Ayers Rock 1/26

So today started off at 0450 in the morning…we hopped a tour bus and drove up to Uluru or otherwise known as Ayers Rock to watch the sunrise. The rock changes colors through out the day as the sun sets and rises. We had the opportunity to see both. Only about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. After watching the sunset on Uluru our journey took us to the sacred Kata Tjuta or otherwise known as the Olgas.

The flies are in full force and the sun continues to shine. By this time the temp is about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Water intake at this point = 2 liters per person.

In the Aboriginal culture the Olgas are a sacred ground for men. This is where men hold "meetings" and share stories. The culture here is expressed in oral tradition. Creation stories or what is known as "dreamtime" are passed on to the "right people" aka fellow male aboriginal people. Women is this culture wouldn't dream of hiking the enormous rock domes of the Olgas. So being the adventurous women we are we went anyway! By the time the hike was over the temp is now 114 degrees Fahrenheit! Water intake= 3.5 liters per person. We took a break from the hiking and sight seeing in our air-conditioned room. We we got back to our rooms we were greeted by what we now know as a wasp. This wasp wasn't any old Alaskan wasp! Its was the size of our dragon flies! Luke decided to be the brave one of the bunch and get the wasp out of the room. How will he do this? With a can of bug spray! Oh yes! And how did the wasp react to the bug spray….? Lets just say that Luke ran around the room screaming and yelling with his eyes closed all the while desperately spraying bug spray. In the end one wasp down! Later in the day we headed back the Uluru to walk the base of the rock. Our tour guide had been with the company for many years so he had a lot of information to share with us. We visited water holes, saw aboriginal cave paintings and visited the local aboriginal culture center. This took several hours and by the time we had completed our walk it was time for the sun to set. We enjoyed local wine and snacks as we watch the sun go down. It wasn't long before the entire rock was covered in shadow. Today is also Australian day! What better way to celebrate Aussie day than with a BBQ. We joined people from all over the world and ate local foods. We had kangaroo and emu along with all the beer and wine you can drink… :). After dessert, the chef turned off all the lanterns and lights for some star gazing. He pointed out 2 galaxies, the southern cross, Venus, and all the constellations. In the southern hemisphere all the constellations are upside down. The star gazing was interrupted by a German barking spider. This Older German man and his wife broke away from the group and walked toward the bus which was about 50 yards away. Out of nowhere came this series of trumpet blasts from German man. Lets just say we did our very best not to break out if laughter. I guess only Americans find farting funny because everyone else pretended like nothing happened. We saw a few more stars and headed back to the hotel. Off to Alice Springs in the morning.