2/26/15 Uluru (Ayers Rock)

We had a 5:45 AM wake-up call this morning and then boarded a larger coach for our trip to Uluru.  We stopped for a bathroom break or as Louise would say "a stop at the Happy House" at a camel farm and four of our group took a camel ride around the paddock.  We had lunch at Curtin Springs Cattle Station.  We had sandwiches and orange cake while the woman of the house gave us a history of the station and some of the trials and good times on such an isolated ranch.  They have 1.1 millions acres and run only 5000 head of cattle maximum.  Even though it is green right now due to the rains in January, it is usually much drier.  She said they can only count on a good year once in every ten years.  They rely on dug wells from 9 feet to 400 feet down.  At this cattle station, they make half their income off of tourism now.  We continued on and at one point saw what looked like Uluru in the distance, but Louise said it was called "Fool-aru" as so many people make the same mistake.  We stopped to take pictures of the great salt flats and arrived at the Outback Pioneer Hotel (more like a motel) around 2 PM and had a chance to throw our bags in the room before going off to visit Uluru.  We stopped at the Cultural Center for an introduction to the local Anangu people and their land and customs.  We then traveled partway around Uluru with a nice walk from Kunya Piti to the Mutitjulu Waterhole.  We saw some indigenous rock art and had a chance to tap the rock, which sounded hollow in some spots much to our surprise.  We arrived at the sunset viewing spot and were treated to champagne and orange juice and some cold nibbles.  Unfortunately, the sky was quite cloudy so we did not get the full effect of the setting sun, but it was quite beautiful all the same.  We came back to our hotel for a quick dinner and then off to bed as we have a 4:30 AM wakeup call tomorrow to view the sunrise on Uluru.