Alarm set for 4.30am, yes you did read that right and in reception for 5.00am. The guy who was at the airport was also in the tour office last night when I went in. He was also on the start of today's excursion. I had to laugh, you had to give him your name when you got on the coach. He said, oh I remember you, your Karen Davies lol lol I'm saying no more!
The coach took us up to the base of Uluru. It was pitch black. We walked up a path, again with animal noises coming from the bush, what is in there lol! Then the sun started to rise and the colour just changed. From browns to reds, beautiful, so beautiful. We then walked around part if the base. Because of the cultural and belief significance of Uluru there were certain places where you couldn't take photos. Also, because of the significance you are really not encouraged to climb it. Today's temperature was 40 yes 40 degrees. Why would you want to climb it?
The tour guide told us about some of the stories that have been past down from generation to generation and how the rock plays a significant and crucial part in the cultural history of the aboriginal people. It was totally fascinating and I really would like to read more about it.
The tour was over for ten so I went to collect my painting. It is beautiful, totally beautiful and it is something I will always cherish. Went fir a coffee, a flat white delicious, also had a kangaroo and salad roll, sorry Skippy you taste as lovely as you look lol.
Went back to my room and saw the weather forecast in the UK! I laughed and laughed and laughed some more! I hate the snow and it's been 40 degrees here - so funny. Spent the afternoon by the pool, fell asleep twice lol as you do. Feel totally relaxed. Not eating out tonight I got some fruit and a pie (I never eat pies in Stoke lol they are big out here lol) and are now having a Cosmopolitan cocktail lol because I can, because I am on holiday and I just love cocktails lol. Not much call for them, unlike the pies lol, in Stoke.
I have done the majority of my packing and have to be out of my room by ten, the coach to the tiny airport (I will see if I can get a photo tomorrow) is at 1.15 and I think the flight to Cairns is three hours but another time change. The bar where I am does tea and scones from 10.30 so that will be my breakfast lol. It's really nice food here but it is quite expensive for what it is, so going to save my money now until I hit Port Douglas.
So my thoughts on Uluru. Amazing experience, there is so much about this planet of ours that we don't know about, both here on earth and above. It has just proved to me how insignificant we all are in this crazy world of ours.
Friday, 22 March 2013
Day One - Uluru or Ayre's Rock or as e Australians call it, The Rock
Really good flight and another time change, two hours less than Sydney so that's 9 plus than UK. Once again, I was in the right side of the plane when we come into land and I saw Uluru. My first thought was, oh that's small lol. When we landed and I saw it I thought, bloody hell it's huge lol ;).
The hotel is beautiful. It really is lovely. Linda and Nikki you are going to love this, I've booked myself on a star gazing night this evening. Someone, Brian Cox mmmmmmm, is going to tell me all about the stars in the Southern Hemisphere - how cool is that. I also went into the little down on the hotel bus (it seems ages since I did that in Hong Kong) and there were two aboriginal women called Alice and Valerie painting. They draw pictures of the stories of their culture, all different interpretations of the one story. Valerie (that was my mothers name) was painting something that looked so beautiful. I told her that Valerie was my mothers name and she couldn't paint her nails, she laughed. Top and bottom of it is I bought the painting and I have photos of her painting it. It is the story of the seven sisters. One bloke fancied one of these sisters and wouldn't leave her alone. So the sister fled but he kept following. The story goes girls that he thought with his trousers lol nothing different there then. I told Valerie and Alice that even a thousand odd years later it's no different in the UK. We laughed and laughed and I thought how appropriate this painting is lol so had to have it. A story about sisters sticking together to keep safe from men - how apt! Went back to the room and had a couple of hours by the pool. It is very, very hot. I then had a doze lol. Give the girl a break, it's the first time all holiday!
So I am now in one of the restaurants having dinner. Red red some garlic bread to start with. It's a good job I am on my own lol it's very garlicky. I have the normal glass of Chardonnay but I have ordered .............. The skippy burger lol. So Kangaroo burger for dinner lol. Well it had to be done lol. Just looking around I'm the only person on my own. It really doesn't bother me, in fact I quite like it. No one to please, just me. Don't worry I won't come back and be selfish lol. I know you all won't let me anyway lol.
