Ayers Rock

Day 1 - Arriving & The Olgas

Exciting times ahead the alarm set off at 6am

Well it's still dark. We rolled out of bed and finished putting the last few things in the suitcase we have borrowed. Laura was plagued with bad sleep due to thinking she had forgotten to pack something. This was with just cause, because the tripod hadn't been packed. Myles would have been grumpy indeed. We had a coffee packed the car and we were off. A speedy start to get to the train station in time was hampered by fog. This gave us some beautiful views of the sun rise on a positive note. 

Luckily we left super early and got to the train station with 10 minutes to spare. After a long fight with the ticket machine which wouldn't take a debit card we eventually scraped together enough money because it then wouldn't take a $50 note.. Nevertheless we arrived at the airport nice and early like we planned. Our check in was done on iPads which was easy. After this we skipped through security not even getting the little bags for liquids. Domestic flights are easy at no point were our passports checked! We had a mooch around the shops and got a breakfast subway and Krispy Kreme doughnut each which made a very satisfying breakfast/lunch. After this all the normal waiting things occurred. We saw the winner of Eurovision and Laura was gutted to have missed it as the beard lady seemed pretty cool! After this we had our tickets checked and found our seats on the plane. Bonus we had 3 seats between the two of us! This was very lucky we were thinking. Karma had other ideas because just after saying that a family sat behind us with a screaming 2 year old.. Oh joy. After 10 painful minutes and Laura starting to lose her patience it stopped. That's when it got worse. Laura's spine was forcefully relocated from the seat many times throughout the flight. The very soft no don't do that did nothing as you would expect. Lauras tolerance levels were at 0 and decided to sleep laying across 2 seats using Myles' head as a pillow. We have never had a bad flight and this was what most would call a bad flight. Well we did fly the easyjet equivalent. What can you expect I suppose?

Feeling a bit sour after some turbulence we landed and pondered into the terminal to see a sign saying "welcome spare children" there was a lovely Deb underneath the sign. It was great to catch up after 3 weeks! We hit the ground running jumping into the Mitsubishi shogun that they had hired. We were set for a picnic and a 7k walk around the Olgas which are a group of rocks further out than Uluru. We decided to save that for my birthday. We planned a nice outdoor picnic but that didn't happen due to the thousands of flies. The Aussie salute was in full swing. We retreated for a picnic in the car which was just as lovely! Some fantastic meats and cheeses,(The good life deb and Ian are back! We are so spoilt!) 

After this the walking began. We did a beautiful 7k trek around the Olgas and through the valley of the winds.

 It was shattering in the heat but so worth it for the views.

 It was everything you expected it to be and more. Words can't describe how breathtaking it was. With this we were looking forward to Uluru even more! Something we didn't enjoy was the flies! We all ended up with leafy sticks which seemed to keep the flies at bay! After this a short drive back to the apartment before dinner. We had a medium curry which was SUPER spicy but really yummy anyways. We headed back to our apartment ready for bed! Myles and Ian had other ideas searching the TV for the F1. 

Day 2 - Laura's Birthday!

6am alarm and it was time to move. A slow start was had by all as we were all feeling the previous days walk. Myles was very keen for Laura to finally open her birthday present. She read the card allowed and her jaw dropped as she read that on Friday she would be doing a skydive!? From 14000ft! Nerves instantly kicked in! No time for that we all headed off for breakfast. A lovely buffet breakfast awaited us. Myles had the usual full English option with lots of buttered mushrooms whilst Laura had croissants and poached eggs. 

We headed to Ayers Rock after this so we could go on the 8am base tour of the rock. This morning it was windy and the tour started on the shady side of the rock. It was huge! It was more orange than red when we arrived but it seemed to change as we moved around and as time ticked along. It was very interesting we learnt about all the different caves and drawings as well as a lot for traditional tools and foods that the aboriginals ate. After this we carried on around the rock

and took a few photos. We decided not to walk the whole thing which turned out to be the best thing as the walking track was no closer than the road that you drove around it! We did this and took in a few more sights. We went to look at climbing the rock but it was closed due to the high winds :( 

This was a bit disappointing but we were a little glad too because it was SO steep! We piled back into the car and went and found somewhere we could get a little closer. We found a watering hole which was cool and a bit of rock where you could climb up! We did our own mini rock climb whilst no one was looking so that was pretty cool!

We got back in the car and deb wanted to see where Kate and William stayed when they were here so we set off in search of it. Very excitingly her directions took her on a dirt road! The big sign saying authorised personal only fines apply put us off a bit. We had some fun on the dirt road drifting around and carried on. This set up our afternoon pretty quickly. We were on a quest for the best off-roading road! We found some great roads with steep hills and jumps. All very good fun in our hired Mitsubishi Shogun! This carried on for a few hours. The thing we noticed about the whole trip was the lack of wildlife. We imagined that we would see wild kangaroos, wallabies or emus. The only thing we saw were 3 camels 2 lizards and a dead cow skeleton! This was very disappointing as we got out into the bush looking for something a bit more exciting! We had great fun on the roads and went up this huge sand dune when the car got a little stuck in the sand. With it nearly on it's side we all jumped out and the boys shifted a bit of sand before it wiggled it's way out and down the bank! (We have a video we will upload soon.) After this Deb and Laura decided it was a good idea to have a race down the hill back to the car. This was going well expect deb cheated and then fell over grabbing Laura's leg on the way! In fits of giggles we plied down the hill now very red and sandy! After emptying her shoes Laura got back in the car and we headed back to the apartment for a late lunch. The getting stuck didn't stop us we followed a super long road which plonked us back in the national park we had left earlier next to the rock.

