TR June 2016 Uluru, A Spur of the Moment - Homeward Bound and end of TR on Day 8; 02/25

[ACDSNY]

Stunning scenery along the Kings Canyon Rim hiking. Looks like you got a good workout in.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Stunning scenery along the Kings Canyon Rim hiking. Looks like you got a good workout in.

We really enjoyed the walk....and the workout.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Desert Oaks Bistro Lunch




We got back to the resort around 1.30 pm and decided to try out the only option we had for lunch at Kings Canyon Resort.

The Desert Oaks Bistro markets itself as a relaxed, laid-back setting. I guess sparse was the word that came to mind.





In any event, lunch hours were 11.30 – 2 pm and we probably just got our order in before the kitchen closed.

DS decided on the Hawaiian Pizza. At $19, it was cheaper than the one we got at the Uluru resort.





The kitchen was extremely accommodating of DH’s dietary requirements. They upsized the garden salad and added the bread slices for no extra charge. I think this was $7.





I went with the Chicken Caeser salad. I’m pretty sure it topped the bill at around $22.




Lunch hit the mark for all of us. This meal was a definite improvement on last night’s less than average dinner.




(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Enjoying the Resort and Flowers


Over lunch, we weighed up our options for what to do. In the end, we all agreed that a lazy afternoon in the room was what we wanted to do. Afterall, we are on vacay.

Impressively, DS didn’t grouch one bit at that lack of service. He had come prepared and managed to keep himself occupied playing games on his Nintendo console.





DH and I spent a bit of time out on the balcony.





We really enjoyed our private view of red rock.





I will admit that I got a bit twitchy just sitting still. So on a whim, I went for a walk around the resort. It’s not a big area to cover, so getting to the pool area didn’t take long.





I found some bugs there.









The one bug that was a little lacking....were the flies. Anyone who comes to this part of the world during the hot season complains about the flies. We were incredibly lucky. There were a few to bug us from time to time, but not enough to swarm us over. Perhaps it was the cold or the recent rains that kept them away.

But I was really after flowers! There had been recent rains in this part of the world and everything was looking really green.


Pitjantjatjata name – Ultukunpa, Common name – Desert Grevillea, Botanical name – Grevillea juncifolia

The Desert Grevillea is a fire tolerant plant. After it has been burnt, shoots will spring out from the base. Flowers can be produced after heavy rains and the local Aboriginals use the honey found in the flower to make a sweet drink.






Common name – Wonga Wonga Vine, Botanical name – Pandorea Pandorana

The highly flexible wood of Pandorea pandorana was the most sought-after for use in woomera-cast spears among the people of the Central and Western Deserts. Its versatility allowed short pieces to be spliced together if longer ones could not be found. Due to its cultural significance, a group of mythological women with slender and flexible bodies were named after it










Common name – Sturt Desert Pea, Botanical name – Swainsona formosa

The floral emblem of South Australia is named after English botanist Isaac Swainson. It is probably Australia’s most well-known wildflower.





Pitjantjatjata name – Kalpir-kalpirpa, Common name – Sturt Desert Rose, Botannical name – Gossypium sturtianum

The floral emblem of Northern Territory was discovered by Charles Sturt in 1844-45. It is closely related to cotton. The flower does not have a perfume, but the essence is used in Bush Flower Remedies. Apparently, it’s used to treat guilt!






Common name – Annual Yellowtop, Botannical name – Senecio gregorii

Another wildflower that only appears after decent rains.





Pitjantjatjata name – Mintjingka, Common name – Latrobe’s Desert Fuchsia, Botanical name – Eremophila latrobei

Named after Charles LaTrobe, the Lieutenant Governor of Victoria 1839 – 54, this is another one of those fire tolerant plants so prevalent in Australia. The Aboriginal people eat the sweet nectar found at the base of the flowers by removing the flowers and squeezing the nectar out.










There are at least 4 different Cassia species in this part of the world. There wasn’t any information put out against this one and I can’t tell which specific one this is!








(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sunset at King’s Canyon




After my little botanical walk, DH and I decided we needed to check out sunset. This time, we made our way back to King’s Canyon and set up the tripods for this view.






We didn’t quite have this spot to ourselves. Some of the locals were also around. I ended up resorting to taking this larger than life local with the smart phone.





We might not have encountered many flies but there were a heap of mosquitoes out on this night. Both DH and I were bitten to bits!



Still, it was worth the trip out. As the sun set lower in the horizon, the colour glow off the rocks was stunning!!










It wasn’t too long when the sky also started to give us an amazing colour show.










And our luck held with Lady Moon.





She rose in the right location.






At this stage, we decided to call it quits for the night.







(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Dinner at Carmichael’s Restaurant




Given the mediocre dinner the night before, all of us were anxious for a considerable step-up in our meal tonight. So, we booked in to Carmichael’s restaurant.






Carmichael’s is where breakfast is served; so we figured it was worth a go.

DH and DS both decided on the mushroom risotto. Aside from the mushrooms, there were asparagus, parmesan and a poached egg on top. DH asked and got the dairy free version.






I decided on the Chicken Breast with wild fig puree, seasonal vegetables and thyme jus. It was delicious!






And DS and I decided to share dessert. The chocolate truffle cake with fresh berries was our pick for the night.






Yup. The moons were definitely aligned.






It WAS a good decision to eat here tonight! The perfect way to end the day.

 

[zanzibar138]

Wow more lovely photos. Sounds like my idea of a perfect afternoon - just the right mix of relaxation and activity.

