Day 43 September 10 Wednesday.
Made it to Ayers Rock (Uluru) in the early afternoon. Got a spot at the local, on only resort at the park. Had a nice dinner then went to the park to wait for the sunset. Well it was cloudy and everyone thought nothing would happen. But just as the sun was setting it shown on the rock for a few minutes and everyone was hap
py. Lots of photo were taken. Drove back to camp in the dark. First time driving in the dark here that I 
remember. It was a very beautiful sight to see.
Made it to Ayers Rock (Uluru) in the early afternoon. Got a spot at the local, on only resort at the park. Had a nice dinner then went to the park to wait for the sunset. Well it was cloudy and everyone thought nothing would happen. But just as the sun was setting it shown on the rock for a few minutes and everyone was hap
py. Lots of photo were taken. Drove back to camp in the dark. First time driving in the dark here that I 
remember. It was a very beautiful sight to see.Day 44 September 11 Thursday
Got up early to go see the sunrise on Uluru. It was not as nice as the sunset. It turns out the sunrise side (East) is very sacred so pictures can be for personal use only. No one can publish them under penalty of Northern Territory law. So to honor their aboriginal wishes you will not see any sunrise pictures. Also, they ask people not to climb the rock so I did not do that either. Besides it was getting hot already at 9 am not unlike Arizona. Instead I walked all around Ayers Rock, 9.5 km, almost 6 miles. There are a large number of sites that the visitors were asked not to take pictures because they were sacred. While the sunset pictures make the rock look like a relatively smooth thing, it is not. It has many canyons, caves, water holes, etc. It is a very interesting place. The aboriginal community has a nice visitor center trying to describe their culture and why the place is so important to them. Interesting is that not one aboriginal person could be seen working there. After lunch went to Kata Tjuta, aka The Olgas, and went on a short 2km walk. Getting really hot, probably above 30 C, 90 F. They guide book said they were 36
Got up early to go see the sunrise on Uluru. It was not as nice as the sunset. It turns out the sunrise side (East) is very sacred so pictures can be for personal use only. No one can publish them under penalty of Northern Territory law. So to honor their aboriginal wishes you will not see any sunrise pictures. Also, they ask people not to climb the rock so I did not do that either. Besides it was getting hot already at 9 am not unlike Arizona. Instead I walked all around Ayers Rock, 9.5 km, almost 6 miles. There are a large number of sites that the visitors were asked not to take pictures because they were sacred. While the sunset pictures make the rock look like a relatively smooth thing, it is not. It has many canyons, caves, water holes, etc. It is a very interesting place. The aboriginal community has a nice visitor center trying to describe their culture and why the place is so important to them. Interesting is that not one aboriginal person could be seen working there. After lunch went to Kata Tjuta, aka The Olgas, and went on a short 2km walk. Getting really hot, probably above 30 C, 90 F. They guide book said they were 36
sandstone mounds but they were conglomerate as some of the rocks were basketball size. Was going to head out and go towards Kings Canyon but decided to spend the night. The swimming pool with cold water. Ahhh, when right in with no problem. Went to bed early.Day 45 September 12 Friday
Left Ayres Rock campground and headed west on the Lassiter Hihgway. Saw a small herd of wild horses and took their picture. Continued on to hwy3 and headed to Watarrka NP, aks, Kings
Left Ayres Rock campground and headed west on the Lassiter Hihgway. Saw a small herd of wild horses and took their picture. Continued on to hwy3 and headed to Watarrka NP, aks, Kings
Canyon. Went for a walk in the canyon. Started up the rim walk which is 9.5k and decided it was already too hot. Did the valley walk of 1.2k instead and was mostly in the shade along the river 
bottom. No water of course. Decided to head south again on highway 3 to go back to Alice Springs and the McDonnell Range. Spent the night at a wayside park 60 km from the Lassiter Highway.Day 46 September 13 Saturday
Headed west again on the Lassiter Highway. Saw my first feral camels today. I think there were about 5 in the group. I heard estimates of 800,000 in Australia. Also heard about feral cats, yes
domestic cats, that are a real problem too. Some apparently are just about as big as dingos. They have tried to poison them but it is not working very well. Got to Alice Springs and headed west on Larapinta way to the Western McDonnell Range. Spent the night in a NP campground called Ellery Creek Big Hole. A huge pond 
between big ridges. Very pretty. Big bad wind in the afternoon, gusting really hard from about 4 to 6. Whew.
Headed west again on the Lassiter Highway. Saw my first feral camels today. I think there were about 5 in the group. I heard estimates of 800,000 in Australia. Also heard about feral cats, yes
domestic cats, that are a real problem too. Some apparently are just about as big as dingos. They have tried to poison them but it is not working very well. Got to Alice Springs and headed west on Larapinta way to the Western McDonnell Range. Spent the night in a NP campground called Ellery Creek Big Hole. A huge pond 
between big ridges. Very pretty. Big bad wind in the afternoon, gusting really hard from about 4 to 6. Whew.Day 47 September 14 Sunday
Left Ellery Creek Big Hole campground. No wind. Left early and headed to Ormiston Gorge to go
on a 3-4 hour hike before it got too hot. Beautiful hike especially through the gorge with it high walls, water hole and rocks. I was hot and tired when I got back to the car. I had lunch at the Ochre Pits where ochre of many different colors were found and used by the aborigines for body paint and cave painting. It was also traded all over Australia. I can see why as there were lots of different 
colors and plenty of it. Ochre is mainly kaolin clay colored with iron oxide. I then went to Stanley Chasm which is similar to Ellery Creek. I saw a rock wallaby come and drink from a hole he had 
dug in the sand. Cool. It did not seem afraid. Spend the night at Stuarts Caravan Park to have a nice shower, do laundry and get my pictures ready to send on the internet. Took space A-5. Saw some ring necked parrots and rock pigeons here.
Left Ellery Creek Big Hole campground. No wind. Left early and headed to Ormiston Gorge to go
on a 3-4 hour hike before it got too hot. Beautiful hike especially through the gorge with it high walls, water hole and rocks. I was hot and tired when I got back to the car. I had lunch at the Ochre Pits where ochre of many different colors were found and used by the aborigines for body paint and cave painting. It was also traded all over Australia. I can see why as there were lots of different colors and plenty of it. Ochre is mainly kaolin clay colored with iron oxide. I then went to Stanley Chasm which is similar to Ellery Creek. I saw a rock wallaby come and drink from a hole he had dug in the sand. Cool. It did not seem afraid. Spend the night at Stuarts Caravan Park to have a nice shower, do laundry and get my pictures ready to send on the internet. Took space A-5. Saw some ring necked parrots and rock pigeons here.
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