Feb. 20

Got up early this morning without too much problem. We left the hotel at 6AM, and sure enough, there wasn't any traffic. Our biggest obstacle was a street sweeper! Finally, things seem to be going right. We turned in the car, checked in for the flight at the kiosk, checked our bags - all four were well under the weight limit - had breakfast, went out to the gate and waited only a little bit before we boarded. I've got to say that the Aussies are very helpful - the gate agent came over when he saw my cane and asked me if our entire group wanted to pre-board.

They served lunch on the flight, a choice of an egg, spinach, and pepper sandwich, or a small chicken Caesar salad. No surprise, Mike and Mary both skipped the meal entirely. I took the pepper out of my sandwich, which actually was pretty good.

Watching out the window, the country below is getting more and more desolate as we head towards Ayers Rock, or as the Aboriginal people name it, Uluru.

Suddenly, there it is - a large chunk of red rock sticking up out of the sand.

We're lucky - it's an overcast day and so not as hot as it usually is at this time of year. Normal temperatures run up well over 100°F, today is in the mid-80s to low-90s. Our first tour is Aboriginal painting. We have two tour guides, Bonnie and Eloise, who are Older ladies, and a younger man who is their interpreter. Bonnie and Eloise draw in the sand and tell us the dreamtime stories, then we get to make our own paintings. Dreamtime is what the Anangu people call their origin, so these are their creation stories.

After we finish there, we go on a walk to see one of the water holes at the edge of the rock and the cave paintings there. We hear more of the dreamtime stories, learn about the gathering of food and the making of bowls. Then the bus takes us to the sunset viewing point. Because of the overcast, we figure we won't see much but at the last moment, the sun makes an appearance below the clouds and just above the horizon and we get to see the spectacular color of Uluru.