The Red Centre
I am in my room at the Outback Pioneer Hotel at Ayers Rock Resort! The trip was wonderful, and I am settling in
a bit and sorting out where I plan to explore over some afternoon tea and
crackers.
The flight was more empty than full, and I had the entire exit row to myself. American airlines could learn a lot from Qantas. On a three hour domestic flight I got a nice hot breakfast, a “chicken and mushroom tortilla with roasted autumn vegetables” (of course pronounced by the flight attendant as “tore-till-uh”), tea and juice.
We
all actually ended up with two servings of breakfast as they made too many for
the few people on the flight. In
addition to the meal, they showed a movie.
I got to see ‘Salmon Fishing in the Yemen’ which I really enjoyed. After the movie they put on a 15 minute video
about arriving at Uluru, which filled everyone in a bit on the sites.
As we landed, we got a great view of Kata Tjuta and Uluru itself. One of the most striking things about the
‘Red Centre’ of Australia is that it was predominantly green, covered with low
scrub and small trees. Turns out that it
is the wet season, usually it lives up to its name. The airport is no more than a paved over
strip of cleared shrub and a tiny building with some rental car facilities and
toilets. No gates, no frills. Their idea of a luggage carousel was pulling
the cart that picked up the luggage from beneath the plane into the parking lot
for people to grab their things off of.
We deplaned via two metal staircases and I got on the shuttle that runs
to the various hotels of the resort. The
drive to the hotel was about 10 minutes through the scrub of the Northern
Territory. On the drive we passed the
police station, the fire station, and the medical centre of the little town
here called Yulara. Let’s just say there
isn’t much here.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I am settling in and going through my options for the afternoon. I am going to explore the resort and check out the observation platforms of Kata Tjuta and Uluru. At 4:45 I am off on a sunset tour and viewing of Uluru. Tonight I will need to get to bed early as I have a sunrise tour that departs around 5:00 and involves at least 10k of walking!
The flight was more empty than full, and I had the entire exit row to myself. American airlines could learn a lot from Qantas. On a three hour domestic flight I got a nice hot breakfast, a “chicken and mushroom tortilla with roasted autumn vegetables” (of course pronounced by the flight attendant as “tore-till-uh”), tea and juice.
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| Brekky by Qantas. |
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| Flying to Uluru. |
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| People retrieving their luggage in the parking lot of AYQ. |
As I mentioned at the beginning, I am settling in and going through my options for the afternoon. I am going to explore the resort and check out the observation platforms of Kata Tjuta and Uluru. At 4:45 I am off on a sunset tour and viewing of Uluru. Tonight I will need to get to bed early as I have a sunrise tour that departs around 5:00 and involves at least 10k of walking!
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