Australia: Uluru

This was my fourth time visiting Australia but I had never been out to the "Big Red Rock" that marks the heart and center of this great country.  I have had this on my list to visit if I ever went back so I'm very glad I got to see it this time around.  We flew from Brisbane into a tiny little resort town called Yulara.  It's basically just a tiny airport and then a small resort to host the thousands of tourists that come to this amazing site each year.

Ready to fly!

Our first look at Uluru

As soon as we got out of our rental car we were swarmed by flies.  They didn't bite but they were very persistent little buggers.  Luckily the gift shop sold these handy little face nets.  We walked all around the base of the rock, 7 miles in all.  It was wonderful to see the rock from all sides and so many different perspectives.

Some aboriginal cave art

Could this rock be any more beautiful?

I love this "Sunburnt" Country so I gave it's heart a big hug:)

Following the trail around the rock

So many flies!  Thank goodness for the face net!

We finished our walk around the rock just as the sun was going down and we got to witness the amazing color changes of the rock during sunset!

I'm so happy I could see this great site

It looks like a glowing red ember...so pretty

Even without the rock, the sky our first night there was so pretty!

The next day we let the boys take a little break and Oma, Hyrum and I went hiking around the nearby  Kata Tjuta National Park

The red color of the rock is truly amazing

We thought this old sign was funny, "no grog and no dope"

We went back to Uluru that evening to witness the sunset against the rock again...

...The colors did not disappoint!

The next day Julian was feeling sick so I stayed at the hotel with I'm while everyone else went on a hike in Kata Tjuta

Lots and lots of red rock:)

That evening we took the boys out into the dessert where you could no longer see the lights from our little resort town.  We pulled off the road a ways so that passing cars with their headlights wouldn't ruin the night sky for us.  It was amazing!  Looking up into the sky and seeing so many millions of stars!  We found the Southern Cross with help from an app Hyrum installed on his phone...one of the highlights of my trip to the Outback:)

The pool at our resort was totally empty...I guess no-one wants to swim in the middle of winter?

One last family photo with Uluru!

One last photo of the rock from the airplane...so amazing!

I am so glad we took the time to come out to see Uluru.  It really is amazing how this giant monolith rock seems to just appear out of nowhere.  The surrounding dessert is so dry and flat.  We chose not to climb up on the rock because the aboriginal people have asked visitors not to climb on the rock and we figured we should respect their wishes.  Even without the climb to the top this rock is wonderful to view.  It really does feel as though there is a power or feeling of reverence to this rock.  I loved seeing it and I'm so glad we could visit!