On leaving Coober Pedy after our short stay we again pointed the car north this time heading for the number one monument / landmark / place of significant interest in Australia ULURU (Ayers Rock for the uneducated). We passed numerous lizards along the roads watching you drive buy with interest and the sun was shinning the temperature approaching 40’c. We arrived mid-afternoon to the little town called Yuluru which is basically a small resort just for the tourist going to see the big red rock. There are hotels suited to every budget and a campground where we set up or tent for the night. We headed into the park and checked out the Kata Tjuta Mountains (meaning many heads) taking in the desert surrounds and quietness until 3 girls turned up with a stereo playing dance music. We then drove across to Uluru to watch the sunset which was amazing to see pictures of it was one thing to see it in person was amazing.

Back at the campground we tucked into some dinner before tucking into bed feeling the temperature slowly starting to drop, waking up sometime during the night by the dingoes howling nearby.

We spent Monday relaxing and recuperating from all the driving having a lazy look around the resort then the aboriginal culture centre inside the park learning off how they care for the lands and what inhabits them. We had a nice BBQ in the evening at the campsite watching a dingo run in and out of the bushes and down some of the paths.

Our last morning in Uluru Tuesday 8th December was an early start for the sunrise and then the base walk which was 10.4km long and Corinne was really happy to be doing!!! It was a pretty cool walk seeing the different faces of the Rock, one part even looks a little like Darth Vader (see pics) the landscape wasn’t as expected with trees and streams and even a couple of small billabongs. We finished up in around 2hours missing the serious heat of they day occasional in the shadows escaping the sunburn. Back at the campsite we packed the tent and headed to put petrol in with the car being a bit funny it was shaking and running slow trying to stall. Phoning the rental people and off to the garage it turns out the non-fume opal petrol used in the NT isn’t very good for the car’s (but it stops the aborigines sniffing it and having substance abuse). So we were given 2 options wait for a week for a new fuel injector or drive and try and clear the tank, we took the driving option. Not sure if it was a good one using 50L fuel in less than 300k but oh well what can you do, we booked into a roadside motel at one of the many road houses every 300-400km along the main highway (and to think people in the UK moan when there’s not one in 30miles ha ha ha ha ha ha).