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!