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

[PrincessInOz]

Wow gorgeous sunrise pics! Good thing that bed was uncomfortable enough for you to want to get up

There's always a silver lining.

So for more photobabble, did you use a fliter for this and what kind was it? An ND filter? I need to get one of those for fireworks but just wondering if that one is also applicable for sunsets and sunrises.

For the sunrise shots, it was dark so I didn't need to use an ND filter or any filters.

If you're planning on adding ND filters to your bag, you're probably better off getting a 3-stop, 6-stop and a 10-stop ND filter. I started out with a 2-stop ND filter for firework shots. Right now I have a 2-stop, 6-stop, 9-stop and 10-stop ND filter in my bag. The 2-stop is adequate for fireworks but I really need a 3-stop.
I use the 6-stop as well for fireworks (sometimes) and for daytime water shots.

I got the 9-stop filter for the super long exposure shots. It was my favourite...and then I found a really good 10-stop for a decent price and added that to the bag this year.

Beautiful pictures! That sucks about the bed situation, I hope getting a new room isn't much difficulty.

That'll be in the next edition.

You know I understand!

I think it was hearing so many complaints about the accom at Uluru (for the cost) that made us end up doing the camping tour - mind you, you got what you paid for - nights were hard, cold and uncomfortable - I wold have grabbed your cot bed if offered - lol! but at least it was reflected in the price. That was around 15 years ago. Doesn't sound like much has changed. What a difference compared to our experiences at the View Hotel in Monument Valley hey? I would be muscling my way into the King Bed between the boys! Very, very beautiful sunrise pics - clouds and all and yes, as you know, I agree about the saturation in the Light room pics though they are a very pretty example of what you can do if that's your thing.

Nothing beats the view at the View Hotel. And the rooms are very comfortable too.

I did start out on the King Bed but I couldn't cope with DH.....er.........whining.

What a shame that the first room was not a success between the sleeping arrangements and the lack of a view. I love the sunrise photos. I am normally not keen on processed photos either, but the first one of the two that you posted is stunning. It is so atmospheric.

Corinna

Thanks Corinna.

The first room wasn't that bad. It really was the camp bed that was the back-breaker for me.

 

[kaitmaree]

I went to Uluru in 2009 and this really brought me back! There's nothing quite like it. Thank you for sharing such beautiful photos.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I went to Uluru in 2009 and this really brought me back! There's nothing quite like it. Thank you for sharing such beautiful photos.

Thanks. When seen in the right light, it's quite a special place!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Kata Tjuta Lookout



Over breakfast, DH told me that he had managed to get in contact with the hotel management and they promised to change us over to a different room with two double beds. I was pleasantly surprised by the news but it did come at the cost of us having to rearrange the day a little.

Changeover was planned for around lunchtime and it meant that we didn’t have a lot of time to go-see.

So…..we decided that a quick visit to the other rock formation was in order. I am talking about Kata Tjuta aka the Olgas, of course.



The Olgas are made up of 36 formations, although they are thought to have been one huge piece of rock, much like Ayers, that has weathered over millions of years. They lay 35kms west of Ayers Rock along Lasseter Highway. So we headed out. Somewhere along the way, there is a viewing platform.





We made a stop to check out the view of Kata Tjuta. In the local Anangu language, Kata Tjuta means ‘many heads’.





Yup. I DID wish for clouds, didn’t I?


I was fascinated by this plant with the flowers growing at the root level. Believe it or not….It’s the Upside Down plant. How appropriate for Oz!





We didn’t spend too long here.





We kept going to Walpa Gorge.




The walk here is only 2.6 km long and considered to be easy.





We headed down the path.





The grass is an indication of how wet it must have been around here lately. It’s just so much greener than DH and I remember.





We kept going.





It's a meandering path into the ‘V’ of the two sides of the gorge.





Kata Tjuta is made from a sedimentary rock called conglomerate. This is a mix of gravel, pebbles and boulders cemented together by sand and mud.








With all the picture taking, guess who was lagging behind?





It was a very pleasant walk. Although….I suspect that if it was a hot, hot, hot day, this walk would have been a killer! There really isn’t any shade out here.





As we walked deeper into Walpa Gorge, the sides rose higher and came in closer together. The highest dome rises to 500 meters (Uluru is 348 meters).





Walpa Gorge is a semi-permanent water hole and creek. Every so often, we would stumble across patches of water.





The end of the trail.





They don’t let tourists into that green patch in there.





