M-whY

Traveling down roads so straight they converged on the horizon at a single point, our troop steadily progressed towards the Northern Territory border. We made several stops to stretch our legs. Most people, including myself, picked up a fly net somewhere along the way. It was no fun having flies crawling up my nose, into my ears, and basically landing on every part of my face except my eyeballs. At AUS$6.50 (AUS$1 = US$0.80) it would turn out to be one of the best investments I've made in my trip.

Wouldn't want to run out of water out here

Several times a year, I drive from Pittsburgh to New Jersey. A four to six hour drive, depending on how fast I go, I understood how tiring driving can be. Steve had been at the wheel for three consecutive days. Every morning, he was the first one up, going around with his 'Wakie Wakie!' to get us out of bed (or swag). Yet he never looked tired, and not once did I see him yawn. Even though he had probably seen these sights dozens of times, he seemed genuinely excited about each day. "Fantastic stuff!" he would exclaim in his Crocodile Hunter accent. Watching him at work was quite a show.

We stopped for lunch and I slipped the fly net over my head. The flies kept attacking, but at least they couldn't land on my face. I leaned forward to take a bite of my sandwich. Oops, I had forgotten I couldn't eat with the net covering my face. I glanced around to make sure no one had seen my goof, and noticed that several other people were coming to the same realization. I guess we just had to resort to the old hand waving method to protect ourselves.

As we got closer to Uluru, the sand became more red. Even the bottom of the clouds had a faint reddish tint to them. This was what Mars would probably look like if humans managed to colonize it and grow plants there. Dry carcasses of cows that had succumbed to the heat lay along the highway. On our left, we passed Mt Connor, which is often mistaken for Uluru.

Lost? Just follow the directions.

"This is one of the most dangerous roads in Australia," said Steve. "Since there are no speed limits here, tourists would come blazing down the road, see Mt Connors, and take their eyes off the road. What happens when you take your eyes off the road is your car will naturally drift to one side. Once the tires hit the gravel on the side, they'd lose control of the car and crash. Dangerous stuff, really."

Around 5:00pm, we finally reached our destination. Uluru looked like a loaf of bread, the way it just protruded from the ground. After unpacking and laying out our swags at the campsite, we headed off to view the sunset. There were loads of tourists already there, and more arriving each minute. Everyone wanted to see the magical color change that Uluru is famous for.

I would face east to take pictures of Uluru, then turn around to photograph the fiery ball setting next to Kata Tjuta, and then turn around again to take more pictures of Uluru. Other tour groups left as soon as the color change was complete, but we stayed until the loaf of bread was just a faint outline in the night sky. To fully appreciate the beauty of the place, as Steve would later explain.

To borrow a phrase from our tour guide... Fantastic stuff!

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