Friday March 26, 2010 – Yulara

We booked a helicopter flight for 10:30 this morning. It was nice to not have to rush around in the morning. Since we gained an hour yesterday we were up in time to see the sun rise over the desert and see the change in colours of Uluru. It was a very nice experience. I forgot my fly net which made it bothersome. A very nice way to start a day.

It was a great day for a flight. Not a cloud in the sky. We flew around and over Uluru. We noticed that we did not fly over the aborigine's village or the south side of the rock as they consider it to be sacred. When you see Uluru from afar you think it is a smooth red rock. It is red but not smooth at all. There are many ridges and holes where erosion has taken place. From the air you can see just how flat the land is and how sparse is the vegetation. Since there has been rain off and on since January everything is very green. The locals cannot stop talking about it. We learned about the vegetation in the area. There are mainly 2 types of trees and lots of bushes and grasses. We got some idea of how the rock came to be. It is mainly just one massive piece of sandstone full of feldspar, formed millions and millions of years ago.

Our next site to see was Kata Tjuta. There are 36 dome shaped rock outcroppings. These domes are made up of conglomerate of gravel pieces, granite and basalt. They are eroding more easily then Uluru leaving beautiful gorges behind. It was beautiful to see from above. This rock formation is higher than Uluru. It is also a sacred site for the native people. There is more vegetation growth on the tops of Kata Tjuta. Both of these formations started to be formed 550 million years ago.

Our last flight destination was Lake Amadeus, the largest salt lake in NT. Again because of the rain there was water in the lake. It is slowly evaporating. It was amazing to see the various coloured markings left by water flows of the past. We also saw wild camels. There are so many wild camels that they are becoming pests. Everyone is trying to figure out what to do. Soon our flight was over. Just as we were landing a private Leer Jet was taxiing getting ready for takeoff. While we were flying a 737 Qantas flight landed. It is a bigger airplane than one that land sin Kamloops.

After lunch we went out to the National Park where the 2 stone structures are. We went to Cultural Centre. The local aboriginal tribe is Anangu. They did a wonderful job explaining what these 2 structures mean to their people. It was very enlightening. Unfortunately, my hip decided I had done enough. I was hard pressed to get even close to the car. Charles was able to pick me up at the bus parking area which was closer than the car. I spent the rest of the day resting. Going in the pool helped.