22nd December

Two amazing happenings today – Jeff’s birthday and Uluru.....

Happy birthday Jeff, lots of love...

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me....another birthday but in a very surreal place. Uluru or Ayers rock is a strange place. Very hot, unusually humid due to an advancing cyclone, millions of flies that try to get up our nose & in our ears & sparse vegetation on red sand for as far as the eye can see. With, of course, Uluru & the Olgas popping out of the landscape with amazing colour & majesty. This place is just is so different from anyplace I or we have ever been that it feels unreal, like a film set or a dream. There is a definite magical air about the place, maybe even mystical. This feeling is recognised before we read & are told of its Aboriginal significance or how harsh this landscape is. 36 people have died on Uluru, it’s only some 400 metres high but in 35-40 degrees it is a serious walk. There is much advice & guidance about how to behave here like drink a litre of water an hour when walking during the day!
Sadly, the advancing cyclone will have an effect on our stay, several trips & tours & events are cancelled due to the risk of flooding, 100mm is threatened! Oh well!
I have told myself that the flies are simply wishing me happy birthday & that seems to work for me. We visit the Olga’s, 36 mounds jutting out from a red desert & we complete a couple of walks.

It is so funny, we get back to the coach after each walk & all the different nationalities take their revenge on the annoying flies. The Italians flap harmlessly but vigorously about & miss all their targets, the Germans efficiently take out 6 or more flies with a single strike, the French sit next to the Germans, the Spanish squash 1 fly then go to sleep, the Koreans sit with their mouths open & eat those that venture inside & the Americans use fly spray killing many flies & several tourists. “Hey,” they say, “its war, you have to expect casualties!”

We finally see a live kangaroo in the wild, hopping down an incline on the Olga’s at sunset.
We sit in 38 degrees, under a cloudy night sky & eat barbecued kangaroo, quite delightful....

Love & red sandy birthday hugs

Jeff & Janet