Who would have thought that it would take no time to pack up after two months!! Marty was obviously very excited, haven't seen him this happy since Bali....needless to say he was ecstatic! He was going around all mirning doing the Ralphy Dance and singing "Whoop Whoop"... So l must explain about Ralphy at this point. It all started with Cam adopting this top notch pigeon and calling him Ralphy. So everytime we saw a top notch pigeon they were known as Ralphy. Now all the Ralphy's we saw were doing the mating dance and going "whoop whoop" all the time. Now seeing when a male mates they are happy, the Ralphy dance ended up being the dance we all did when we were happy. Well not everyone, just the men, lol.
After we said our goodbyes to the Woods and Ellis's (Ton and Cam where at Kings Canyon so we had said our farewells already) we were on the road once more. They had asked Marty to do the Raphy dance when we crossed the border of SA/NT, so we'll have to see if he goes thru with it. It was not too sad of a goodbye as we will definitely catch up with all families in the West, and the Woods in two weeks in Adelaide for Christmad. The Woods waved us off down the road and we were heading south bound finally. The drive was pretty good and we stopped at Eldunda Roadhouse about 200kms down the road from Alice. There were these huge wood carvings the size of a small truck of an echidna and lizard which were pretty cool, except they were behind tall fences so were a little hard to take photos of. The girls enjoyed looking at them though. When we were getting ready for lunch Marty starts pulling out these table and chairs which he informed me that he found at the laundry just before we pulled out his morning. The bloody freebies Marty has attained from the laundry in Alice is unfrigginbelievable!!
On the drive out to Yulara we passed Mt Connor, which most people mistake as Uluru when they first see it. It is actually three times the size is Uluru can you believe?! We arrived at Yulara by early arvo and set up camp at Ayers Rock Campground on a rocky ant nested site (which we didnt notice till after setting up otherwise we would have moved) in full sun! Of all the sites, this is the one allocated to us when the park is virtually empty. I had actually asked for a shady site for gods sake. Can't believe that they charge $50 a night here, no grass anywhere and it's a walk to the pool and playground. But oh well, we're only here for two nights. After setting up we were all so hot that a swim was needed. We had a relaxing arvo just swimming and chilling out together, enjoying the quiet really. The girls were back to having only each others company to play with and it was great to see them slip back into it again. We had an early dinner then finally headed out to see Uluru. We paid the $50 entry to the national park (which is only valid for 3 days!). When the girls first saw Uluru, they were like"wow" abd "thats so cool". Great to see they had the exact same reaction we did when we saw it ten years ago. Pulled up and waited for the magic to happen. Unfortunately, it was an overcast and cloudy evening to watch the sunset and there wasn't too much change in Uluru's color. The girls obviously got bored with the sunset process so sat on the blanket and played together loudly while everyone tried to enjoy their wine and the serenity, which couldn't happen because of our energetic kids! Even though it wasnt the bests viewing night, the place still had magic. We headed back and went to bed early as its going to be 41oC for the next two days and probably hot nights to go with it!!

