Brisbane Trip Day 13: Gold Coast

I woke early due to the curtains being open and the sun rising so early in Queensland. I had a nice long shower then spent some time on the computer. I woke the kids and we got ready for our day before going down to breakfast at 7.30. I had a 2 for 1 adults breakfast voucher so Caitlin ate for free, and the other kids cost $1 per year of age - which meant a full buffet breakfast for the 4 of us cost $51.50. The kids enjoyed it SO much (and so did I). We ate bacon, eggs in various forms, sausages, tomatoes, potatoes, waffles, pancakes, maple syrup, croissants, danishes, cinnamon rolls, cereal, yoghurt, fruit, juice, tea and coffee, and ice cream with topping (Caitlin and I didn't have any ice cream). Everyone ate as much as they could and it was all delicious.

Upstairs we finished getting ready then went to the car to drive to Movie World. We arrived just before 10am. We'd seen the DC Rivals HyperCoaster on Monday when we were at Wet n Wild, but looking at it up close from the Movie World Carpark made it look quite terrifying - and the thought that we COULD go on it today made it much more real. We sat and watched it and the Green Lantern coaster (which had several upside down bits and a drop that curved back in under itself) then realised we could scare ourselves out of doing anything if we stayed watching for too long so we headed in to the park.

There was a very excited vibe to the park and I was happy to be showing the kids somewhere I'd been before (although it had been over 20 years and most of the rides have changed). We wandered up the main street and found Green Arrow doing photo opportunities so Liam jumped in with him. The girls lined up for a photo with Wonder Woman but she finished before they got to the start of the line. We looked around for a shop to buy a refillable soft drink cup from - I'd promised the kids we'd get one today, but most places only had pink and we wanted black (a lady at Sea World yesterday had said Movie World had better colour choices, turns out we probably would have been better off getting the blue SeaWorld one and using it again today). Anyway, after checking in several places I finally was able to purchase a black cup. The kids were in the Looney Tunes kids area and went on the Sylvester Bounce and Pounce - a kids version of the ride that lifts you way up high and then drops you down fast. This one wasn't very high, and wasn't fast, just bounced the kids up and down for a while. They had fun. Caitlin was allowed on because she's 13 - I wasn't allowed on as an adult.

We all went then to the RoadRunner coaster. The guy let Caitlin sit with Amelie - he asked if she was 14 or over and she gave an affirmative kind of noise. Liam sat with me. The restraints covered both people in a seat, which meant that Liam and Amelie both had a huge gap between their legs and the bar, because Caitlin and I are so much bigger. Amelie said she wanted to get off, and the guy was really lovely about it. He talked to her about whether she'd prefer to sit with me and assured her she was safe, but she was adamant so he let her off and Liam moved to be with Caitlin which felt safer for him. The ride was fun - a little scary but not terrifying and I imagine a 2nd ride wouldn't be scary at all. Amelie waited for us and then went on the Carousel with Caitlin - she sat on Sylvester and was thrilled as he is her favourite Looney Tunes character. The kids all went on the Sylvester and Tweety Cages then had a look at the other kids rides while I talked to a lady who had just been on the DC Rivals HyperCoaster. She said it was terrifying and the drop was like no other drop she'd ever experienced. Her description was enough for me to decide I was definite NO for this ride.

We went to watch the Stunt Driving Show - it was very loud so a bit uncomfortable for Amelie but the show was fun. It was hot sitting there watching it - I'm glad the seats were in shade!

Seeing a 4D movie was high on everyone's priority lists so we went to the theatre for the next show. It was a road runner show and pretty fun, our seats moved around a lot and there were noises from all directions, sensations on our feet, and water sprayed on us. Amelie was worried she wouldn't be able to see properly and knelt on her seat, and was able to experience most of the effects.

Whenever we walked past a clothing store Caitlin had a quick browse as she wanted to buy some t-shirts. As we walked around the park there were often superheroes or Looney Tunes characters out offering photo opportunities or performing a little display, so we got many photos with various people as our paths crossed. Amelie went up to CatWoman who was draped on a car and had a little chat. CatWoman said 'Bye Cutie' as she left which was pretty thrilling. When Caitlin went over CatWoman told her she liked her hair (still in braids).

