Uluru/ Ayer's Rock

Hi!
So I actually have had internet for the past little bit, but we have been super busy planning for Asia! We are taking a wild tour, since we keep accidentally adding cities (eg. it's cheaper to fly through Hong Kong, and why fly through when you can spend a day there instead!) so we're spending like 2 nights in each city and it's going to be insane. But fun!

So.... right! We went to Uluru (Ayer's Rock). It's big, and red, and looks a lot like Stone Mountain, except bigger, redder, and without Confederate Generals carved on the side. And surrounded by Japanese tourists instead of rednecks, and there was no laser show that we could find. [Note to Jon's family: crazy Southern stuff. Don't ask.]

I'm getting tired of parentheses, so basically it used to be called Ayer's Rock, but the Aboriginal People (we don't call them Aboriginies, apparently) called it Uluru, so that's what they call it these days. Are you ready for a picture? Because I am.



Ayer's Rock Resort owns all of the hotels in the area, which makes it pretty expensive. But it also makes it feel kind of like Disneyland! (Which is a good thing, if you are Tricia and Jon.)
Seriously, all the staff wore cute outback outfits and Crocodile-Dundee hats, and were super friendly. Our hotel was the Outback Pioneer Lodge, and you can see where my Disney/Outback thing is coming from.



So we did a few tours, a sunset, a sunrise, a stargazing that wasn't as cool as it should have been (stupid full moon), and, true to form, I took way, way too many pictures. Here they are! (My computer decided to give them to you in no particular order, apparently. Sorry.)

Moon-set in the outback.


Sunrise in the outback.


You can only photograph certain parts of Uluru, because there are a lot of sacred sites.

Probably Uluru, could be Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), another set of rocks nearby.


The outback from the plane.

Okay, this one is definitely Kata Tjuta.

Also Kata Tjuta. The sky really was that blue.

Sunrise over (or at least next to) Uluru.

So our hotel had this "restaurant" (eatery) where you could buy fun Australian meats and grill them yourself. Jon got kangaroo, emu, and crocodile. I got a veggie burger.

Anyway, I would recommend Uluru if you have the time. The outback is a really interesting landscape to see, and the mountains are cool (but not breathtaking). Worth a visit, though.

Okay, there is planning to be done! We'll be in Sydney until Wednesday, then we are off to Kuala Lumpur, then Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Hanoi, Halong, Hoi An, Saigon, the Mekong Delta, Siem Reap (Angkor Wat), Bangkok, Koh Tao, Phuket and the Similan Islands! Yep. (So far we've planned up through Bangkok, which leaves beaches and diving, basically.) As always, I will keep you posted!