After a very very early start we arrived safely at Ayres Rock for short five night stay. As I said, our day started early at 4:00am in order to get to the airport for our 9:40am flight. Unfortunately because of where we live it meant we hit peak hour traffic as we approached the city. We got to the airport exits at about 7:30am...plenty of time I hear you say...but as always with us there's more to the story.
We were flying out from the newly opened Terminal 4, but they haven't quite worked out all the kinks. Our directions to the parking named exits and roads for us to take, but none of them were clearly marked. When we finally found a road that was listed, we weren't sure if we were to turn left or right. Poor Terry was getting very frustrated as there were signs showing parking but for some reason they had tape over what we think was the direction arrow. For a while we felt like the Griswolds in Paris going round and round the Arc D'Triomphe.
I'm happy to say we did make it in plenty of time and the new terminal is very nice.
The flight was good and I was surprised to see quite a bit of scrub below and occasionally spotted the odd patch of what was almost green. I think I expected to see only bare red earth.
Flying over the salt plains was pretty spectacular too and I am so glad we flew on a lovely clear day to be able to see this.
We are so lucky to live in in a country with such diverse landscapes.
Our descent to the Ayres Rock airport was great as I got my first glimpse of Uluru ("The Rock"). I must say it didn't disappoint. Unfortunately the pilot wouldn't turn the plane around a bit more so I could get some good photos from the plane...how rude!!!
Checking in was a breeze and our room was unexpectedly ready. We booked a room with a view of the rock and as we approached, I didn't think they we going to deliver. Well, I should never have doubted it because there is a very clear view that we can sit on the bed and see. We have been treated to an extra special feature as we look out toward the rock. As I work for a Water Authority, look at what we see below our room. The lengths the Australians go to make you feel at home is quite amazing!
All the resorts (about five or six) are run by the Voyager Indigenious Tourism Group and the set out is great. Everything is within about 10 to 15 minutes walk. The restaurant we ate lunch at was in a lovely setting and the food was delicious. As we were eating lunch we were comparing it to Stonehenge (which was a big disappointment for us) to Uluru. I think it's because there's a lot more here than we expected and we expected too much from Stonehenge. Oh, and the size of Uluru is far more impressive! You can't really compete with nature.
We spent the afternoon booking trips and tours for the rest of the days we are here. I'm taking a helicopter trip over Uluru and the Olgas (on my own again) tomorrow morning and I'm pretty excited about that. We have also booked a sunrise tour around the rock and the national park and and also a sunset dinner.
We are also going to book a tour to Kings Canyon for Saturday. It's going to be a few early starts but I don't think we will notice it too much as the Northern Territory is 1 1/2 hours behind home. When the clock is showing 4:30am I can tell myself it's actually 6:00 (a far more reasonable time to depart the hotel for a tour)
So with our bank account looking a lot less healthy we returned the to room at about 3:30pm and both fell asleep. Oh no...maybe we are getting old!!! In our defense, we had been up since 4:00am and it's hot, and we had a late night the night before, and...well I think that's enough excuses.
We're having a quiet one tonight and going to watch the sun set over Uluru. Ah, it's a hard life!
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