On the way we went past some aboriginal settlements. Myles made his announcement that he expected them to be in huts not houses with cars outside. We had a bit of a story on aboriginals in Australia and their history of drinking issues! Something we had heard about but didn't know it was a problem to the point of the military being involved to stop it! We got back to our apartment deb and Ian went to get some bread rolls and bits for lunch whilst we started to clear the table of general stuff. We had a lovely birthday picnic with the leftover bits from yesterday. Deb also bought some cupcakes and candles because it couldn't be a birthday without it. We had a great lunch and the boys even washed up!

This left deb and Laura to go have a look at the shops. Laura ended up picking up a few presents and one for herself. She bought a charm for her charm bracelet at home. After this we went back to get the boys who were both crashed out in front of the TV and we left them to sleep whilst we went and chilled in the sun by the pool. The pool was freezing but it was so lovely to sunbathe for a bit and feel the warmth again! At 4 Deb rushed us back to the apartment to make ourselves look pretty. This was for this evenings surprise that I wasn't allowed to know about all I was told was to look pretty but be warm too. 

After showers Deb presented me with a lovely present wrapped in a paper handbag. Pretty funky! (The only thing she could get in china)I was allowed to open one present so we knew where we were going. We were booked on a tour called the sounds of silence. This tour took us into the outback to watch the sun set and see the many different colours of Uluru. We were greeted with champagne and canapés some with kangaroo and some crocodile and a few vegetarian ones too. Our first taste of the outback bushtucker! The kangaroo tasted like beef and the crocodile like a fishy chicken. Neither unpleasant! We had some lovely photos taken and then a man came to play didgeridoo for us. He was amazing but looked like he was going to pass out at points! (Videos to come!)  

Once the sun had set we were guided to our outdoor restaurant for the evening.

It was lovely & we got a table just next to the fire so we got the best view when some aborigines appeared in the bush. We had some traditional dance around the campfire before dinner started.

By this point it was starting to get dark so deb said I could open the rest of my presets. ( I felt very spoilt being taken out and getting some gifts from when they were in china, japan as Korea) I got a beautiful red Chinese bracelet, a custom stamp and ink with my name in Chinese which is beautiful, it has a rooster on the top because in the Chinese calendar I was born in the year of the rooster. And of course some dairy milk chocolate. (Worrying how well they know me!) Our table had 4 other people on it who we got chatting to which was nice. We weren't there long before the resident dingo arrived and we were advised to keep all our belongings on the table as she liked to steal things! Lots and lots of wine was had by all except Laura and Myles had a few glasses of red with dinner. We started with a lovely pumpkin ravioli soup which was later followed by our main which was a buffet of salads and meat. More kangaroo and crocodile was had as well as some lovely lamb! Before desert an announcement was made that it was my birthday and a lovely cake platter was bought out! 2 bus loads of people then sung happy birthday to me before deb could even get her candles into the cake! We had a repeat performance after the hassle of getting the candles in and lit! Eventually it was done and Myles got the photo deb wanted of me blowing out the candles. After this desert was served and the evening was coming to an end. We had a star talk with a guide that had a laser so he could point out the stars that he was talking about. It was really interesting and at the end we could go look into some telescopes at Jupiter and Saturn. Once this was done it was back on the buses to the apartment. This was easy for Laura and Myles but not so easy for Ian who had enjoyed the wine a little much! He said it was fine and would be fixed by a beer when we got back! When we got back we were all a little shattered a final happy birthday and it was bed time for all as Deb and Ian had a flight at 10:30am! 

A lovely start to the morning with another great breakfast with pancakes and maple syrup! Our day was spent in the resort after deb and Ian went to the airport before us. We had a few hours to kill until we had to leave for the airport so took a class in spear and boomerang throwing! We had a ball but got a little hot in the sun! Luckily escaped sunburn! After this we had a wonder around the shops a little more and chilled around the hotel till our coach came to take us to the airport and we skipped through the tiny and had a short wait until we were on the plane back home. Sadly our luck didn't see though with the plane and we were in the aisle seats next to an asian lady. it was a very empty flight and we decided to see if there were any seats left empty at the back. Our luck was in and we got a row to ourselves until landing when we went back to our own seats! We saw the most beautiful sunset as we came back over sydney. It wasn't long and we landed found our train and arrived back home. 

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After a shattering weekend we had such a lovely time and are so grateful to Deb and Ian for organising the whole thing and coming with us to celebrate Laura's Birthday. It made the experience even more memorable and for that we are ever thankful! 

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