Caitlin and Liam went on the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster (after seeing Batman pass by on the Batmobile) and Amelie and I went on the bumper cars. We met up with the others who both wanted to take me on the Spooky Coaster, and went back to the bumpers. The 4 of us had 3 or 4 more goes. Amelie had to sit with me but she drove (and I could reach the accelerator and help with the steering if she got stuck). She was pretty good at steering and avoided a lot of collisions which I think I would have become part of. Afterwards we watched the Doomsday Destroyer which performed in a similar way to the Pirate Ship at Australia's Wonderland, the one that went all the way over. I enjoyed watching it and was considering whether I could still do it. We had a play with a touch screen code cracking puzzle in Lex Luthor's van.

The big kids went to have a look at the shops again and Amelie explored Charlie's Chocolate Factory then she went on the Bounce and Pounce again. We headed down the other end of Main St to look at the scary rides and sat watching the Arkham Asylum Coaster for a while - a suspended roller coaster (I went on something similar (or the same one?) last time I was here, it was called Lethal Weapon then.) Everyone was hot and tired and we were going to head back for some lunch, then Liam and Caitlin decided to go on this coaster while we were there. They enjoyed it, Caitlin in particular - Liam found the harness didn't quite hold him in place so when the ride twisted or went upside down, he shifted in his seat a bit.

We went back and sat in the main tables in Main St, and Amelie got to give Sylvester a high-5 when he was getting ready for a photo shoot. We ate some lunch and got some more photos, saw Wonder Woman stop some robbers and CatWoman fight off 3 policemen. After we'd eaten some lunch we went and browsed the shops and Caitlin picked out and bought 3 t-shirts. We lined up then to watch the parade which was enjoyable. The kids were able to high-5 several of the superheroes or Looney Tunes characters as they walked back up Main St, and Marilyn Monroe came over to Amelie and said 'Would you like an ice cream Princess?' and gave her a Magnum. Thrilling for all of us!

Caitlin and I went back to the Scooby Spooky Coaster while the others went to the chocolate shop. Amelie filled a tube with sour powder and happily worked her way through that for the rest of the day. I was pretty nervous and I found it pretty scary - it was dark and I couldn't tell what was going to happen next. It actually helped that Liam had told me a bit about it so some things weren't as scary. At the moment all the special effects aren't working so it might even be scarier when they are in place - or maybe just more fun. I found the bit that wound from side to side quite scary - as we went around each sharp bend I leaned way out to the side and it felt like I was going to fall out. I screamed a lot and the guy behind me thought it was pretty funny.

We met up with the others and went to the HyperCoaster. Liam and Caitlin went and lined up and Amelie and I sat and watched and freaked out a bit at the thought of them being on it. The kids came back out after a while, very full of adrenaline and went straight back on it. They said it was really really scary on the first drop, and a bit on the second drop, then really fun. (It's a long coaster). Liam and I went back to the Scooby Coaster and this time I enjoyed it a bit more and screamed much less (still a lot by Liam's standards). Caitlin took Amelie on the Road Runner Coaster - she was ok with it but didn't like the track sloping sideways so much. Liam and Caitlin decided to go and try the Superman Coaster - I'd decided against it because it goes straight up. Amelie did the Bounce and Pounce again, then the Taxi Ride - she got to drive a taxi around a course, and because she was the only one there she had to keep getting out and moving to the first taxi in the queue each time she finished a circuit. She did 5 or 6 circuits then went to the Junior Driving Course. We walked through the Splash Zone to cool off a bit. We finished off on the Carousel, she sat on Sylvester again and I sat on a bench seat. The others came up as we finished - they'd loved Superman and said it was incredibly fast - faster than the JetSkis the day before. They'd also done the Green Lantern Coaster and enjoyed it, even the upside down bits. The kids were so excited that they'd been on all the roller coasters that were open.

We popped back into the chocolate shop and Liam bought some fudge, then into another store to buy some presents. We filled up our soft drink cup one more time (it had been great having that with us all day, cold drinks anytime we wanted them) and finally headed out to the carpark. Everyone was seriously exhausted and very very happy, it had been a fantastic day. I walked to the very far side of the carpark to try to get a photo of the DC Rivals coaster - I had to go that far to fit it all in one shot. The kids rang Tony to tell him about their great day, and we drove to a nearby shopping centre.