This area is still a sacred site for the local Aboriginals.





We did get a family shot here.





And then, it was time to head back to the car park area.





Remember how I said there was a non-permanent creek here?





It does flow and open up to larger watering holes along the way.





We didn't stay too long here. As we had a new room to check into, we kept going back to the car.







(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Kulata Academy Cafe


When we got back into mobile service range, we picked up a message from the hotel. Our room was ready and concierge had transferred all our luggage to the new room.

The boys figured we would grab a quick bite to eat before checking out the new room. It kinda made sense to me too. So we headed into the town center at Uluru. I use the term ‘town’ loosely. There is a couple of cafes in the village, a place to book the day tours, three or four gift shops, a hairdresser, the post office, a pharmacy and a supermarket. There might be a laundromat as well…..I can’t exactly remember now.

Today, we checked out the Kulata Academy Café. The Kulata Academy is the training academy for the indigenous people from all over Australia. It completely focusses on the hospitality industry and a lot of the indigenous people we spoke to at Uluru had all been trained through this academy. Many said that it allowed them to get jobs in the major cities after their training, and a stint working at the Uluru Resort. I gathered it was quite a prestigious thing for the indigenous people.


The thing I liked about the café was that the prices of the food items seemed quite normal.

I had a meat pie. It was pretty good.




DH had a salad sandwich freshly made, and completely tailored to his dietary requirements.




DS had a toasted cheese, ham and tomato sandwich.



We all had a hot drink to go with our meal. From memory, I think the bill came to around $35. By Australian standards, that’s about what you would expect to pay in the capital cities!


And whilst we were in the town center, we headed to the supermarket and picked up some supplies. All I can say is thank goodness for the supermarket. The prices in the supermarket were in line with what we pay for items in the capital cities. It meant that we could get basic food supplies like salami, cheese, crackers, fruit and water for afternoon tea.

The boys were interested in a quiet afternoon in the (new) room and given the night I had, a quiet afternoon suited me just fine.





(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

A Tale of Two Rooms – Part 2


It was the worst of rooms. It was the best of rooms.

Our second room. Bathroom facilities were clean and decent. It was almost a replay of room #1.







The room size was generous enough....and yes! There were two proper beds in this room.





Even the view was marginally better in this room.





Yes, there were still trees in our way. But at least we could see the top of Uluru clearly.





This room made all our hearts soar.





It was great to just relax in this room.






(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Grey-Muddy-Grey


Cloud, cloud and more cloud.

I did stir out of the second room to try and catch sunset. Let’s just call this sequence Grey-Muddy-Grey.












Whoever had granted my wish to see clouds at Uluru was making sure that I really, truly got my wish.






(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Dinner at Gecko Cafe





Dinner tonight was at the Gecko Café. Located in the ‘town center’ of the resort, it is one of those places that gets packed out at prime dining time. It would take the kitchen 30 minutes to get our meals to the table…and yes, we were advised of that before we sat down.





The thing I love and hate most about being on vacation is eating out. Yes, I love eating out and not being tied to the kitchen sink. Afterall, what’s not to love about being waitered on and not having to prepare anything.





But I hate that eating out is an indulgence. We always seem to order stuff that we might not eat when cooking at home.









My family have long learnt that we should order right.




So, we tend to order what we mostly would cook at home.





As resort food goes, this meal was about average and as good as can be expected in a resort environment.


We headed back to our new room after dinner. With comfy beds for everyone, an early night was what we all needed.

 

[zanzibar138]

Sounds like a pleasant day, good proportion of sight-seeing and relaxing

Glad the room worked out better, and I don't think it matters that there was too much cloud cover for the sunset pictures - you got plenty of amazing photos on other days!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Kata Tjuta Lookout



The walk here is only 2.6 km long and considered to be easy.



(Continued in Next Post)

I like all this informative, new (to us) signage. Much better than before. Glad you got the room sorted.

and OT how can I reply without quoting the entire message now (and therefore having to manually delete everything?)?

 

[dolphingirl47]

Over breakfast, DH told me that he had managed to get in contact with the hotel management and they promised to change us over to a different room with two double beds.

That is great news.

Yup. I DID wish for clouds, didn’t I?

Well, you certainly did get what you wished for. I loved all the photos from your walk.

Our room was ready and concierge had transferred all our luggage to the new room.

That is what I call service. The new room looks very nice and I actually kind of like the new view.

Corinna

 

[franandaj]

Sounds like a nice relaxing day, well other than the long walk. But I suspect that wasn't a very long or strenuous walk for you and your family.

