Uluru, Kings Canyon and The Ghan

We flew to the Ayers Rock Resort from Sydney and, after being checked into our accommodation, went out for a tour of Kata Tjuta and then Uluru (previously known as Ayers Rock). Kata Tjuta is a series of domes made of composite rock originally formed at the bottom of an inland sea and then later tilted up by crustal folding. This was the same process that formed Uluru, though the two look quite different. Whereas Kata Tjuta sediments were mixed with larger stones to form composite rock, Uluru was made form finer sediments only. We were at Uluru to view the spectacular sunset which changes it from orange to a blazing red. We'll have to take their word for it, though. It was cloudy. We went back to view the spectacular sunrise in the morning. It was totally cloudy again. We decided not to buy a lottery ticket today. We did have a super tour of Uluru with some explanation of its significance to the Aboriginal people. For dinner Mal got adventurous and tried the kangaroo steak. It made him jumpy (pun intended).

Kata Tjuta from the first lookout point.

I found a lovely lady at Kata Tjuta.

Check out the boulders that fell, leaving holes in the cliffs -- composite rock.

The sunset was behind us in this picture and it was quite cloudy in the west.

This is the best shot we could get with some sun on Uluru.

The next day we were up to meet the bus at 6 am (oh, joy!) for a hike along the rim of Kings Canyon. After climbing up to the top of the canyon, we were rewarded with beautiful views. This hike reminded us of hikes in Utah because of the red sandstone formations. One trail led in to the Garden of Eden, where one of our fellow hikers shared jelly snakes with everyone. Thank goodness there were no apples around. Our guide explained some of the punishments the Aboriginals used to mete out for transgressions of their code of conduct. For a serious breach, some juice from a particular plant was rubbed on one of your eyes. This made you blind in that eye for a few weeks. For a more serious crime, you might get a spear thrust through your thigh, hopefully missing any major arteries. If you did something really bad, the spear might be put through your stomach or, worst of all, your heart. Harsh!

Great views from the top of Kings Canyon.

Rewrite the Bible! We now know who put the snake in the Garden of Eden.

The Garden of Eden

We went on to Kings Creek Station for a lunch of camel burgers. That'll give you a lump in your throat! Following that we travelled to Alice Springs to board The Ghan, a train that runs from Darwin in the north to Adelaide in the south. The train is named after the camels that were brought to this part of Australia from Afghanistan. We quite enjoyed this portion of our trip through the Australian outback, though we didn't catch even one glimpse of Crocodile Dundee. Such is life.

The lump-in-the-throat camel, soon to be burger meat.

All aboard!

A cozy berth for daytime travel.

Good-night!

Hanging out with new friends in the lounge car.

Great meals in the dining car, unlimited beer included!

Next stop, Adelaide!

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