We awoke bleary eyed before 5am for our tour. We went to our usual pick up point and was met by a small coach and our guide Matt. There were only 11 of us in total so a much smaller tour than before. This one was run by a company call SEIT. The tour was called Kata Tjuta Sunrise Tour. First stop was a lookout point where we saw the sun rise over Uluru and Kata Tjuta but from a completely different angle.
Then, once the sun had risen, we headed off by coach to the Kata Tjuta domes walk. This consisted of a steep 2.6km return walk up steep uneven rocks. It was very hard on the ankles and knees but we did it. Enjoying the beautiful surroundings and great information from Matt. After the return walk Matt gave us some well earned breakfast consisting of cereal, fruit pot, toasted raisin bread, juices and tea or coffee.
We arrived back at the resort at 10:30am and split up. Pam went back to bed for a few hours. Mark should have done the same but he had found a brochure about a local camel farm that did 15min camel rides up until 1pm and there was a shuttle service there.
He caught the shuttle, entered the farm and found out that there were no camel rides today due to lack of staff. He was allowed to wander around the farm for free so he got to at least see camels this time but still no ride. Disappointed he caught the shuttle back to the resort and joined Pam in bed to catch up on sleep.
Our last tour was the main one - Uluru highlights and sunset plus a BBQ. This time we had fly nets to protect our faces from the pesky flies. There are tours where you can walk around the whole of the rock but our fitness and this heat meant that was not sensible for us so we cheated and drove it and got out at the various points around the base. The tour started with a drive to the gates of the national park - the same as this morning. You have to have a pass each to go in but 2 of our fellow passengers of 53 did not so we had to wait at the gate for them to purchase the ticket. Then we headed to the cultural centre, where we read about history of the aboriginal way.
We were not allowed to take photos out of respect of the culture but the place was beautiful and very informative. We then headed to Uluru and it’s sacred sites (the name of the tour).
We visited caves and waterholes and parts of Uluru with our guide Debbie and Andrew the driver. They told us great aboriginal stories handed down the generations but only the basic child version as the more in-depth story would have to be earned through the aboriginal elders. They are a very private community.
After the tour we then drove to our next stop, a different lookout to see the sunset over Uluru and get drinks and nibbles. Pam had sparking wine and Mark had lemonade, which was very refreshing and the views were spectacular.
Then our coach got split with another coach doing the same trip. So we now became the return to resort coach or the Barbeque Dinner coach (this was us) Andrew was our driver again. He took us to a new spot in the park.
We were allocated a table of 10 which turned out to be 6 from England, 2 from Japan and 2 from Brisbane. There were no starters but the food was plentiful with steaks, chicken, prawns, more kangaroo, veggies, pasta and salads etc… The downside to this meal, and yesterdays, were that they are eaten in very dim light. Tonight we had no field mice in attendance or flies so that was a bonus. After dessert we had another star talk. The guide was not as good as yesterdays but the sky was a lot clearer because the moon was obstructed where we were so the stars were so much clearer.
The evening was very, very enjoyable.
We were in bed by 11pm and definitely ready for sleep.
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