It was a hot nights sleep and we woke early to head out to the Kata Tjuta (or the Olga's as everyone knows them as) for a morning walk before it got too hot. Even though it was 8:30am, it was still 30oC already and climbing though. We did the Walpa Gorge walk which was 2.6km return. We bribed the girls with lollies to stop them whining along the way and also chewing gum for Meg which we found worked like a treat. No listening to "I'm hungry" for the whole walk. Will be using this for walks from now on! Kata Tjuta is a magnificent place and it actually means 'many heads' and is a sacred men's site. I have always loved this place over Uluru for some reason. The rock formations that we walked over and surrounded us reminded me of what the moons surface would look like. Was totally awesome that the moon was actually out when we were doing the walk! As we made our way up the track and reached the viewing platform we took in the landscape which was so full of life and spirit. I couldn't stop photographing this area, loved it. After finishing the walk and guzzling copious amounts of water, we drove to the Kata Tjuta dune viewing area. Just amazing. Like Uluru, it is mind blowing that these rock formations are in the middle of nowhere surrounded by flat terrain.
Next stop was the Cultural Centre to learn about the history of the area and the tradition, but also to seek some reprieve from the heat with some air conditioning. The centre is well designed and has great aboriginal history showcased around the walls. We enjoyed watching some short videos about the traditional dance and ceremonies as well as a short doco about the handing back of Uluru to the traditional owners, which took place in 1985. Was great to see some traditional artwork around too and how different they are to Central Australian art. They use dot work a different way and tell different stories about the land and dreaming. There were a few aboriginal woman sitting around doing their artwork, these woman are actually paid to sit here and do the artwork by the centre. They didn't really talk to us and kept to themselves. Looked a bit sad to me, like forced artwork if you like and sitting outside on the cement in the heat wouldn't be too nice also. In another gallery we found an elder woman sitting down doing art also, a younger woman was actually looking out for her and helped us communicate with her. Meg was fascinated and sat down close to the woman and watched her paint. Think she would have stayed there all day of l let her. It was like she was studying the painting trying to workout what it all meant. Very curious our Meg....
We headed back to the park for lunch and a swim. Was very hot, it had reached the 40oC as predicted. After cooling off for a couple of hours we headed out for a drive around Uluru. It is just a wondrous place, every corner of the road around it you turn the rock takes a different shape and form. We did one of the small walks at Uluru, which Boo detested from the start. It was the Kuniya walk which was only 1km return and took us to the Mutitjulu waterhole. But l suppose the glorious scenery was marred by the fact that it was over 40oC!!! So after the short but hot walk we headed into Yulara and just caught the end of the Wakagetti Cultuaral Dance which took place in the twin square daily. Disappointing we only saw five minutes of it but from what we saw was fantastic, very interactive with the audience and very obvious passionate young aboriginal men. We wondered thru Yulara town square and treated ourselves to an icecream, which the girls loved!! We went home and took another swim and in the evening the girls made friends with a little Chinese girl, Minny, who was with her family on holiday here in Australia from China. Her dad, Patrick, played soccer with all the girls and what was so cool was the fact that his little girl spoke very little English, but still all three girls had fun together. While the girls were happy, l took a stroll up at the Nalinga lookout at the park to view the sunset. Was a bit concerned when one second l could see Uluru in the distance then next minute it was gone due to a circulating bloody dust storm...and it was getting closer. Was totally amazing to watch and got some awesome pics. But as it got closer l quickly returned to the van to warn Marty and we quickly packed the outside things away. Luckily was a false alarm and the storm went right round us, a bit of dust but not too much thank god. Early to bed again as we were all beat and we were getting up before the sparrows tomorrow to watch the sunrise at Uluru then head to Kings Canyon.....
Another hot night sleeping, was actually 33oC at 10pm!! As you can imagine, Marty sweated the night away...lol. We awoke to the alarm at 4:50am so that we could reach Uluru for sunrise. You'd think we'd have plenty of time hey? Well we just got there as the sun had started to rise. Glad it was off peak season as there was still heaps of people here, couldn't imagine how crowded it would have been in peak season. Anyway, l strolled up on my own to the viewing platform, while Marty and the girls opted to stay in the car. The changes in the color of the rock as the sun rose was amazing. Although a little cloudy, was still spectacular. Thankfully it was cloudy actually as after the sunrise we drive down to Uluru base to do the Mala walk to Kantju Girge. It was a 2km return walk around part of the base which took us to several sacred sites and was where the Mala people camped when they first arrived at Uluru back in the beginning. We saw some fantastic ancient aboriginal rock art and experienced the sheer vertical walls of the Kantju Gorge, absolutely spectacular! Boo and Meg especially liked the 'wave cave' part of the rock where they pretended to surf!! The girls did such a fantastic job with the walk and we made good time. Unfortunately we got to the climbing part of the rock too late and it was closed (lol- as if l could climb the rock!). Was still pretty cool to see what looked like little ants coming down this humongous rock. There's a chained fence going all the way up to help those who want to climb, although it is heavily advised that it is culturally insensitive to climb the rock, as well as harmful to oneself is they slip!!

Sadly it was time to pack up and head off to Kings Canyon. Felt like the last two days have flown, but l suppose we are hurrying thru things a little as we are chasing the cooler weather. Uluru was again fascinating and wondrous. Amazing me with its statue just like it did ten years ago. This place in history is such a huge part of Australia's identity to the world so am glad that we got to bring the girls here to experience it......goodbye for another ten years Uluru (maybe!!)......

Bell Xxx