So nice that they gave you a room with two beds, finally! And you view was not bad at all!

and OT how can I reply without quoting the entire message now (and therefore having to manually delete everything?)?

Select the text you want to quote and a little blue box should pop up with Quote/Reply in it. Click on Quote and once you have finished, at the bottom of the page click on Insert quotes, follow the instructions and all your quotes will be there.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sounds like a pleasant day, good proportion of sight-seeing and relaxing
Glad the room worked out better, and I don't think it matters that there was too much cloud cover for the sunset pictures - you got plenty of amazing photos on other days!

In the end, our days at Uluru all worked out like that. Activity in the morning, followed by relax time in the resort after.
Yes...the best of my sunrise/sunset shots were taken in the first day at Uluru. I can't complain. I was really happy with those shots.

I like all this informative, new (to us) signage. Much better than before. Glad you got the room sorted.

The signage was very good. And I'm glad the room got sorted out too.

and OT how can I reply without quoting the entire message now (and therefore having to manually delete everything?)?

franandaj responded, so I hope it works for you now!

Well, you certainly did get what you wished for. I loved all the photos from your walk.

Thanks!

That is what I call service. The new room looks very nice and I actually kind of like the new view.

We all preferred the new room and the view.

Sounds like a nice relaxing day, well other than the long walk. But I suspect that wasn't a very long or strenuous walk for you and your family.

As walks goes, it was a short walk

So nice that they gave you a room with two beds, finally! And you view was not bad at all!

I know, right? I was so pleased with this second room.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Day 5 - Another Full Day at Uluru National Park

The Fourth Sunrise (Wish #2 No More Clouds!!!!)


I had every intention of sleeping in this morning. Every.intention.

Yet…..when the birds starting to sing, I found myself getting out of bed to check out sunrise.





Did I really wish for clouds???






Ok. I’ve had enough of the clouds. Wish #2 was made on this morning. No. More. Clouds.







(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Breakfast is a Good Feed


Free breakfast was on offer in the usual spot this morning.




DS loves his vegemite toast.






You really can’t beat a free feed. It’s always good.








(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Up Close and Personal with the Rock


What with the room changeover and everything, we hadn’t yet had the opportunity to get to the base of Uluru itself. Today was the day!





There are a number of areas that you could head to and touch Uluru. We decided to experience the Kuniya walk.

The Kuniya walk is very short, only 1km in length.






The indentations in the rock walls do tell a story.





This walk takes you right up to the rock.








I really liked this walk. The scenery was rather pretty.





I believe it is classed as wheelchair accessible. It is flat.





There are some culturally sensitive areas to Uluru. There was a section in this area where the indigenous people did use it as a cave for shelter.





The indigenous people do ask that you respect those culturally sensitive areas and not take any photographs. Seems like this wasn’t one of those areas. Which is probably great for us…because…..




In one of the caves (or kulpi), there is Aboriginal Rock Art that have been preserved by the Aboriginal people over millions of years. If only walls could talk and tell us about the generations of families that camped and cooked and lived here.













There is one other gem to this walk and the reason why this was high on my list of walks to do.




The Mutitjulu waterhole is one of these natural wonders that Uluru harbours. In this very dry continent that I live in, water is a precious resource.

In Aboriginal Dreamtime stories, the Mutitjulu waterhole is home of a wanampi, an ancestral watersnake.





We didn’t see any watersnakes. But we heard plenty of birds around!











(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Kuniya and Liru


Remember how I said the indentations tell a story?














This indentation is Minyma Kuniya, the Woma Python Woman, arriving quickly.


















The indentations in the wall where Kuniya has taken human form and drops to her knees.











These indentations represent the fight between Kuniya and Liru; and the closed eye of Liru.

 

[franandaj]

Sorry about the clouds. The rock looks very nice up close, interesting story and pictures to support it.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

I don't remember seeing this deep indentation when we did the base walk but it was almost dark when we started as it was a sunrise walk so maybe we missed it. Certainly didn't see any rock art when here. As I said, I do love how much more clearly they have marked walks into and around the rock now and included all the story boards and detail - oh well, we will just have to go back!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I hope that you get your wish of no more clouds granted.

There are a number of areas that you could head to and touch Uluru.

That sounds like a really neat thing to do.

In one of the caves (or kulpi), there is Aboriginal Rock Art that have been preserved by the Aboriginal people over millions of years.

This is absolutely amazing.

Corinna