Up early (6 am) to be collected by the bus for the trip to Ayers Rock (Uluru). It’s a long bus ride but there were plenty of stops, including a camel farm where I saw 2-week-old camels. There already stood 4-foot high! Decided that I didn’t need to actually ride a camel though.

Next stop at Mount Ebenezer, a classic widening of the road with roadhouse. Some very nice aboriginal art in the gallery there. I just can’t seem to find a piece that I must have. I’ll keep looking.

More bus ride to a short stop to view Mount Connor – a tabletop mesa and a salt lake. This was when I finally discovered just how red and fine the sand is in the outback. It has the consistency of ground white pepper but it is red as red can be. And against that background, a fine green bush tomato with beautiful blue flowers. The colours are exquisite and so clear in the hot, dry air.

Finally made it to the Ayers Rock resort to discover that my bus trip did not include Uluru, although I’d been please to discover it did include the Olgas. So, I’ve arranged to visit Uluru at sunrise!

The bus was on time and off we went to the Olgas. In the same way that Uluru kind of sneaks up on you, Kata Tjuta does too. It’s only when you get up to them that you realise how long you’ve been driving and how big they really are. And very beautiful. Walked up one of the gorges (in 45°C heat) and was overwhelmed by the beauty and the harshness. The actual rock looks like it’s been put together by children with large lumps and small lumps all bound together with mud. The gorge was the sort of place one would imagine setting up a defensible household.

We then returned to the Uluru sunset viewing area. Because there was some extra time, the bus driver took us down to the rock itself for a quick look. The rock was formed at the same time and in the same way as Kata Tjuta, but it doesn’t have the large pieces in its conglomerate.

We watched the sunset and the changing colour of Uluru and then returned to Yulara (the resort district). I had dinner at Geckos Cafe, which was very nice, but like everything else out there, very expensive.

An early night because I was being picked up at 4:45 am!