The Hackies and Wells decided to do the earlybird drive in to Uluru to see sunrise so left at around 515 am. The Hunters and Lovedays were up at 6 planning to leave at 7am – we drove out at about 715 towards Uluru and shortly after leaving Trev realised he had not put on the caravan lock…..but we were so far along we decided to chance it so as not to be late meeting the others at Uluru to cycle around the rock.

Along the highway we came across a herd of wild camels – finally!! There are over 1 million head of wild camels in Australia and in our last 3 month trip we did not see a single wild camel!

The Hunters also saw a large black bull which we missed entirely…..or was it just a shadow of their imagination early in the morning??

Driving into Uluru the Rock looked as spectacular as ever…

We met the others at the carpark – Ashleigh was picking up her hire bike and we assembled the bikes and cleaned off the Oodnadatta dust making sure all was in working order. Branch was taking the day off in the car making the most of the sunlight and being out of the icy cold wind that was blasting around the rock.

Rosie needed a lesson from Trev as to how to change her gears and Trev finally set it on a gear that she could just stay in the whole way around to save any issues – looking glamorous as she went along!

We took off around the rock at about 0900 and the first part of the ride entailed cycling down a 2 km track to reach the rock. Once at the base of Uluru we continued in an anticlockwise direction meaning the initial ride was in the shade and with the arctic wind we were all frozen – longing for the sunny side!

As we made our way around we had various stops for photo ops – taking care not to photograph the “sensitive” sites… mostly….although I think there were a couple of rookie errors in that department by all and sundry.

The ride was enjoyable  – Annette only had 2 stacks, Gordie called out to me to look at something and I hit a large rock in the middle of the path – doing a front wheelstand  but not coming off!! Glen showed off his wheelie prowess!

Ashleigh and I were told off by a foreign tour guide for taking our bikes down a path that apparently we were not supposed to (no sign anywhere !!) – we just ignored her and took care.

The side facing the sun made for some great photos and we then finally made it back to the cultural centre after riding 15kms.

By this time the tour buses had pulled in so we were thankful we made the effort to do the early start and miss the crowds. There were a few sore butts amongst us but the ride was worth it. Glen equated the feeling to being like sitting on a Staedtler pencil for 2 hours! After an awesome coffee at the Cultural Centre we drove out to Kata Juta (The Olgas).

We stopped along the way to take photos at the dune lookout then drove on and stopped in the picnic ground to have lunch.

Trev discreetly put up the drone for some fantastic shots of the Olgas and surrounds.

After lunch we drove around to the “Valley of the Winds” walk though the Olgas and walked to the first lookout. The flies were pretty fierce at first but once you got up a bit higher (into the icy wind!) they disappeared. The views from the lookout were amazing! Such a beautiful country! Kata Juta forms part of the chain of what is believed to be an underground mountain range which was left after the inland sea (or Flood!) subsided.

The next place to visit was the gorge on the other side of the Olgas where we stopped to walk in – as we entered the walk 2 wild camels emerged from the bush and strolled across the track much to everyone’s excitement.

Rosie had not yet made it down the track and was so disappointed she missed the great photo opportunity that she left the track and went bush bashing in search of the camels…but alas they were too quick and made their escape.

Gordie found the flies overwhelming….so he and Kerry retreated to their vehicle along with the Hackies and had a rest in their cars while we walked up a short way to look at the gorge.

We decided to head back to Yulara for coffee and planned to drive back in to a “secret” spot to watch sunset at Uluru and avoid the crowds that go to the designated sunset viewing platform. The coffee was great again and we relaxed for an hour or so taking in the shops and ambience of the place. Much to Rosie’s delight we found “Gecko’s Café” and booked a table for dinner.

It was only a short drive back to the spot we wanted to watch sunset on the rock – just along the road to Kata Juta about 200m from the main turnoff – so we went back and set up the GoPro and cameras ready for the sun to go down. We had the place to ourselves which was great and the view of Uluru was fantastic.  

Trev managed to get some amazing drone footage as well.

Just before sunset 4 helicopters and a light plane appeared circling Uluru – obviously tourists gaining a bird’s eye view of the rock at sunset. The sunset did not disappoint – the colours were spectacular and the cloud formations added to the vista.

Driving back to Yulara was like peak hour but we managed to get a park and then enjoyed dinner at Geckos. We left Yulara at about quarter to 8 and drove back the 80ks to Curtin Springs in the dark…ever watchful for wildlife Trev put on his light bar and lit up the universe! Gordie was very envious and Glen just wished he had some lights!!!

The black bull made a reappearance close to Curtin Springs grazing by the side of the road…eyes shining in the headlights as we flew past but no other wildlife was seen thankfully!

As we got close Trev and I were praying that we still had a caravan to come home to …praise God there it was when we arrived!! We all packed up and went to bed – it had been great to get some real exercise after days sitting in the car but everyone was ready to hit the sack. The day had been really enjoyable with lots of laughs and great company…. and no “events” that required an intervention by Branch.