Australia: Day 9, Ayer's Rock, part II

The next morning started off before the crack of dawn. We had about a 20 minute ride into the park to go see Uluru at sunrise. We were disappointed that we couldn't get up close to The Rock the day before on our camelback tour- it was just in the distant background.

We'd read a lot that The Rock is cool to see at sunset, but way better at sunrise. That was definitely true.

I sort of thought the sun would rise from behind The Rock, but it didn't.

We took a million pictures but my camera couldn't quite capture the different hues The Rock turned as the sun came up so I just chose this one.

Sunrise with the moon still in the sky.

Walking around The Rock. Everything was so pretty. Again, obviously the pictures are nothing compared to being there in person.

I was obsessed with this golden grass, especially next to the red ground.

It's a touristy thing to do to climb The Rock, however, it's also very controversial. Initially we'd planned on climbing it, but after learning how the Aboriginal people considered is a sacred place I didn't feel right about it.

Turns out it was closed anyway.

It's a pretty dangerous climb, and people have died doing it. You can see here one of the most tough parts of the climb is the beginning, and there's a chain link fence to help support.

More of the fence.

I loved this huge cut out of The Rock. It reminded me of a tidal wave.

Since we weren't climbing The Rock we decided to go for a walk around it. It was about 10k and the last third of the walk was tough. It got to be pretty hot and there were so many flies. Honestly at any given time there'd be seven or eight flies just chillin on our flynets. Sick.

Take note of the trees to compare the height of The Rock. The trees were a few feet taller than me.

I was honestly wishing I could have a full body flynet. Those suckers land on you and then you brush them away and they land right back.

A rest stop.

At this point we were about 3/4 of the way around. The first half went really quickly and then the second half really dragged. I'd take off my fly net for a photo and couldn't wait to get it back on. These flies are honestly enough to drive a person insane. I remember at least once just flailing my arms and running and brushing myself off because they wouldn't leave me alone!

Aboriginal hieroglyphics.

The Rock is oblong shaped. Sooooo wide and skinny.

Our path for miles and miles.

Luckily we made it back and it was a miracle that we didn't miss our shuttle. By the time we were back around there were so many people there and soooo many shuttle buses. The buses to get back to the resorts only left every few hours. We finally realized ours was driving away so we went running after it and luckily caught it. We were very lucky because if we'd missed it, we would have missed the shuttle to the airport, which would have meant we'd miss our flight. The only flight leaving that day. We got very very lucky. Thank goodness we didn't have to hitch hike! I loved the Outback, but 24 hours is definitely enough time. Any longer and I would have gone crazy. The little resort had a super nice hotel, a cheaper hotel, and a hostel. There were a few souvenir shops and delis and restaurants. Everything was expensive since there was nothing else for 280 miles, except one grocery store, which is where we bought our dinner and breakfast.

Australia: Day 8, Ayer's Rock, part I

**I am officially lame. I never finished my Australia posts. I guess I got a bit overwhelmed. The below two paragraphs, and first photo caption, were written back in September, and here it is, another four months later. Where does the time go?? I will finish blogging this trip before the year mark hits! I should probably just give it up, but I can't help myself....

Are you getting sick of hearing about Australia yet? Probably. It's been four months since I went, and I haven't finished the travelogue yet. Who am I? I guess life's been a bit busier since summer hit, and as you're aware the internet sucked at my apartment, but, woohoo! I moved yesterday and hurray! Internet that works all the time! Three cheers for internet!

Anyway, at this point I'm sure I'm just blogging for myself (and maybe Karen) but that's just fine with me.

We thought a lot about if we should make the effort to go so far out of our way (not to mention all the extra $$) just to see a big rock in the middle of nowhere. I mean, would it really be worth it? In the end we decided we should go for it. I mean, who's to say I'll ever be in Australia again? For the record, it was, totally worth it. We were only in the Outback for 24 hours, which was more than enough time. I mean, there really is NOTHING there. And the flies alone will drive you insane.

Just before boarding the flight in.....gosh, where were we in this photo, Karen? I can't even remember. Horrible. Oh, yes! We had a layover in Carnes. Yes, now we're boarding for Ayer's Rock. Don't judge me, we took 11 flights.

Just about to land in the Outback. That's all you see for miles.

The lone landing strip for the tiniest airport ever.

I just realized I'm so guilty of that annoying face/peace sign pose. I'll work on that.

Aaaaand there it is again, but this isn't the fact I'm referring to (you know, the puckered lip one.) On our shuttle bus to our hostel.

Note to self: invest in a nice camera before my next big trip. The colors of the Outback were incredible. These pics don't do justice.

So excited for our sunset camelback ride!

Yes, the helmets were mandatory.

No, the fly nets were not. Karen eventually gave in though. Those flies were no joke!

Uluru

I don't mean to brag, but I got this in the first shot, and then spent at least five minutes laughing at Karen's millions of attempts, and extreme frustration that ensued. Sorry Karen, I couldn't help ti.

Our we're-so-sexy-in-our-flynets faces.

A thorny lizard. We just happened across this creature. So cool.

Outback tree.

Outback rainbow.

Heaven?

With Jack. Check him out, all mugging for the camera. Seriously.

