Australia - Day 10 - Uluru

Today was our sunrise circuit walk around Uluru.  We met our tour at 4:45 a.m.!  It was just a short ride to the start of the walk and off we went into the twilight:

Sunrise

First light on the rock

The walk is 13km, so we got to see the rock in many different colors and in interesting shadows, and the sky was also amazing:

See Andrew in the bottom right?

Art shot

Straight up

There were several caves in the rock that the Aborigines say look like smiling faces.  Most of them were sacred sites, so photos weren't allowed, but this is one that wasn't sacred.  We thought it looked a bit like a squid monster with a human mouth…

On the walk, we were also taken to a couple of spots where original cave drawings still exist.  Nearby, there was also the most significant source of water for the entire rock:

Cave drawings

Water source

It was a great morning.  We got back to the hotel a little after 10 and had a nap and then lunch.  During the heat of the day, there isn't much to do, so we sat by the pool and hung around for a lazy afternoon.

Before dinner, we took a quick walk to a lookout point near our resort, and looked for thorny lizards on the trail.  Andrew wanted so badly to find one, but it wasn't in the stars.  The lookout showed us what was in store for the evening:

Five storms on the horizon

Apparently it's fairly rare to see it rain at Uluru and tonight's storm didn't afford us the opportunity, but we watched a crazy lightning storm all throughout dinner.  

Exhausted from the day's adventures, we're off to bed and looking forward to expiring Melbourne!  We leave early tomorrow, but have a layover in Alice Springs.  Wish us luck that the weather clears by tomorrow morning so the flight isn't delayed!

Australia - Day 9 - Uluru

Happy Thanksgiving!!!  It's Friday here, but we're with you celebrating in spirit!  Today was our super early flight to Uluru.  We were up before the sun, but enjoyed some beautiful morning views of Uluru and Kata Tjuka before landing:

The land looked so red from the plane

Uluru from the plane

Kata Tjuka from the plane

As soon as we arrived, we rented a car, grabbed some picnic items and drove out to Kata Tjuka for an afternoon hike.  It's advised not to hike after 11:30 a.m. because the weather here is so hot, but we loaded up with waters and did it anyway starting around 12:30 p.m. (yes, we started at almost the hottest point of the day).  We only have two days here, so we have to make the most of them.  This is Kata Tjuka, which is a larger rock formation that Uluru and is several kilometers away.  Uluru gets all the press, but Kata Tjuka is really impressive.  I actually think they look fake in this photo, but this is (just some of) them:

Kata Tjuka at the picnic area

Our first hike was into Walpa Gorge, which takes about an hour, round trip.  The rock faces that we trekked between were so red and weathered; the photos don't do them justice:

Entrance to Walpa Gorge

The wifi here is being a bit tricky, so I couldn't add a few photos of inside Walpa Gorge, sorry.

Walking out of Walpa Gorge

Our second hike was just the first part of The Valley of the Winds.  They close the entire circuit when temps hit 36 degrees Celsius because it's way too hot for people to do the whole thing without something bad happening (sun stroke, dehydration, etc.).  Photos from the hike:

Entrance to Valley of the Winds

Vista at Valley of the Winds

Henry and Sylvie

Karu Lookout at Valley of the Winds

Andrew and me at Karu Lookout

The third and final hike was just a short walk up to a lookout point at which you could see both Kata Tjuta and Uluru, which are something like 30km apart.  The vistas around here are really unbelievable:

Panarama with Kata Tjuka and Uluru all in one shot

Tonight was The Sounds of Silence Dinner.  We were picked up by a tour bus and taken to the outskirts of town to watch the sun set behind Kata Tjuka and Uluru.  The view was really beautiful, however, the light on Uluru wasn't as bright as we expected.  The light behind Kata Tjuka was really great, though.

Uluru at sunset

Kata Tjuka at sunset

We weren't really allowed to take photos during the dinner, so there's a lack of evidence, but after the sunset viewing, we were seated in a flat vista area where tables were set up.  As we ate and the night crept up, we got to enjoy a super starry night and even a talk about our solar system and the visible stars in the southern hemisphere.  We met some fun people and enjoyed the evening.  

