Uluru 2018

I spent a wonderful week up in Uluru (Ayer's Rock) and in my last post,
 Sewing up a Storm in the Desert,  I wrote about the classes that I did while I was staying up there.

I also did lots of tours and sightseeing, we packed a lot into that week!

I stayed with Marion another Waverley Patchworkers member at the Desert Gardens Hotel and she was a good companion for the week.

We had paid to have the buffet breakfast every morning and we had most of our evening meals in the bistro as well. We were certainly well fed!

I had wanted to go up to Uluru for many years and I could hardly believe that I was actually there. One of the first things we did was the Uluru Sunrise tour.

Uluru at Sunrise

You can see the magnificent glowing colour that happens at sunrise when you compare it to the photo above of me in front of the rock during the day. It is really hard to judge how big the rock actually is but it is huge and there is nothing else around it. It is quite a breath taking and magical sight. The tour leader told us that Uluru is bigger than the Eiffel Tower.

We also went to see the Field of Light display. It is a spectacular display of coloured lights by artist Bruce Munro and you walk through it at night. It is very cold at night so we all had our warm coats on.

Field of Light Display

As you can see from my photo it was very hard to photograph it was more about the experience but my friend Sue de Vanny brought her large camera and she said I could use one of her photos.

Sue de Vanny's photo of Field of Light

I didn't have a window seat on the plane flying in so I went on a 45 minute helicopter tour to see the area from the air.

I was in the front seat right next to the pilot so it was very exciting.

Here is a photo of Uluru from the air.

Uluru from the helicopter

There is another big rock up there or rather a set of many rocks called Kata Tjuta, which means many heads (It used to be called the Olgas). It is almost as magnificent as Uluru and Marion and I went on a sunset tour. Here is a photo before sunset and you can see the magnificent blue sky we enjoyed. I have never seen such blue skies and we didn't see a cloud the entire week.

Kata Tjuta

Here I am in front of Kata Tjuta at the beginning of Sunset.

Look at the magnificent colour when the sun finally goes down.

Kata Tjuta Sunset

It was quite magical and we didn't want to leave.

As well as the Uluru sunrise tour, we did the sunset tour with all the other Sewing up a Storm delegates. I have not done anything to the photo below; it is exactly how it looked.

Uluru at Sunset

The tutors took the chance to have a photo together too.

The Tutors

On the last night we went on the Sounds of Silence dinner. I haven't mentioned the wonderful starry sky that you get at night up there. It was just as amazing as Uluru. I didn't have the right camera or lens to take a photo of the night sky but it was inky black with millions of stars and the milky way was so clear. It was absolutely beautiful.

Sounds of Silence Dinner

As well as delicious food we had someone showing us the star constellations and he also pointed out the planets, it was very interesting.

It was a lovely diner but it was bittersweet because we knew we were going home the next day. Here I am celebrating with Sue de Vanny.

Sue and I

Here was my last look at Uluru before darkness fell.

Uluru at dusk

There really is something magical about the area and I am so glad that I got there at last. Caroline Sharkey is going to run another Sewing up a Storm in the Desert in 2020 and I highly recommend that you join in. People came from all over Australia as well as a couple from overseas. Many women took their husbands along as well. My husband didn't want to come for he is very busy at work but I know he would've enjoyed it.

Bye for now,
Linda