Skippy was really, really tasty, I'd have that again but I don't think they sell it in Sainsbury's. I mean can you imagine a supermarket in Stoke selling kangaroo lol. Perhaps there is a butcher somewhere. It was really tasty. It was like beef but not fatty at all. That will teach it to ignore me when I asked about the helicopter in the ravine lol. I wonder if I will start hopping lol! That garlic bread is going to come back and haunt me all night; I'm going to be so thirsty. I have to be up and ready for 5.15am to see dawn rise over Uluru. It's a special day for me to be doing this as it would have been my Dad's birthday. So it's going to be rather special. I don't know what he would have made of all this. Like I said before, probably laughing his head off. I better go and buy another bottle of water. As it is so hot they suggest you drink one litre of water every hour. I'm drinking the tap water lol, filling up my bottles and sticking them in the fridge. Aaron said you could drink the water in Australia and he ain't dead yet lol.
So off to see the stars, how exciting then straight to bed............ On my own in case any of you were wondering. Skippy, Skippy, Skippy the bush kangaroo Pmsl, what you say Skippy lol.
Wow! I wanted to one to this country because I knew I would feel so small (yes even me) but tonight totally blew me away. There was only me and a pole from Portugal and we were taken out in the bush, on foot, away from the light pollution. It was so dark it was difficult to see where you were actually going. Ball around were animal noises lol, I wasn't scared I thought it was exciting. When I looked up to the sky I couldn't believe the night sky. It was truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I don't really understand it to be honest but it has always been something I have been interested in, thank you Brian Cox lol. The two guys who did the talk were really, really good. I told him I am no Sheldon Cooper - I mean lets face it I don't know how the stay up there, but I didn't admit to that lol. We looked through the telescope and I saw Jupiter which looked like it had a stripy t shirt on lol. The astronomer was obviously blown away by my technical knowledge. My friend Ian, on Facebook, told me to look for Orion and we did. And yes Ian lol you were right it is upside down, how cool is that. I saw the southern cross, other galaxies, which I described as in a galaxy far, far away lol. I saw the moon and her acne lol then Saturn wow! You could see all it's rings, it was totally amazing. I don't really know what he was telling me lol but it was absolutely amazing. All the while you could here animal noises, nothing else. A truly wonderful experience.
Oh yes just one more thing. The guys said that the temperature was 3506 degrees today and when it rains here the rain rarely touches the ground because the heat evaporates it. So the rain will come down, you can see it, then it just evaporates. How cool is that!
The hotel is beautiful. It really is lovely. Linda and Nikki you are going to love this, I've booked myself on a star gazing night this evening. Someone, Brian Cox mmmmmmm, is going to tell me all about the stars in the Southern Hemisphere - how cool is that. I also went into the little down on the hotel bus (it seems ages since I did that in Hong Kong) and there were two aboriginal women called Alice and Valerie painting. They draw pictures of the stories of their culture, all different interpretations of the one story. Valerie (that was my mothers name) was painting something that looked so beautiful. I told her that Valerie was my mothers name and she couldn't paint her nails, she laughed. Top and bottom of it is I bought the painting and I have photos of her painting it. It is the story of the seven sisters. One bloke fancied one of these sisters and wouldn't leave her alone. So the sister fled but he kept following. The story goes girls that he thought with his trousers lol nothing different there then. I told Valerie and Alice that even a thousand odd years later it's no different in the UK. We laughed and laughed and I thought how appropriate this painting is lol so had to have it. A story about sisters sticking together to keep safe from men - how apt! Went back to the room and had a couple of hours by the pool. It is very, very hot. I then had a doze lol. Give the girl a break, it's the first time all holiday!
So I am now in one of the restaurants having dinner. Red red some garlic bread to start with. It's a good job I am on my own lol it's very garlicky. I have the normal glass of Chardonnay but I have ordered .............. The skippy burger lol. So Kangaroo burger for dinner lol. Well it had to be done lol. Just looking around I'm the only person on my own. It really doesn't bother me, in fact I quite like it. No one to please, just me. Don't worry I won't come back and be selfish lol. I know you all won't let me anyway lol.
Skippy was really, really tasty, I'd have that again but I don't think they sell it in Sainsbury's. I mean can you imagine a supermarket in Stoke selling kangaroo lol. Perhaps there is a butcher somewhere. It was really tasty. It was like beef but not fatty at all. That will teach it to ignore me when I asked about the helicopter in the ravine lol. I wonder if I will start hopping lol! That garlic bread is going to come back and haunt me all night; I'm going to be so thirsty. I have to be up and ready for 5.15am to see dawn rise over Uluru. It's a special day for me to be doing this as it would have been my Dad's birthday. So it's going to be rather special. I don't know what he would have made of all this. Like I said before, probably laughing his head off. I better go and buy another bottle of water. As it is so hot they suggest you drink one litre of water every hour. I'm drinking the tap water lol, filling up my bottles and sticking them in the fridge. Aaron said you could drink the water in Australia and he ain't dead yet lol.