There were lots of these beetles at dinner

Tomorrow we have to get up at 4 in the morning to catch a tour to Uluru to watch the sun rise...we're going to be tired!

Australia - Day 8 - Port Douglas & Cairns

Today was a transition day from Port Douglas to Cairns.  Tomorrow morning we have a super early flight to Uluru, so we thought it best to stay closer to the airport tonight, than to get up in the middle of the night to drive the hour to Cairns in the morning.

Because it was a transition day, I don't have many photos.  We stopped at Harley's Crocodile Farm on the way to Cairns and say some really huge salties:

Salty

They were fairly large - one (not this one) was 5.2 meters!!!

There were a few other animals and we saw a feeding show, but I didn't get any photos.


Upon arriving in Cairns, we found our hotel, The Pullman, and went for a quick walk along the marina before heading back to the hotel for a dip in the pool.  Since it was only 4:30, we had a glass of wine and watched Mystery Science 3000 - Gamera vs. Zigora (spelling is likely incorrect).  All giggled out and a bottle of wine in, we headed to an Indian place for dinner.  It was really good - lots of little salad dishes and vindaloos and curries :).

Cloudy Carins marina.  The weather was poor today.

This guy was making naan in a tandoor oven where we had dinner,  So yummy!

We're off to bed early tonight because the flight is so early tomorrow.  Can't wait for Uluru!!!

Australia - Day 7 - Port Douglas

MORE SNORKELING!!!!!  But first, we met the resort cat this morning, named Friday.  She's really sweet and cute:

Rolling around in the sun

Today was our trip to the Low Isles, which you can see from shore, but are about 8 miles out to sea (compared to the outer reef from the day before last, which was 28 miles out).  The Low Isles offered a much different environment than the outer reef, with tons of soft corals and more hard corals.  The water there was much more shallow, but unfortunately, there was a bit of cloud cover and the water was a teeny bit murky.  We still saw a ton of stuff - turtles, parrotfish, giant clams, groper, anemones, clown fish, reef fish of all kinds, and even these two huge batfish!

Black trevali under the boat

Batfish

Soft corals

The butt of a six banded angel fish

Our sailboat, The Aquarius

The Low Isles

Before lunch, we took a quick walking tour of one of the islands and there was a local population of bridled turns that were the coolest birds I've ever come across.  Here are some in flight:

Bridled turns

Nesting bridled turns

Up close

There was also an osprey couple on the island and the nest they make is simply massive:

Through the trees to the osprey nest

While on board during lunch, the skipper threw some leftover shrimp into the water and attracted a black tip reef shark!!!  I tried to get my suit on as fast as possible, but I was just moments too late and missed swimming with it.  Biggest disappointment of the entire trip, honestly.  

I didn't take my camera on our second snorkel tour (because I was too busy hauling on all my stupid gear before jumping in with the shark), but we didn't see too many different things from the first trip.  Still we saw cool stuff :).  Andrew actually made a friend on the second trip - a little yellow pilot fish.  It was about 2 inches long, all yellow with black vertical stripes and a very quick swimmer.  Andrew twisted and turned and tried to loose him, but he wouldn't budge.  We actually all had a good laugh in the water about how cute it was.  And then Andrew found out how to get rid of it…by grabbing and sliding next to me and then the pilot fish became MY friend!  I thought he was great, so he stuck with me for about 15 or 20 minutes.  He swam right under my chin the entire trip; it was very cute!  Then, as soon as he bonded to me, he bonded back to Andrew.  We have no idea what happened to the little guy when we got back to the boat…in deep water.  I hope he made it back to the reef.

On the boat ride back, we actually caught the wind perfectly and sailed the whole way.  It was just a great experience.

Tonight we decided to eat in.  We each have little kitchens with just enough amenities to get us through a meal.  We bought some fresh fish…at a gas station…and then grabbed extras at the grocery store and grilled at our hotel.  SOOOO yummy.  And it feels so great to be cooking!

Lamb chops, marinade for the fish, green onions and half a hot pepper :)

Fish defrosting in the sink

 By the time we ate, I forgot all about taking photos, as usual.  We had a great dinner though and are sad that the trip is about half way over at this point.  But we still have tons to see!!!