Sorry for the delay of my posts but it seems the desert lacked wifi. The last two days have been amazing. I would never have guessed that I would love the desert so much but there is a certain solitude and peace that it carries (along with the 100 degree dry heat). We arrived in the afternoon at the Ayers Rock Resort where we stayed in the Emu Walks Apartments. Since we lacked plans for the day, I spent a few hours laying out by the pool where the sun was so hot I had to cool off every ten minutes (although I have a superb tan now). We ended the day with a sunset stop at Ayer's rock accompanied by wine and cheese. The stars in the outback are unreal, like nothing I have ever seen. I could see thousands of stars cover the sky to form a beautiful constellation above. I even saw two shooting stars dart through the night. The next morning we were up at 4 am to catch the sunrise walk around Uluru. Although a rough start, it was definitely worth it. The colors on the rock changed from purple to red and the sky was brilliant as the sun rose. We took a three hour walk around the rock and learned about all of the Aborigine stories behind the different formations. At 2:30 we decided to do another guided rock around Kata Tjuta, another formation of rocks in the National Park. It was beautiful but hot, because the sun was in full force. It amazed me that a culture such as the Aborigines lived in such an area for thousands of years and thrived on such a dry land (it only rains about three times a year). We walked into a gorge where two of the domes met, and I felt so small compared to the huge red masses of rock around me. We ended watching the sunset and more wine, which put me to sleep after such a long but beautiful day.
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| 6 am in the desert as the sun began to rise |
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| Smiling after 2 cups of coffee and a beautiful Uluru behind me! |
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| Uluru (Ayers Rock) Sunrise |
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| more desert |
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| hellooooo mum |
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| Different angle of Ayer's rock, sun's out |
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| in front of Kata Tjuta, hot as balls |
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| whirly whirly! aka dust devil |
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| the real red rocks |
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| mom and I inside the gorge |
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| me so small, rocks so tall |
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| scenic view of momma bear |
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Sunset at Kata Tjuta
This morning I hit the pool for my last hours in the desert and then we took a flight out to Cairns. This place is the opposite of Ayer's Rock: humid and lush, with mountains and rain forests stretching along the coast. As soon as I got to the hotel, I went for a run along the beach. Running has always been one of my favorite ways to discover a new place. You really get to breathe everything in and its almost fun to let yourself get lost to wander home through an unfamiliar place. As I was running, a perfect song came on and made everything perfect (hear below). Its great how music can just slip its way into a place in time which you will always remember for the rest of your life. Cairns is really beautiful, with lots of restaurants and bars along the beach. It draws a lot of tourists who come to dive and snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. It reminds me a bit of Venice, with a full skate bowl right along the water. More pictures to come tomorrow!
Goodnight (or good day to my American friends!)
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