We popped in to Coles and bought roast beef and deli salads for lunch, and some pastries for breakfast tomorrow. The kids headed straight up to the room when we got back to the resort, and I followed a bit later after organising some things. On the way to the room I noticed people coming from the pool area - I checked and it was open! They had obviously finished their maintenance. We ate some of the beef and salads and put our swimmers on and excitedly headed down to the pool. It was a lovely temperature and a great place to swim. I taught Caitlin and Liam some tumbling tricks and we all swam around and enjoyed the refreshing swim. It was so great that we had got the discounted rate because the pool was closed, and then we still got to swim in the pool anyway! At 8pm there was a light and music show in the splash zone and the kids went and had a bit of a play and a dance. They wanted to try the sauna so we went and sat in there for a while and sweated a bit, then went back to the spa - a great way to finish off a very tiring day. We'd walked 38000 steps in 2 days - a big effort!

Back at the room we finished off our dinner and set up the beds, this time Amelie slept on the floor between the 2 beds, Liam had a bed to himself and I shared with Caitlin. The kids played briefly on their iPods and were all asleep by just after 9.

Brisbane Trip Day 7: Coffs Harbour

Amelie came up into my bed in the middle of the night and I was awake then for a couple of hours. Initially I was worrying about things then I looked up some auto electricians online and started to plan the next leg of our trip and felt much better. When I woke up in the morning I felt ok although my cold seemed worse. I went for a quick walk down to the beach then came back to ring an auto electrician who started work at 7am. He wasn’t able to help me but gave me the number of someone who would probably be able to. I played with Amelie for a while then rang the 2^nd guy, he agreed to come out and have a look at the window the following morning.

We’d planned to have a quiet day today then go to Dolphin Marine Magic (formerly the Pet Porpoise Pool) tomorrow – but not knowing how long it would take the window to be fixed I didn’t want to risk having to sit around all morning waiting to be able to go. So we decided to go today and quickly got everyone else out of bed, had breakfast, packed some food, untaped the window and were at the Dolphin place by 9.30. I’d bought our tickets at the caravan park and saved about 15% which was a nice bonus. When we arrived I taped the window back up in case it rained and for security.

We had arrived at the dolphin place in time for dolphin kisses so we headed out to the dolphin pool – there were 2 dolphins swimming in the pool when we arrived so we excitedly watched them for a while. The kids then lined up to get a kiss from a dolphin which they all loved. They said the dolphin’s nose felt rubbery. We headed down to then get a hug from a seal – the kids all had one individually and then I joined them all for a group hug. We were able to put our arms around the seal – it felt smooth and furry and slippery.

We went back to the dolphin pool to get ready to watch the show – we were early enough to get the front row of seats, right at the middle of the pool. The show was enjoyable and funny – and Amelie was picked to go and help the dolphins dance – she got to stand by the side of the pool and conduct the dolphins by pointing her fingers and swinging her hands side to side. The smile on her face was as big as I have ever seen. The seals performed directly in front of us, we had a great view. Caitlin was picked to throw rings to a seal, who caught them over her head. She was also pretty thrilled. Once the show had finished we were all able to stand at the side of the pool and the dolphins swam past on their backs and we were allowed to pat their bellies. They felt cool and smooth and it was a lot of fun.

After the show we went to watch the shark and ray feeding. We looked at the fish, small sharks and rays in a large tank – we could look in through the top, or through windows in the side. There were also smaller tanks containing colourful fish from the region. Fish and squid were handed out on little metal plates and we were able to feed the animals using tongs. Some of the big snapper really splashed as they came up to grab the food, it was pretty funny. A banjo shark came right up the side of the tank and kept popping up to try and get food – it was beautiful and also amusing.

Next we watched the green turtles being fed – one of them was huge and the others a good size. We listened to the guy talk about how and where they’d been rescued and some other turtles that had been rehabilitated. On our way from there to the penguin feeding I noticed a plaque with this trainer’s name on it – he has been working there since 1970, so would have been there even when I visited as a 2 year old!