Particularly love the wildflowers and the sunset pics, but that spider - ewww! I would have quickly vacated the premises, no matter how good the sunset view!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Beautiful pics of the glowing rock. I agree it sounded like the perfect afternoon and lovely wildflower pics. You will be making me dig out my old photos soon and look back. I think one day I might make a photo book of the trip as it is one of our first digital set of pics I think.

 

[dolphingirl47]

That pool area looks really nice and I loved all the photos of the wildflowers.

This photo is absolutely stunning. I love the intense colours. Dinner looked lovely.

Corinna

 

[PrincessInOz]

Wow more lovely photos. Sounds like my idea of a perfect afternoon - just the right mix of relaxation and activity.

Particularly love the wildflowers and the sunset pics, but that spider - ewww! I would have quickly vacated the premises, no matter how good the sunset view!

I didn't come across the spider until after I had set up the camera and tripod. By then, DH and I didn't feel like moving. We'd spent the better part of 15 minutes scouting the area and working out where we wanted to set up for sunset. In any event, the spider was far enough away not to bother me....that much.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Beautiful pics of the glowing rock. I agree it sounded like the perfect afternoon and lovely wildflower pics. You will be making me dig out my old photos soon and look back. I think one day I might make a photo book of the trip as it is one of our first digital set of pics I think.

Hope you find your old photos.
DH feels the same way. Somewhere in this house, we have pictures of our trip to Uluru all those years ago. He wants to find it and take a look at them.

It was a very restful afternoon.

 

[PrincessInOz]

That pool area looks really nice and I loved all the photos of the wildflowers.



This photo is absolutely stunning. I love the intense colours. Dinner looked lovely.

Corinna

Thank you. We did enjoy that afternoon and the sunset.

 

[franandaj]

Sounds like a good rest of the day. After such a long hike, I would have been fine spending the time kicking back in the room.

Your flower pictures were beautiful and dinner seemed tastier than previous meals!

Oh yeah and the sunset wasn't bad either!

 

[mvf-m11c]

I enjoyed your flower pictures and the description about them. With the telezoom lens helped it a lot with the closeups.

The sunset was very nice. Look forward to reading your next day.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Just caught up.
The pics of the wildflowers are stunning. I particularly love the red Sth Australian flower.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sounds like a good rest of the day. After such a long hike, I would have been fine spending the time kicking back in the room.

It was the pattern of this holiday. Activity in the morning, kick back and enjoy the time in the room in the afternoon.

I enjoyed your flower pictures and the description about them. With the telezoom lens helped it a lot with the closeups.

The sunset was very nice. Look forward to reading your next day.

I actually used my standard lens for the flowers.
Thanks.

Just caught up.
The pics of the wildflowers are stunning. I particularly love the red Sth Australian flower.

Thanks! Yes. I was hunting that flower this afternoon.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Day 3: Watarrka National Park to Uluru

The Second Sunrise (Wish #1 Comes True)




At the first sunrise, I do remember wishing that there would be clouds in the sky.




Let’s just call this the fulfilment of Wish #1. Wishes DO come true, right?





And what a sunrise it was!





Pretty soon, the light was getting rather bright.



Here comes the sun (doo doo doo doo)





Here comes the sun and I say





It’s all right





Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.








(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Breakfast at Carmichaels



It’s funny how a big walk the day before can make you feel hungry.




Oh wait. I’m hungry all the time. Walk or no walk!





This morning, we had time for a more leisurely breakfast. And this time, we knew to go get a cook-to-order omelette. The chef was very obliging and he obviously knew how to cook a decent omelette.





And before you comment, only one of these pictures was my plate. The others were either DH or DS.






(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sky High above King’s Canyon



We had a limited choice for things to do after breakfast at King’s Canyon. DH and I weighed up a couple of options the night before and decided on the one that caught our fancy.

Unlike the grounded cockatoo...




.....we decided to take to the skies.





There was the option to catch the helicopter at the King’s Canyon Resort or down the road at the King’s Creek Station. We chose the latter option.





From the air, everything just looked so small.




And I know we were travelling at about 100 kph but it sure felt like we were standing still at times.




We flew along the sandstone cliffs making up the natural crater of Petermann Pound.









It looked amazingly green! Our pilot told us that there had been a decent amount of rain about 3 weeks ago. The greening of the landscape was a result of those rains.





We headed round the top of George Gill Range.





Believe it or not, these headlands are the ones we were looking at from the King’s Canyon Resort and have been appearing in the sunset/sunrise pictures from the viewing platform at the Resort.





Another turn of the chopper and we recognised King’s Canyon from the air.





Spot the people! That would have been us yesterday walking underneath the mounds of the Lost City.





And check out the Garden of Eden area.





The patch of green trees is where those permanent rock pools are!





I may have missed taking a picture of the bridge between the two sides of King’s Canyon yesterday. Not today.





For those that might venture this way. There is the option to take a short hike to Kathleen Springs. I think this might be on my bucket list the next time I’m up this way. It looked pretty from the air.




On the way back, we did see the remnants of those heavy rains from a few weeks back. I loved the pink.





Back on the ground after 30 minutes.





Time to hit the road again.

 

[minneylovesmicky]

Loving your pictures, brings back so many memories. Sounds like you are having an amazing time.

One warning, just be on the look out for Camels on the roads, when we were there, driving from Kings Canyon back to Ayers Rock, we rounded a bend in the road and all of sudden the there were two camels in the middle of the road.....was amazing to see, but scary too.

Hope you continue to have an amazing time