Uluru

We are now staying at the camp ground at Yulara, about 20 kms away from Ayres Rock. We left Coober Pedy very early in the morning and filled up with water before we headed off.

We had a long day driving and had regular stops along the way.The price of fuel here is amazing - one place was $1.90 per litre!! We we very excited when we reached the border of SA and NT, as this was the first time we could say we have been to all states and territories of Australia.

We had our first night free camping at a rest area called Kernot Range. There were other caravans and campers there too so we felt quite safe. We were pleased to be able to use our firepot for the first time this trip. We had carted wood from Tasmania, and it burnt really well!

We were only 200ks from Yulara, so we left our campsite late morning. and got to Yulara about 1pm. When we got service on our phones a message came through from Randall's mate we met at Coober Pedy - he had set up camp here too! We communicated on our radio, the first time we had done that, so it was all a bit of fun. We got our first glimpse of Ayres rock about 40 ks away and it certainly is magnificent!
Yulara is a little town in the middle of nowhere, and is very pricey. The campground is enormous, and caravans come and go all the time. I met 2 of my students here - they came running along saying "hello Mrs Smith"!! It was really quite funny to meet them here.
We can't get over the red sand here. We acutally stopped on the way here to take a photo - Randall wants to put some in a bag to take home!

We are planning to stay here a few more nights. As yet we have not been to the rock up close, but will do so later today.