Uluru

I have been in the red center for 3 days, staying in a luxury "tent" that has air conditioning, king size bed, free mini-bar and stereo. There are 16 tents so generally no more than 32 people at the most. It's been great fun and I have met good people. Most people stay 2 nights and the activities are planned to get the highlights in the area done in a short time. It starts of with a sunset viewing of Uluru with champagne, cheese, fruit and crackers. The picture above is from that evening. The weather has been cloudy and rainy. It doesn't make for the incredible red pictures that everyone wants to have, but that's okay. After dinner we looked at the night sky with the help of a pretty good telescope. The highlight was Saturn complete with rings. The next morning started at 5:30 with a sunrise viewing of Kata Tjuta/The Olgas, which apparently is more sacred to the Aboriginals than Uluru. In the afternoon we did a short walk at Uluru, looking at some of the sacred areas and learning the stories of the rock. 3 of the couples I arrived with also were staying 3 nights, so we became a group within a group. Yesterday morning was the sunrise at Uluru walk to the main watering hole. Our smaller group all opted to do the entire base walk of Uluru instead of the shorter outing. It took about 2 1/2 hours and by the end my gimpy leg was even gimpier. I did manage not to fall to far behind the rest and when I got back I told them to not take their easy gait and rhythm for granted. Last night we celebrated 2 birthdays for 2 of our group. Since all food and beverages are included we did a good job of finishing off many bottles of many different alcohols. This morning was a sleep in and relax time. I managed to sleep until 7:15 after going to bed at 3. Almost time for a nap now at 10:45. I fly to Cairns this afternoon and start my exploration of The Great Barrier Reef and maybe some rain forest as well.