So off to see the stars, how exciting then straight to bed............ On my own in case any of you were wondering. Skippy, Skippy, Skippy the bush kangaroo Pmsl, what you say Skippy lol.
Wow! I wanted to one to this country because I knew I would feel so small (yes even me) but tonight totally blew me away. There was only me and a pole from Portugal and we were taken out in the bush, on foot, away from the light pollution. It was so dark it was difficult to see where you were actually going. Ball around were animal noises lol, I wasn't scared I thought it was exciting. When I looked up to the sky I couldn't believe the night sky. It was truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I don't really understand it to be honest but it has always been something I have been interested in, thank you Brian Cox lol. The two guys who did the talk were really, really good. I told him I am no Sheldon Cooper - I mean lets face it I don't know how the stay up there, but I didn't admit to that lol. We looked through the telescope and I saw Jupiter which looked like it had a stripy t shirt on lol. The astronomer was obviously blown away by my technical knowledge. My friend Ian, on Facebook, told me to look for Orion and we did. And yes Ian lol you were right it is upside down, how cool is that. I saw the southern cross, other galaxies, which I described as in a galaxy far, far away lol. I saw the moon and her acne lol then Saturn wow! You could see all it's rings, it was totally amazing. I don't really know what he was telling me lol but it was absolutely amazing. All the while you could here animal noises, nothing else. A truly wonderful experience.
Oh yes just one more thing. The guys said that the temperature was 3506 degrees today and when it rains here the rain rarely touches the ground because the heat evaporates it. So the rain will come down, you can see it, then it just evaporates. How cool is that!
Uluru
Well nothing is syncing as no Internet lol. So here are some photos. Waiting to fly again, it's Friday do off to cairns. It's cooler here today so it dies look like rain! Hey but you guys have snow pmsl!
You can see a photo of Valerie creating my painting! Enjoy x
PS kangaroo sandwich lol
You can see a photo of Valerie creating my painting! Enjoy x
PS kangaroo sandwich lol
Memories
I have decided to keep a list of the memories and things I have observed on my travels.
Hong Kong
7 million people on 1100 square kilometres which means for every squared kilometre there are 6500 people!!!!
Vibrant colours and amazing smells
Politeness
Fantastic and interesting food
Smiles even if we don't speak each others language lol
Amazing harbour
The giant Bhudda
The neon lights
Australia
Meg the wonbat
Vast
Ugg boots lol
Flies
Frankness
Good coffee
Good wine
Amazing harbours and coast
The Southern Hemisphere night sky
Pies lol
Aboriginal culture
Hong Kong
7 million people on 1100 square kilometres which means for every squared kilometre there are 6500 people!!!!
Vibrant colours and amazing smells
Politeness
Fantastic and interesting food
Smiles even if we don't speak each others language lol
Amazing harbour
The giant Bhudda
The neon lights
Australia
Meg the wonbat
Vast
Ugg boots lol
Flies
Frankness
Good coffee
Good wine
Amazing harbours and coast
The Southern Hemisphere night sky
Pies lol
Aboriginal culture
Wednesday - Uluru (Ayre's Rock)
Lovely flight this morning up to Uluru. Seat already booked when I got there, don't know how that happened but front row, loads of leg room and no one next to me, wonderful. Got to use business class loo too lol with real towels lol. Now the other half live! I have a window seat again and looking out the window as we fly we were only flying for about 15 minutes out of Sydney and then there was nothing, no houses just the blue mountains, the nothing. The soil is so red, you see odd salt lake then nothing. The first picture is of a salt lake. You sometimes see a road that stretches for as far as you can see, mikes and miles then it just disappears on the horizon. This is such a huge country. This flight is three hours long, like flying from Manchester to Spain! My at cases as well as me are getting around.
I have met some lovely people so far. A couple at the Rocks who I was speaking too whilst buying another print for Jude House or Jude Gallery as perhaps it should be known! The woman called me Shirley Valentine, she loved the fact that I was her age and had travelled this far all by myself. Then there was the guy at the top of the Blue Mountains who encouraged me to go under the barrier and to get near the edge to have my photo taken. I said ok you only live once to which he replied too right girl, you go for it. So I did lol and I don't like heights lol.
I have tried to avoid British people, something I always do when I travel lol. I have nothing in common with the majority of them except a passport and like the Essex couple generally speaking they are comparing everything with the UK. I keep quiet, see I can lol, then just listen to them moaning lol an they have no idea where I come from. In fact I have had a couple of people ask me for directions both here and in HK. I could actually give directions In HK lol.
