My God It's Hot

Day 17:
Jill and I couldn’t face another early morning so we decided to sleep in to about 05.30. Once again we made our way to Uluru and once again we were disappointed to find that it was closed. Most things at Uluru are set up for a three day tour. The park entry is for three days, the hotel rooms have a 3 day minimum, etc. So after three days of trying, we weren’t going to be able to climb the rock. As a side note, our guide from the previous day mentioned to us that the climb is generally only open 40 days a year now. So if you’re going to Uluru for a holiday, climb it if you can, but don’t plan on being able to do it.

But that was OK. We’d walked nearly every single trail in the park, and seen amazing sunrises and sunsets at both of the sights. We’d definitely gotten everything we could have wanted (other than the climb) and decided that it was time for a rest. On top of that, the top (what Aussies call the high temperature) was predicted to be 42C! (that’s 108F for those who aren’t metrically inclined). So we went back to the hotel and slept. And slept, and slept. It really felt good to get some rest for the first day since we’d arrived. It did wonders for our aching backs and legs. Later in the day we ventured out to an Aboriginal cultural center, but even that little exertion sent us back to the room for more rest.

At the end of the day, we went to Uluru for one last sunset. On the way out, it started raining a little bit and we got to see one of the clearest double-rainbows that you'll find anywhere; the desert really is an amazing place. When we got to Uluru, Jill spread the ashes of her father around (some of the other spectators looked at us like we were spreading anthrax) as the sun set and then we head back to have a nice meal to end the day.