The Little Penguins were very cute (as expected). We got some photos then were able to help feed them fish – the guy handed out a couple of little fish or a piece of squid to each person as they got to the front of the line – we held out the fish and the penguins pulled them out of our hands (and then fought over the fish until one of them managed to swallow it). We were able to back to the end of the line and keep feeding them until all the fish were gone – the kids had several turns. Most people were feeding the penguins right up at the barrier, we reached a bit further back to feed some of the other penguins. Some of them didn’t like squid (and many people didn’t want to hold the squid) – Liam spent quite a while trying to find a penguin to eat his last piece of squid.

We then helped feed the small turtles (throwing pellets in to their pond), looked at the photos of the dolphin kiss and seal hug, then went back up to look at the dolphins again. One of the trainers was about to do a training session with a seal so we were able to sit (in our front row seats again) and watch that, it was cool to see how the trainer was working on tricks with the seal. We chatted to another trainer who had started working there part time in Year 11 and had recently moved to a full time job once she finished school, she loved working there and was really appreciative of the opportunity she’d had. One of the dolphins brought a ball over to the edge and Amelie played catch with it for a little while which was pretty fun. Walking back down from the pool we saw a trainer with a little New Zealand Fur Seal and talked to her and one of the vets.

We went and had some lunch (surrounded by a school group) and the kids wandered around and looked at the animals some more. Soon it was time for the afternoon session of dolphin kisses so we went back for more – I had a kiss this time as well, it was pretty cool (and yes, it did feel rubbery). Then off for hugs with the seal, the kids had another individual hug, I had one as well, and Caitlin and Liam hugged her together.

Back to see the show again, and had our front row seats again. This time I was picked to hold fish out for the dolphins to jump up and grab (very excited), Liam got to help the dolphins dance, Caitlin got to do a tooth and heart check on one of the dolphins, and Amelie got to throw a ball to one of the seals. (There were very few people in the audience this time, only 2 other kids and they also were selected to interact with the animals). We patted the dolphins again then went for another shark feeding and turtle feeding. We played with the dolphins in the pool again, throwing the ball to them, and then went back to see the penguins and fed them again. We went and watched the seals in their pool for a while, and then went to purchase the group photo of us with the seal. The kids browsed the gift shop and Caitlin and Amelie bought some jewellery.

It was very hot and humid by now so we decided to go to the Big Banana to get a frozen banana. I drove around via the beaches so we could have a look – the beach just to the north of the marina looked very inviting, not rough, wild surf like everywhere else we’d been. I drove all the way to the end of Ocean Parade and the last little bit felt very familiar – just like a memory I have of walking with my Dad when we were in Coffs Harbour in 1974. (I checked with Mum later and we stayed just near that road on that trip, so I think it was the place from my memory). On the way out of town we passed a shopping centre so called in to get some milk and something for dinner. We also went to Target and bought some clothes that were needed.

At the Big Banana we bought 2 choc (and sprinkle) covered frozen bananas to share, as well as an Ultimate Banana smoothie (with cinnamon and maple syrup) and a Choc Banana smoothie. They were all delicious and very very enjoyable. We wandered through the banana and then went to play in the video arcade for a short time. The kids all got lots of tickets and we exchanged them for a few little toys – including those rubber popping domes that I remember loving as a kid. We went back to the banana and took some photos of the kids in front of it, and I figured out the self-timer on my camera and we got a group shot.  There’s now a fun park at the Big Banana as well but we were there too late in the day to do any of the activities.

Back at the caravan park we went for a swim in the pool which was lovely and refreshing. Amelie played for a while with some other kids in the playground. I figured out that this caravan park was the same place I’d stayed with my family in 1986 – but it looked different because they seem to have recently sold the top half of the park and it’s now a housing estate. So I was feeling quite nostalgic for previous Coffs visits.

We cooked sausages on the bbq in the camp kitchen and then headed back to camp for a quiet night. There was more rain coming so I spent a bit of time setting up the awning so that none of the rain pooled in the roof, and felt like I did a pretty good job (it worked overnight). 

