sampled a variety of foods. Dessert was pretty yummy, especially the bread and butter pudding! After dinner was star-gazing time and we got to learn about the constellations in the southern hemisphere.
Me with Uluru in the background.
Our entertainment for the evening, the Didgeridoo.
Sun setting over Kata Tjuta.
Uluru in all its glory.
The next morning we were up bright and early for our 6km walk of Kings Canyon. It was a 3.5 hour bus ride so thankfully we got to nap on the way there. As the sun was rising the driver stopped so we could take some pictures and we also saw some wild horses.
We arrived at the canyon after breakfast ready for our hike. Step 1, climb 500 steps. I should point out they were not traditional stairs, but made of rock and not consistently the same size. Some steps were quite large for us vertically challenged folks. We eventually made it to the top where we embarked on our rim walk of the canyon. Don't worry mom, for the most part we were not on the edge of a cliff. We got to see some plant life, which we didn't think we would see considering we were walking on rock, a few tiny lizards, and the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden is down in the canyon with lots of plants and even some water. Back up another 100 or so stairs we continued our hike taking all the sites. We walked through what they call the love tunnel and kissed under the mistletoe for some good luck. Who knew mistletoe would grow in the Outback on a canyon, crazy.
Ready to go!
The daunting 500 steps behind me.
Halfway there!
View from the top.
Landmark known as Priscilla's Crack.
Ripple effect on rocks on top of the canyon, proving that it was once under water.
Garden of Eden.
One last climb to exit the Garden of Eden.
On top of the world, well pretty high.
Mark really liked these trees with their bright white bark. You could actually rub the bark and it left a powder on your hands that can be used as sunscreen.
This part of the canyon was very interesting. It was so smooth looking and looked as though it had been dug out by a tractor.
A really, really old fern tree, although it looks like a palm tree. 350 years old!
Another hike we opted not to do.
After completing the hike we were ready for some lunch at a resort nearby. Again, interesting menu options. Mark opted for a camel burger, which he thought was quite good, while I stuck to a vegetarian option. On our way back we had to stop to let some cows cross the street as well as check out some camels eating on the side of the road. We also made one more pit stop where we saw an emu. He was in a cage, but neat to see one so close up. The restrooms there were labeled with traditional Australian terms, Sheila's and Bloke's!
We made it back to the resort for some dinner and then attempted to take some pictures of the stars. We were trying to take some pictures of star trails. This was our first attempt and unfortunately it did not work out as well as we had hoped. Looks like more research is needed.
Our attempt.
Professional picture. Maybe one day.
This is a great video that shows all the stars over Uluru.
On our last day in the Outback we did a sunrise tour of Kata Tjuta. Translated this means many heads, which is fitting as it is comprised of 36-rocks or heads. We did the Walpa Gorge walk, which was just a short walk between two of the largest rocks.
The sun rising over Uluru. If you look closely you can see it.
Walpa Gorge.
Close up of the gorge.
Our trip then came to a close and we were back to reality, luckily with exit row seats.
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