Boomerang Dave's Boomerang Journal

It's now the 28th and a real exciting part of the trip. We head to the airport and board our flight to the Red Centre, Ayer's Rock, Ayer's Rock is known as Uluru, and is one of the most recognizable geographic places in Australia. On our flight in, we see how the lush farmland and mountains change into this vast red landscape. Barb is in the window seat and sees Uluru first, and takes a photo. Then it comes into view for me. What a sight, this huge rock sticking up out of the ground. The Barb spots the Olgas, or KataTjuta about 30 miles from Uluru. We are certainly excited to finally see these in person. We land and disembark from the plane, out into the hot, dry desert air. After getting our bags, we board a bus to the hotel. Arriving in the morning, we find our room is not ready and we have time to waste. We hop the shuttle into town. Town at Yulara is not much. There are 4 or 5 hotels, a campground, a petrol station, homes where the "locals" live and a tiny shopping center. The shopping center has some nice souvenirs, and the prices are not as extreme as expected. We confirm all our tours for the stay, then get some stuff for breakfast the next day, along with our lunch. We found individual packets of Vegemite, that we bought to torture our friends and relatives with. We eat at the shopping center before taking the dune path back to the hotel.

Some of the dunes have the brush cleared at the top, providing good views of both Uluru and KataTjuta. Barb and I were wilting in the heat and decided not to go over the dune. Arriving back at the hotel, we get our room and change into swim suits for a cooling off dip before heading out on our first tour/adventure.

We hop on a bus later that day for the Sounds of Silence Dinner. We are transported out into the desert and we walk up to a sand dune were we watch the sun setting on Uluru and Kata Tjuta while sipping Australian sparkling wine and sampling canapes made from things as strange as kangaroo. From there we walk down over the back of the dune and onto a clearing, where tables are set up, complete with linen tablecloths and napkins, glassware and silverware. Are we really in the desert? We are then treated to a wonderful meal. This was a real chance to taste so fine examples of Australia delicacies such as crocodile, kangaroo and barramundi. Everything we tried was excellent, and there were remarkable Aussie wines to go with it. After dinner, we were presented with a tour of the night sky in the southern hemisphere. Unfortunately we were battling some clouds and the full moon, thus preventing us from seeing everything we might have. We arrive back at our room at 11:30 and fall into bed.

Photo: Barb and Dave enjoy Australia sparkling wine as the suns sets at Uluru