Half-lap Day 109: Naracoorte -> Camperdown

The beds were so comfortable and the temperature of the house just right, and we all slept really well. I got up and had a shower then worked on the computer for a while, the others gradually woke up and played on the iPad then went out to have breakfast with our hosts. We had a relaxed morning, watching the Olympics and chatting some more, and I finished the 8^th Harry Potter book. We packed the car quite easily as we’d taken very little out, then spent quite a while saying goodbye to the dogs. We were ready to leave around 10am.

We drove straight to Naracoorte Caves and bought tickets for the Bat Cave tour (how could we resist!?), then we had an hour to wander through the fossil centre and look at all the animals that have been discovered in this cave system, and learn about how old the caves were and how paleontologists figure this stuff out. Seeing the megafauna that used to live in this area was pretty cool and exciting. The fossil centre had a cave in it, with a tunnel to crawl through – we all had a go and it was just slightly claustrophobic for some of us. Caitlin loved it, and is keen to come back here to do some adventure caving one day (in the real caves, not the manmade one in the fossil centre). We had a sandwich and the kids bought commemorative coins of the fossil centre.

We started off on the tour and went into a room set up with TVs that display the footage from infrared cameras in the bat cave. We could see little bats on the wall of the cave, and then found an area where lots of them were flying around. It was cool to be able to see them without disturbing them at all. We also got to look at pictures of bats and at a couple of real bats that have been preserved. Nice to be able to see the actual size of them (these guys are Southern Bent-Wing Bats).

From there we went into Blanche Cave. The guide had offered the kids one of the torches to carry, so there was fierce negotiation about who would hold it when and for how long, which resolved itself fairly well. Blanche cave started as a large open chamber, with entries at both ends. It was quite light and airy inside, it was more like a massive open room. There were lots of columns, and holes up in the ceiling (caused by carbon dioxide bubbles when the cave was full of water in ancient times), and interesting patterns on the walls – there were places where we could still see shells and coral and tubeworms making up part of the limestone. There were also a coulple of preserved animals who had died down here, a possum and a turtle, adding to the depth of knowledge that the animal remains are providing to the scientists around here.

We went further into the cave, through a little garden area and into another chamber that only had the one entrance, so it was quickly much darker. The temperature dropped significantly as we walked in. There was another preserved possum here, probably 150 years since it died, and it still had a full pelt of skin, the cold dry air and darkness helping it decompose very very slowly. There were areas of the ground here littered with tiny little bat bones, which will eventually turn into fossils. I was impressed with the way we were allowed access to safe areas of the cave, and they had cordoned off any areas where people walking would harm the history or heritage of the cave. We went off the main path, with the guide, into the Bat Chamber – no Batman here, and we only saw one little bat, hiding in a crevice. Cool formations on the walls and floors though, and some very old graffiti – burned into the ceiling with candle smoke, or carved into a column in the middle of the chamber – dates as old as 1885!

Leaving that chamber we went further into the cave and found where most of the bats were hanging out (the Bat Cave is their breeding cave, the one we were looking at through the infrared cameras, and no one goes in there. This cave is one of the places they hang out during the winter when they are in torpor and not going out to feed much. We were allowed to shine shuttered light at them unless they started chirping then we needed to leave them alone. We found 4 clumps of bats up on the ceiling, all huddled together. They were cute, just moving around a little bit and checking us out then deciding we were no threat. (I think LiAM and I, and maybe the girls, were the only ones who thought they were cute. We loved them.)

We walked back out, chatting to the guide, then did a quick toilet stop and got on our way. Today we drove through the Coonawarra wine region, very prettyy again and quiite different from home or the Barossa that we saw yesterday. The vineyards still stretched as far as the eye could see, but they seemed to be owned by more wineries, lots of small allotments of vines rather than just a few big ones owned by few companies.

We turnd left at Penola and were soon back in Victoria. After most of our border crossings on the trip – either quarantine stations or at least big signs and rest stops and a bit of fanfare, this one was very tame. Just a blue sign along a winding country road saying ‘Welcome to Victoria’. Everyone felt quite comforted to be back, and home is seeming ever closer.

The drive was beautiful once again. The land was very green, at this end of winter. Areas of massive gum trees throughout the fields (and low lying areas full of water, there’s obviously been a lot of rain here this season) soon gave way to rolling hills, with few trees, covered in green grass. We saw lots of cattle, and sheep, and windmills. The road was much windier than most of the roads we’ve driven on in this trip, as well as hillier, and Caitlin felt a little carsick.

