Outback Part 3

So, you last left us listening to some music at the Ayers Rock resort (still so named despite the renaming of the actual rock to Uluru... I guess there are probably lots of legal reasons etc. why).

The next day we got up nice and late and headed for the Olgas, or Kata Tjuta as they are now named. A holy site for the indigenous people as we found out the following day, and not one that women are meant to look at too intently. We were planning to do the whole 6km hike but when we got there we discovered that the track was closed part of the way due to extreme conditions - that's temperatures in excess of 36 C. I guess they don't want stupid tourists going out there and endangering themselves and stretching the resources of their mountain rescue units!

We bumped into a Japanese guy that we had met at the resort earlier and walked with him, I think that he wanted to do the whole walk and was disappointed when we decided to turn back. We left him there and suspected that he went back and did the walk. We did see him later so we were relieved that he had survived!

We still managed to do two other shorter walks (1 h each) so there was plenty to see.
The pictures say it all though...

The highlight of the day though was the "Sounds of silence" dinner that we went to that evening. Billed as a dinner in the desert with only the stars and the sounds of nature (and the didgeridoo) it was everything it claimed to be. First we were picked up at the resort and taken out into the desert and deposited beside a small sand dune with a viewing platform on top. There we were served a champagne reception with yummy canapes of kangaroo, crocodile and salmon while we watched the sun set with a fantastic view of both Uluru and the Kata Tjutas. We met a lovely older couple whose kids were grown so they sold their house and decided to go on a whirlwind trip of the world. More power to them, I hope that we do the same when we're their age!!

After the sun set, we were led down from the platform to the desert floor below where several tables were set out. We ended up sitting and chatting with the couple we met during the dinner and enjoyed a delicious three course dinner. This was a particularly nice change from the pasta we had been cooking and eating every night for the last week!!

After dinner there was a performance by a guy on a digeridoo and a demonstration/explaination of the night sky - the stars were fantastic and very clear. A really lovely day and night.