We left Sydney at 10 am, flew 3.5 hours, and arrived in Ayers Rock at 1pm.
"Wait!" you shout, "if you left at 10 and flew 3.5 hours then you arrived at 1:30."
"No," I reply, "you forgot about the time change."
"Then certainly you arrived at 12:30."
"No, 1pm, they only change their clocks by 30 minutes here from Sydney time."
"???"
Yep, right now it is 10:15 here, but 10:45 in Sydney, it is a half time zone.
Uluru is very similar to Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Uluru claims to be the largest freestanding rock in the world, and is 1,142 feet from base to peak, while Devil's Tower is slightly taller at 1,267. Devil's Tower covers 2.1 square miles, and Uluru 2.6 square miles. While the most striking feature of Devils's Tower is the vertical stripes and faults, the most striking feature of Uluru is its distinctive red color. As the sun moves across the sky the rock changes from shades of red and orange to almost purple.
After checking into our hotel and eating lunch we drove to the rock, visited the Aboriginal cultural center, took a hike around part of the rock, drove around the rock, and then parked to watch the colors change as the sun set. Most of the people we talked to are also getting up at 5:30 to watch the sunrise. I might go see the sunrise if I'm still awake (no chance), otherwise I'll just Google "Uluru sunrise" and see what I missed.
For supper we ate at a fun BBQ place here at our hotel. You order a cut of meat, and they give it to you raw so you can cook it yourself. We had a lot of fun cooking our food, particularly Misa. I think we would always pay a little extra at a restaurant if we could cook the food ourselves. The meal included a salad and potato bar, and was a much better bargain than the other option for supper, a $55 per person buffet where someone else gets to cook the food for you.
Misa described the atmosphere at this hotel like a youth hostel (in a good way). There is a common area with picnic tables, a bar, and some pool tables where everyone sits, eats, and socializes. While walking around Uluru today we met a Slovakian woman, and when we sat down to eat she was sitting right next to us. On the other side was a nice man from Leeds, so we had conversations going all around.
Now it is time for bed, but I'm not sure how we will sleep; the time change really has thrown us off.
