DAY 67 - 25/04/2010 - Yulara (Uluru), NT

Today was Anzac Day and Warren attended the dawn service here in Yulara and flew the flag for the rest of us. When he returned from duty he woke me. The sun was rising and the kids were still sound asleep. We wondered what the sunrise would be like from the top of the lookout hill in the resort. There is no way in this world I can get the girls up and organised to view the sunset from the sunset viewing carpark in the national park.

We locked the door and left the kids in the van and walked the short distance to the lookout hill. When we got up there, we found people lying on the red ground in their sleeping bags and pillows also waiting for the sun to peak its head over the horizon.

The sky and cloud formation was amazing. The sky went from a pink, yellow, fiery orange and then a silvery purple colour.

As this occurred Ayers Rock gets brighter.

I must admit, the sky was more impressive than the rock itself.

Finally the sun comes up over the horizon and everyone retreats back to their camp sites.

When we got back our door was wide open and we found Lilly under the awning, in a daze because it seems she had just woken up. Lucky we got back when we did as Lilly doesn't mind a wander.

We drove out to Kata Tjuta otherwise known as The Olgas. Firstly we viewed this famous landmark from the Kata Tjuta Dune viewing area.

The Olgas

Then a closer look from the road.......

Then we did the Walpa Gorge Walk which is a 2.6km return walk through part of the Olgas.

At the base of the Olgas before the walk.

These very beautiful hand carved wooden chairs are everywhere.

The start of the Walpa Gorge Walk and its a little chilly to begin with

The trail we follow

The two speks in the distance is Alicia and Taylah

The Walpa Gorge

We did it

Yay

On our way back driving from the Olgas we noticed a lizard in the middle of the road. He was going to get squished if we didn't save it and shoo'ed it from the centre of the road. For a while I called these Horney Devils but in fact they are Thorny Devils.

Thorny Devil Lizard

This afternoon we stopped in at the Cultural Centre. It is a building shaped as a serpent and as you walk thru the winding structure you come across an art gallery, displays, souvenir shop, learning centre and kiosk. Here we learn some interesting information regarding the Aboriginal culture in this area. Aboriginals known as the Anangu people are spiritually connected to this area. All Anangu people are trained as rangers and the Anangu people train the non Aboriginal rangers their customs. We were not allowed to take any photographs.

The most interesting thing I came across is the Sorry Book. It is an A4 folder full to capacity sitting on a podium and at the foot of this podium were variouse rocks of all shapes and sizes and red dirt. In this book were lots and lots of letters from people all over the world that apologized and returned rocks and dirt taken from Ayers Rock and The Olgas. They all say that they experienced misfortune and believe that taking items from these sacred places caused their misfortune. I myself was planning on taking red dirt from Uluru for my seashell collection display bowl. Lucky I saw this first. I warned the kids and minutes later Taylah admitted that she had taken rocks from the Olgas which were in the car. I made her get the rocks and return them. She apologized to the ranger on duty in the Cultural Centre and placed them under the sorry podium.

We called it a day for siteseeing. It was getting hot and everyone was getting hungry for lunch.

Tonight there were party's going on throughout the resort. Music was blaring in the distance. We recognised the didgi dance music being played. A lot of group tours end up setting up camp here in the resort which is probably where the noise is coming from. We put the kids to bed and we sat up and had a couple of drinks ourselves. Cheers! Life is good.