Uluru

Cooper seemed a bit brighter and was keen to go. We packed the car with everything we needed and this time made sure the tent poles were in. We left the van in storage and headed south. It was quite a big drive - just short of 500km but a little bit easier without the van and traveling at 130km. We didn't really stop except for fuel and to get a closer look at this very large blue tongue lizard Rick spotted on the side of the road. He wasn't really happy to see us and was flicking his tongue at us quite aggressively. We saw our first glimpse of Uluru with about 50km to go. We drove to Yulara which is where all the accommodation is based and booked into the campground. After setting up we had a late lunch and drove into the park to get up close to the rock! We stopped at the sunset viewing area and then continued on to the cultural centre. In 1985, after many years of negotiations, the title deed to Uluru-Kata Tjuta land trust was handed back to the traditional land owners the Anangu people. In turn the the land was leased back to the federal government for 99 years and is now jointly managed. The cultural centre is built in the shape of Kuniya, the woma python woman and Liru the poisonous snake man, which are the main ancestoral characters in the stories about the creation of Uluru. At 6pm we went to the sunset viewing area and took some photos of the changing colours. We went back and cooked a BBQ for dinner.