August 9, 2016
Tuesday started
early with a 6:30 alarm. Mark and Jen
had been up slightly earlier - thank you jetlag. After three morning showers and 3 packed
suitcases we were headed back to the Sydney Airport for the next installment of
our Adventure Down Under. Getting
through security was not a big deal - it left us enough time to stop for
breakfast at a local Mexican restaurant. Kayleigh had a breakfast burrito and
Mark & Jen had burrito bowls- strangely reminiscent of Chipotle.
We boarded our
Jetstar flight and had an uneventful 4 hour trip to Uluru.
The plane landed at
a very petite airport where we claimed our bags from the single baggage claim,
walked the 20 steps to the rental car agent, and got in our SUV which was
parked in the front row outside the airport.
This was the first
time for Mark to drive a right handed drive vehicle on the left side of the
road, it was surprisingly easy to master just by keeping in mind the driver
stays in the center of the road.
Stomachs were
growling, so we placated them by going into the Ayers Rock Resort to a little
coffee shop run by local young people learning the ropes of the service
industry. We checked out the resort - wandering through souvenir shops and the
local grocery store. And of course
indulged in ice cream thirty. After that we ventured into the National Park and
did the 5 1/2 mile Valley of the Winds Hike in Kata Tjuta. The hike was very
scenic, easy in places, and more challenging in places. Kayleigh would like to
mention she doesn't think she's ever seen more colors: the red earth, blue sky,
purple flowers and clouds, green bush… all changing with the sun. The photos
surely don't do it justice, but we tried!
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| Valley of the Winds Overlook 1 Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia |
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| Flowers Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia |
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| Valley of the Winds Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia |
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| Kayleigh! Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia |
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| Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia |
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| Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia |
We finished the hike
with just enough time to get out of the park before it closed and went back to
the Outback Pioneer Hotel to check-in and grab some dinner.
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| Sunset Yulara, Australia |
After a quick bite
we boarded our 8:30 bus to the Field of Light, an installation by the British
artist Bruce Munro. The installation was the size of 7 soccer fields and
featured tens of thousands of lights and fiber optic lines that would pattern
shift over time. The installation was very impressive and the photos also don't
nearly do it justice.
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| Field of Light Yulara, Australia |
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| Field of Light Yulara, Australia |