When I get some decent free wi fi (she says hoping) I will upload some more Sydney pictures as they are on my phone and nothing has obviously synced. OK so back to Oasis on my headphones and looking at this amazing country.
I have met some lovely people so far. A couple at the Rocks who I was speaking too whilst buying another print for Jude House or Jude Gallery as perhaps it should be known! The woman called me Shirley Valentine, she loved the fact that I was her age and had travelled this far all by myself. Then there was the guy at the top of the Blue Mountains who encouraged me to go under the barrier and to get near the edge to have my photo taken. I said ok you only live once to which he replied too right girl, you go for it. So I did lol and I don't like heights lol.
I have tried to avoid British people, something I always do when I travel lol. I have nothing in common with the majority of them except a passport and like the Essex couple generally speaking they are comparing everything with the UK. I keep quiet, see I can lol, then just listen to them moaning lol an they have no idea where I come from. In fact I have had a couple of people ask me for directions both here and in HK. I could actually give directions In HK lol.
When I get some decent free wi fi (she says hoping) I will upload some more Sydney pictures as they are on my phone and nothing has obviously synced. OK so back to Oasis on my headphones and looking at this amazing country.
Belated Dishes if the Day Girls (and Andy but they are all in my team)
Here we are! One you will know the rest some of you wished you knew lol! Enjoy xx
PS and Meg, yes her name was Meg, my gorgeous wombat lol
PS and Meg, yes her name was Meg, my gorgeous wombat lol
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
Sydney - Monday
Early start today was collected at 8.00am this morning for my trip to the blue mountains. Grabbed some good coffee and was collected by a really lovely guy called John. He sat me in the front with him and we had to collect two other couples. Couple one, oh dear, were from Essex. Now I know or all my northern friends this will mean nothing; for my southern friends you know where this is going. The other couple were from Santa Barbara. The Essex couple kept saying everything we saw looked like something else I.e. oh those rocks are like Stonehenge, that rock face looks like the Grand Canyon! Well it isn't its Australia! The other couple just smiled at me looking confused. John the guide was brilliant. The Blue Mountains were stunning! So beautiful and the air was so clean.
We stopped and I got up fairly close to a little group of kangaroos, I was so excited lol! I asked Skippy if he needed to tell me anything about a helicopter in the ravine lol, he didn't answer me lol! The kangaroos just chomped away at the grass, it was so cool!
It was a good trip as it was very quiet and John knew a great deal and also you git to look at the suburbs. It really was an excellent day and once agin, I walked miles.
Got back to the hotel and I was going to have a nap, but couldn't sleep - typical. So had a shower, still got third degree burns lol so will have to cover up tomorrow. Note: It is difficult when you are on your own to apply sun screen! Went down to the harbour again as I can pick up some free wi fi. Wi fi in the hotel is $22 that's about £17, for 24 hours! Hence posting blog as and when I can.
I had a look around the Rocks again then caught the bus back as my legs are tired now. So I'm not setting the alarm tomorrow as this us the only chance for a couple of days to have a lie in. I think I am going to a wildlife park tomorrow, John the guide recommended it as I only want to see australian animals. Then I'm off to Manly beach but not to sun bathe because of my red bits lol! Then I will have to pack as on the move again. I really am having a wonderful time, I'm not going to want to come back!
We stopped and I got up fairly close to a little group of kangaroos, I was so excited lol! I asked Skippy if he needed to tell me anything about a helicopter in the ravine lol, he didn't answer me lol! The kangaroos just chomped away at the grass, it was so cool!
It was a good trip as it was very quiet and John knew a great deal and also you git to look at the suburbs. It really was an excellent day and once agin, I walked miles.
Got back to the hotel and I was going to have a nap, but couldn't sleep - typical. So had a shower, still got third degree burns lol so will have to cover up tomorrow. Note: It is difficult when you are on your own to apply sun screen! Went down to the harbour again as I can pick up some free wi fi. Wi fi in the hotel is $22 that's about £17, for 24 hours! Hence posting blog as and when I can.
I had a look around the Rocks again then caught the bus back as my legs are tired now. So I'm not setting the alarm tomorrow as this us the only chance for a couple of days to have a lie in. I think I am going to a wildlife park tomorrow, John the guide recommended it as I only want to see australian animals. Then I'm off to Manly beach but not to sun bathe because of my red bits lol! Then I will have to pack as on the move again. I really am having a wonderful time, I'm not going to want to come back!
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