Mario and Pat's Australian drive holiday

Day 6: Uluru, NT sightseeing distance covered (Walking) 8km

Today was our 1^st rest day, well not driving to our next destination.

Around 9am we headed back to Uluru to do the Mala track walk. The Anangu people were the original people of this area and according to their tradition the Mala were the ancestral beings that formed the area.

There are over 1,000 different languages spoken by the Indigenous people of Australia. Each group has its own language and region. Our guide tells us that it was typical for an elder to speak as many as 4 to 5 languages. They are very different to each other and not just a dialect of the same language. We heard many stories about the culture and lifestyle of the Anangu people and the Mala traditions. The trail we did was not long, but took nearly 2 hrs because of the story telling and viewing.

We then went to the Cultural centre to look at some film about the local people and also looked at a few souvenirs. Then we had lunch.

We went back to the Hotel for a rest, and to get more fuel for our car. I only put in 40 litres as the cost was $2.15 P/L. Just down the road (240km away) its only $1.99. Yeah, big saving??

Around 5pm we headed to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) for a sunset viewing - it is part of the same (huge) national park with Uluru. We did a short (1 hour) walk through the gorge first and then moved to the designated ‘sunset viewing’ area where we enjoyed some snacks and a bottle of wine. We both were very impressed by the Olgas, and might even say they are more dramatic than Uluru.

This evening, we really planned to enjoy the live entertainment after dinner here at the hotel. But, after all the walking and time in the sun, we both were pretty tired and are making it an early night.

Tomorrow we head off to Alice Spring, NT