We drove through Casterton and Coleraine which were beautiful little towns. We stopped for petrol in Hamilton and Tony and I remembered it from when we were here before Caitlin was born. The last bit of the drive to Camperdown went fairly quickly – Tony was in familiar territory now and we all felt a bit like we were nearly home when we reached Camperdown.

We went to Tony’s Nanna’s first. She had just popped out to see the nurse so we chatted to Tony’s uncle until she got back, comparing travel stories and catching up on family news from home.  Nanna came back and we had a cup of tea with her and Tony’s aunt, and ate some of Nanna’s sausage rolls. It was great to see her and she was thrilled to see the kids again, it’s been a couple of years. The kids played with her dog and her cat and it felt so cosy and comfortable to be there.

Eventually we said goodbye and went to Tony’s uncle’s house (a different uncle). We met their dogs and had a drink and settled down to chat while dinner finished cooking. We watched some Olympics and caught up on everyone’s news. We had a delicious roast lamb for dinner, then Tony got out the computer and showed his uncle some of the old photos we’d copied over from his cousin in Perth, he really enjoyed seeing them and they reminisced for a good while.

Millie was tired so w the kids and I went to the bedroom and we read the last chapter of Inheritance, so fitting that we finished it on the last night of her trip. I stayed with her until she went to sleep, then went to bed myself. The kids stayed up a while longer, LiAM did some drawing in Paintbrush and made an awesome picture of a horse, Caitlin played on her iPad and showed Tony’s uncle how to make videos. Eventually everyone headed to bed for our very last night away.

Half-lap Day 98: Perth

There was lots of wind and rain overnight and we were quite grateful to be inside and not in the tent. Once everyone was awake our hosts cooked breakfast for everyone, bacon, eggs, baked beans, tomato, toast, tea and coffee, it was very tasty and a nice leisurely meal.

We had the Olympics on and watched the swimming finals, seeing 2 Australian Gold Medals which was very very exciting. The kids played in the activity room and popped out to see some of the Olympics from time to time. Tony’s cousin showed us some old photos of the family and offered to share them with us later. It was a quite morning, chatting with our friends and drinking cups of tea.

After 11 (when the shops open on Sundays in Perth), Tony’s cousin took me up to the local Aldi – it only opened a couple of weeks ago and he hadn’t been yet so was fascinated by the prices and how it all works. I was excited to be back in an Aldi again and did a big stock up for our trip back home, I shouldn’t need to shop again for anything apart from bread, milk and meat for dinner.

Back home we had ham bread rolls and soup and leftovers for lunch, and they kids kept playing in the activity room. Caitlin practiced her gymnastics a bit and they made several more musical.ly videos. I talked to a friend on the phone then went for a walk with Tony’s cousin’s wife when she walked the dog. I came back and sorted out all our food – it took a little bit of organising to get it all in the trailer, and the wind and rain started up again so I got fairly wet. Most of our stuff stayed dry though, and I was able to bring the sleeping bags inside to dry. I finished sorting out our washing and we had a nice relaxing afternoon. Tony cooked some more sausage rolls which everyone loved, then he cooked his chicken and tarragon dish for dinner, it was delicious and another enjoyable meal with great company.

We watched more Olympics and Tony and his cousin went through the old family photos and transferred the relevant ones to our computer. They found a photo of Tony’s mum at her sister’s wedding, she would have been about Caitlin’s age and looked exactly like Caitlin does in photos, it was incredible.

We watched Olympics until everyone was very tired, Caitlin was really enjoying the gymnastics and it was hard to tear ourselves away. I read a couple of very exciting chapters of Inheritance then we all went to bed and listened to the even stronger wind and heavier rain outside.

Half-lap Day 19: Uluru

I had been worried that I’d be grumpy for the whole time we were at Uluru, but when I woke up the next morning I felt much better and excited to be here. I was up well before sunrise, so I wandered up to the lookout at the campground (I couldn’t find the path in the dark, so went over the sand dune for a little way until I hit the path). It was a cloudy morning, and the sky to the east was soon glowing red, so brightly it looked like it was on fire. Uluru looked pretty cool slowly emerging from the dark, and the sunlight on Kata Tjuta was impressive. There were about 20 people at the lookout, and everyone was completely silent, it was pretty cool. We watched the sky in it’s various stages of red – once the sun hit the horizon though it was completely behind the clouds, so there was no lighting up of Uluru, the sky was suddenly grey and uniform. Still a spectacular morning though.