Halloween Masquerade Ball

I came across this as a draft I never posted, and now I'm over writing captions for everything, so enjoy. Halloween '09.

The daily ten

My coworker told me an amazing story of his dad being raised in an orphanage in Greece after both his parents were killed in WWII, and then going on to find his wife, move to America, and create a life for his family. Truly the American dream. Such a neat story.

Got out of work right when I planned.

Woke up much before my alarm.

Girl date with Reag. Lots of Piper Jane stories. Loved it.

A daunting task at work ended up not being so difficult.

My coworker offered to share his cab with me, and wouldn't let me pay.

More progress on the project.

A nice fb message from an old flame.

Got an email from a childhood friend about her upcoming visit to the city.

I worked up the nerve to start knocking on doors and targeted our neighborly pot smokers and asked them to tone it down a bit.

The daily ten

My pockets in my big coat are lined with fleece so even without gloves my hands stay toasty.

The bossman called from London to assure me I definitely shouldn't have been expected to figure out a daunting task that was given to me at 4:45pm today that completely overwhelmed me and stressed me out (and made me cancel my date with Reagan and Katie!)

The girls understood my last minute canceling, and Reagan and I are meeting up tomorrow. (Next time Katie!)

My roomies understood me being very grouchy when I got home.

The man at the corner shop dug some Vanilla yogurt out for me, even though it wasn't on the shelf.

This video. If you don't know borg, you should reevaluate your life.

Phil let me borrow his external hard drive (with lotsa movies on it!)

Britt's starting a blog!

No Country for Old Men twice in two days. It scares me, but I can't look away.

For the most part, the work day went very quickly.

The daily ten

Had Spaghettios for lunch for the first time in a long time. Mmmm.

Ash came down to hang out and we watched Away We Go.

Ash started the daily ten!

More progress made on the big project.

A good deep conversation with my roomies.

Britt made me hot chocolate.

Utilized Max Delivery for some ice cream.

Two dinner invitations. (Which I had to turn down, because I wasn't feeling great, but it's still nice to be asked.)

Found out they sell tickets for South Pacific at TKTS.

Felt inspired to be a little more brave after chatting with my roommates.

The daily ten

Glorious sleeping in.

Discovered the glory that is Uniqlo, and felt super cool because there's only one store in the country and it's in SoHo.

Got my first pair of Jack Purcells today. Two, actually, as they were buy one get one half off.

Found a new favorite restaurant. Thanks Carly.

Saw Lovely Bones and loved it, mostly.

Wore my black Jack Purcells tonight and decided they are so comfy.

My roomies covered me for cab fare when I was on the phone with my boss working.

When I went outside to go shopping it was so sunny, and warmer than I'd expected.

After a flight cancellation fiasco for the bossman and another guy, everything was worked out. Thank goodness for 24 hour expedia corporate travel.

Snuggled in my snuggie on the couch and felt so warm and comfy.

The daily ten

A phone call from Nadia during which I could hear Mad talking away in the backseat. So lovable.

A good chat with a good friend.

Said friend emailing to tell me she loves "the daily ten" (tdt) and might start her own. (Do it!)

Having a friend ask why we haven't hung out, and if it's bc she's married. (It's not!) But it made me laugh.

Being a quarter short for the vending machine and Shawny coming to the rescue.

Delicious vanilla yogurt with delicious granola for breakfast. Mmmm.

Taking a day off from the gym and only feeling a bit guilty. I will go tomorrow!

Coming home to friends hanging out.

A very unexpected call from one of my favorite people who always enlightens and inspires me.

Being at home alone on a Friday night for a few hours and not feeling the least bit guilty or disappointed.

And one extra...

Having a watch repair man say something pretty offensive, and totally calling him out on it, and then being commended by the boss man who was surprised I spoke up. (To be fair, I'm pretty sure he didn't mean to offend, however he didn't think about what he was saying, so I had to put him in his place a bit.)

The daily ten

Finding a very long lost friend on facebook, thanks to some help from another friend. :)

Fourth day on the work out streak. Maybe a personal record. I wish I was joking.

The bama game's on, and they're killing.

It wasn't torture to get out of bed this morning, for the first time this week.

The weather hasn't been terribly cold, even though that's what I'm hearing about virtually every other part of the country.

I ran a little bit longer than I thought I could.

I found some flights to Costa Rica that were cheaper than I'd expected.

All my roommates were home together to watch the game.

I got an email from someone for a project I'm working on that made me so happy.

My boss's wife loved my poppyseed bread.

The daily ten

Found out I get to take some Excel and Power Point classes through work.

A few hours of empty apartment. (I love my roommates! Solo time is just rare in this city.)

One of my bachelor-for-life type buddies got engaged.

A friend popped in unexpectedly tonight; made me feel like I was in college again.

A blog comment from my brother that made me laugh out loud.

After a pretty rough day it ended on a good note, when I felt the post-workout high.

A friend at work recommended a bunch of good books.

Got to catch up with Aimee.

Got a fb message from Casey, one of my all time favorite people, and we discussed possible future travels.

I'm currently warm and cozy in my nice bed, all ready for an early(ish) night's sleep-hurray!

Goodnight!