Uluru and Kata Tjuta
We decided to drive out to Uluru and Kata Tjuta with our friends. Blue and Tilly had to stay in the van as the area is all national park. Tilly had a play with Blue in their outdoor crate. We put her inside on the bed just before we left, and she kept paddling a shiny piece of paper with her front paws.
We walked a short way around the base of the Rock before driving to the Olgas. There are very few tourists here compared to the hundreds that would have arrived every day before COVID. While that is bad for the Yulara businesses, it is great for us having only a small number of vehicles on the roads.
Our little critters were glad to have us return. Anita and I took Blue to the town square to buy some milk from the well stocked IGA, and browse the other open shops. I had an acceptable coffee from the Kulata Academy Cafe, where local Aboriginals are given on the job training.
Anita and five other Roadies are going to see the Rock at sunset tomorrow, enjoy canapes and a drink, then see a light show. I will stay at camp and keep an eye on the four dogs and one cat while they are away. Instead I drove to the sunset viewing carpark this afternoon. The carpark is 500m long with angle parking one side and parallel parking the other. There is a separate coach park for sunset viewing but there were only two coaches there today. I don't know if we will get to see the Rock at sunrise.
We have been lucky so far avoiding heavy rains and flooding that have been welcomed in some outback regions. A couple of days after we had left Barkly Homestead, this great photo was taken there by a woman we know who is working at the roadhouse. She is a trained photographer.