Aus 14th Jan

Today was our scheduled helicopter ride. We were picked up at 1215 and made a stop off at Sail in the sands for one guy, a German.

The airport isn’t far away so within 10 minutes we had a short safety briefing which mainly included not to go to the back.

As Vicky was lightest she got to sit in the front!

We took off and went over to Uluru, on the way we were pointed put the resort were staying in, the Latidide area which celebs stay in, recently Opera had visited then the 1000 staff accomadation. We later found out that staff would stay here for several months even years, the turn over is high. A waitress at the sound of silence said they pay for rent and food and the pay isn’t as good as her other job, bit enjoys the lifestyle.Its not until you get 2k feet into the air that you realise how big Uluru is. *insert Uluru facts* on our way to the Ulgas the captain shows us a big area where fire had burnt grass, he said the fires here are not as strong, most the time it can’t take out the desert trees. Again, you don’t appreciate how big they are until you’re in the sky and still can’t see over the top.

The 30 minutes were up and we landed again. We got dropped off at the town square as we needed lunch. We went to Geckos, I had an Angus burger with fries Vicky had Chicken breast with mash and veg. We needed plenty of water after that hot helicopter ride.

After lunch we checked out a few of the gift shops, most items were more expensive than the shop in Sydney. I particularly like some t-shirts which had the Hard Rock logo, only under it said “Hard Rock but no cafe”. As we had our rescheduled Sound of Silence dinner tonight we headed back to read and shower.

Before we knew it 6pm had arrived. We headed to the lodge in good time. The AAT bus arrived and about 10 of us boarded the empty coach. We went to the two other hotels and they filled ours and another!

The two coaches seperated after our 10 minute bumpy dirt track ride. Once ft the coach we had a walk way to a look out, you could see Uluru and the Ulgas, upon arrival we had sparkling wine, and waited until the sun set just to the left of the Ulgas, during this time the bat was open, there was a cold drinks and a Super dry beer which I liked. Also canapes were brought round,crocodile, kangaroo and salmon. I didn’t like the croc.

Shortly after sun set we were taken to the place we would eat, after the groups of 4+ went it was our turn. This area was hidden from the first place we drank at.

We were seated to a table with 6 people. Two men, one camp hairdresser who seemed Italian but now lives and works in Melbourne, his “friend” who has a wife and cannot speak much English, they seemed very drunk. Next was a family of 4, a mum, dad and two daughters from the Gold Coast, we chatted about where we had been in Australia and England during the night, the eldest had been to Leeds and now studies Primary Education at Uni. All through the night drinks were being topped up, I had about 5 glasses of water, the wine was the same we had last night.

A man started playing the didgeridoo very well, I think, much better than the guy who used to do it in oxford. Pumpkin soup and bread was served. Next each table were invited in turn to the buffet, the selection was big. Three different salads from pumpkin, Cesar and potatoe. Then the main food, chicken sausages, these had a spice to them. Kangaroos, barramundi fish and lamb cutlets. All tasted great.

After top ups of drinks (water and alcohol) the table lights were turned off for the star gaze. Before the table lights were switched off you could see quite a fee stars, bit just turning these lights off ignited the sky. We were shown two galaxies, the rest of our milky way, Taurus and Aries, which were upside down, Jupiter, one of the oldest stars visible and explained that because the southern hemisphere cannot see the northern star, they have there own way to find south. The southern cross. They had a telescope setup pointing at Jupiter. It was so interesting and peaceful listening to the talk.

Afterwards tables were invited again to get desert, as the queue was gone we just went up. So much on offer. Brownie, carrot cake, apple and wattleseed crumble, bread and butter pudding along with custard, milk  and white chocolate sauce. The only problem all night were the ants. We had brought net hats as we had been told lots of bugs fly into you but we didn’t have many.

The coaches appeared in the distance followed by the announcement that the night was over. We clapped the staff and set off for the coach. We were last to be dropped off.

It really was the best things to do at Uluru, great food, wine and company in the middle of a desert! I would reccommend it to anyone.

We leave for Sydney in the morning so go to bed.

Heli, lunch at Geckos, sound of silence