Sep 5, 2009 - Day 46 – Kings Canyon to Uluru – More big red rocks

The dingoes didn’t get us but one did wake us up last night by howling (remember they are wolves not dogs) just outside our van. It sounded like it was between us and the car so thankfully it was dark and we couldn’t see exactly where it was. Kinda glad we are not in a tent at ground level……especially after we set up camp here today After the ‘fun’ of the last drive we decided to stick to the paved roads today and the resultant boredom,. 166kms turn right, 132kms turn left, fill up the fuel tank, go through a roundabout and set up camp....

Aug 16, 2009 - Sunday 16th August

Woke up with a bit of a twinge in the old calf muscles....dunno why, never happens after a game of golf. There's a few strange people in this world and most of 'em seem to be out here caravanning. I had to get up and go over to the toilet in the middle of the night.....would have been around 1 or 2am.....and a bloke was in there shaving!!....I didn't ask. Pulled out of Kings Canyon about 8.30, queued up for fuel and then headed off to have a look at Kathleen Springs on the way out, about 30kms up the road. Arrived Kathleen Springs carpark...

Jul 18, 2009 - Day11

This morning was great, had a wonderful sleepin till about 7:30am(: Had a great brekkie of pancakes and maple syrup. After brekkie we left camp at about 8:30 to go and visit the Uluru cultural centre and had a meeting with a park ranger who spoke to us about the history and the life of Uluru and Kata tjuta and the flora and fauna also about the native people of Uluru. We then hoped back on to our bus and headed to the rock (Uluru). We then had some people climbing the rock and others walking the base of it. Emily Harmer speaking. The...

Jul 17, 2009 - Day 10 !

First of all, HIII MUMMY!!! and Dad. (lol) 7am first sleep in for the ime that we have been here, ( it felt so good to be able to sleep in even if it was only for an hour more than normal.) we all got ready super fast and got on the bus pumped of the 5.5km kings canyon walk. it was exciting but tiring and some (KAYLA R) got billions of blisters. She's still limping to the momment (hehe). YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE HILL THAT WE HAD TO CLIMB TO GET UP TO THE TOP! IT WAS HUGE AND IT WAS SOOO STEEP!!. But the rest of the way made up for the...

May 17, 2009 - Anangu Land

Today was about discovering and learning what Uluru and Kata Tjuta is all about. The National Park is on Anangu land and is open to visitors, and welcomes everyone. The traditional owners are happy for people to visit, but wish for us to respect their culture and their land. We went out to both Uluru and Kata Tjuta. We weren't sure about doing the climb or not on Uluru, but in the end it was an easy decision - the climb was CLOSED due to expectant bad weather. If people disregarded this, then they could be fined $1,500. At Uluru, we...

May 16, 2009 - Ayers Rock camping ground

We travelled to the township of Yulara today, which is where the Ayers Rock resort is located. We have a cabin for two nights. Camping is not permitted at the base of Uluru anymore, and you have to visit via the The Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park. The national park entrance is approx 4 kms from the resort, and then Uluru itself is another 15 kms further on. We arrived just after lunch today, so we went for a bike ride, and travelled (rode) out to the national park entrance and got our passes for the next couple of days. At Yulara, the...

Mar 25, 2009 - Hot Hot Hot!

G'day from the SURFACE OF THE SUN! It is HOT HOT HOT HOT here! I mean really the scenery is cool but that is the only thing that is cool here. I can't imagine who would want to live here, unless you are some sort of ruler of the underworld (no offence to any religious folks intended). We headed to Uluru (A.K.A. Ayers Rock) early early yesterday morning and have just made it back to Alice Springs(it is now about 7:15 pm here on Wednesday, and about 3:42 am back in Alberta.) I have to say that despite the scorching temperatures (I mean what...

Mar 8, 2009 - Uluru

It was a 4.45am start to set off and catch sunrise over Uluru. As we pulled up we got more than a view of Uluru as the motor home we had pulled up behind had a lady undressing totally oblivious to the fact that 20 odd people could see right through the window! Hey ho. Snapping away with my camera and watching the changing colours of Uluru was truly magical. We then set off on a walk around the base approx 10km there were certain places that could not be photographed due to it's religious/sacred meaning to the Aborigines (these were usually...

Jul 4, 2008 - A tour highlight - Uluru!

THE main reason I came to Oz (as well as to see shonkers off course and family!!) and my day started having a shower in my own bathroom in my own room. Parfait! We were taken to the visitor centre first and I got into all the info on show as well as I have to admit the t-shirts in the shop. Remember the exit is always through the shop! (actually I didn`t get into the t-shirts in the shop) This all made me a little bit late for the bus - 2 minutes by my reckoning. I got outside where the bus was meant to be and was greeted with a big...

Jul 4, 2008 - Day 11 - Erldunda to Uluru

Vital Statisitcs Distance : 254 KM Deisel Price Erldunda : $2.229 – ouch ! Fuel Economy : 10.4 ltr / 100 Lazy start today as we had only 250K to travel. Deciding to start late proved to be a mistake as the kids, particularly Johanna, did not travel as well despite the short distance – confirming our theory that the best K’s are those we have behind us before lunch. We left the caravan park at around 10:30am, the last van to leave an empty park. (The couple from Jervis Bay, to whom we had suggested the park the previous day, thanked us for...

Jun 9, 2008 - Uluru - Ayers Rock

We hadn't seen much of inland Australia so we were looking forward to a few days in the outback. We flew from Cairns to Uluru (Ayers Rock) which lies in the centre of Australia. As the plane came into land all you could see in any direction was miles of flat desert with the exception of the giant red rock itself of which we got a great view. Having seen it in pictures we still couldn't quite imagine how huge Uluru was until it was right there before us. Although it may appear that you have a choice of various hotels and campgrounds at...

Jun 8, 2008 - Uluru

Tag 2 fuehrte uns dann endlich nach Uluru ... auf Wunsch der einheimischen Bevoelkerung haben wir auf die Besteigung des Monolithen verzichtet und sind vielmehr die 10 km rundherum gelaufen ... der Weg an sich war ereignislos, die Aussichten aber beeindruckend. Nach nur 3 Stunden hatten wir Uluru von wirklich allen Seiten bewundert und unzaehlige Fotos geschossen. Unser naechster Stop war das Sunset Parking Area - ein riesiger Parkplatz, welcher einzig dazu dient allabendlich alle Touristen und ihre Wagen fuer die Dauer des Sonnenuntergangs...