I started chatting to another lady up there, we compared cameras then talked about our trip and our kids, she also has a Caitlin, about a year younger than mine. When we compared itineraries they were remarkably similar for the next few days.

Back down to the tent where I pottered around and everyone gradually emerged from bed. LiAM and Millie and I played cards for a while. We took our time getting ready, and headed over to Uluru around 10.30. Our plan was to do the base walk around Uluru, and we were pleased it was cloudy and quite a bit cooler than the previous couple of days. Being right up close to Uluru was impressive as always – it is SO big and it constantly surprises me, I think my brain can’t comprehend its size and so shrinks it a bit in my memory. We started at the Mala parking area and walked to the right – I wanted to make sure we at least got as far as the Mutjilipu waterhole, so we went the direction that would get us there the quickest.

At some places the rock was almost sheer – looking up to the top was incredible. In others there were folds or caves in the rock, it kept changing constantly and, where it is permitted, I took loads of photos. Some areas are culturally sensitive and it is requested that no one takes photos there – because the place is part of the story and belief of the local people, it is supposed to only be viewed in it’s actual location. I enjoyed looking at those parts too, and imagining the generations of people using these areas for their ceremonies and learning. We ran in to the lady I’d met in the morning, and met each other’s families and had a bit of a chat.

The first third or so of the walk was through trees, it was quite green on that side. The waterhole was very cool, there was still a trickle of water running in to it. We saw water in one other place and the rest was dry. We saw lots of different types of ants, and several bugs – there really haven’t been a lot of animals around in this region, compared to other places we’ve been. LiAM saw a kangaroo. The last 2 thirds of the walk was mainly further away from the rock – so we got a longer perspective of the view, which Tony preferred, while I preferred the bit where we were close up and could see lots of detail. The middle third of the walk seemed to take forever – we could see features on the rock which didn’t seem to get any closer for a very long time, and for some of it we were more exposed to the sun, which was occasionally peeking through the clouds. Tony gave piggy backs to each of the kids at different times which helped them get a bit further. After a while Caitlin offered to carry Millie in the sling, so we set them up and Caitlin walked a long way with Millie on her back, we were all quite impressed.

This side of Uluru was less green but had different flowers – lots of banksias on this side. We played games to pass the time – first person to see an ant (easy), first person to get a fly on their face (also easy – except for Caitlin who was wearing her fly net), first person to see a bird – less easy. Right near the end of the walk we went back close to the rock and were able to go in a little cave and see more of the folds. There was a short walk to a gorge but everyone was just keen to get back to the car so we skipped that.

Back at the car we sat on the ground for a while and recovered our energy. The walk was 10.6km and we did it in about 5 hours, so a huge effort all around. It was only 90 minutes until sunset so we decided to stay and watch that. We popped in to the cultural centre and bought a couple of pieces of cake to share, then drove to the sunset viewing area. We ate the cake in the car, then Tony made us all hot drinks while we waited for the sun to set.

There was blue sky behind the rock but it was cloudy in the west, so there wasn’t direct sunlight on Uluru. It still looked so amazing though, rising up out of the desert by itself. About 20 minutes before the sun set, it broke through the clouds briefly and Uluru was lit up by a brilliant orange light. It only lasted a minute or two, then the sun slipped behind clouds again, and it was amazing. Very exciting to see. The sunset itself was again a bit of a fizzer as the usual gradual colour change didn’t happen, although we could see a bit of a change as the light dropped. The moon rose behind Uluru shortly after the sun set, which was cool to see.

Back to camp and we were all exhausted. I went to have a shower and Tony was going to cook some chicken that I’d bought at a greatly reduced price that afternoon – when he opened it, it didn’t smell great so we ditched that idea and had soup and noodles for dinner instead. Once we’d eaten we were fairly quickly in to bed and read for a very short time.