There are shuttles that take you from Yulara to Uluru and Kata Tjuta in 30 and 60 minutes, respectively, including stops for sunrise and sunset views at those times. In two days, we managed to see the rocks at pretty much every time of the day and from every possible angle. We are posting lots of pictures, the most striking views are those that contrast the red rock, green vegetation, and blue sky. We walked on a couple of trails through Kata Tjuta and one around Uluru (climbing to the top is allowed, but Aborigines ask you not do it, so we didn't; see how well-behaved we are when asked nicely). Woke up early in the morning for sunrise views (if you know me, you know I don't do this very often), and stayed late for sunset views (on the other hand, sunset is never a problem). We were lucky to have a full moon, so even the night views were fantastic.
Since we were under starry desert skies, we took advantage of an observatory night tour. We learned more about the Southern Cross. Interestingly enough, this same constellation is depicted in the Australian and New Zealander flags, but while in the former it has 5 stars, in the latter it shows only 4. We got the Aussie explanation for the discrepancy, something to do with the quality of telescopes and astronomers, and their ability to count. Somebody even mention that the fifth star was not big enough to be an All Black, hence it is not on the Kiwi flag. Anyway, I don't think we unearthed the entire truth behind this issue. The highlight of the night was that we were able to see Jupiter with our naked eyes. I didn't even know this was possible. Later, with the telescope we were able to see the planet's stripes and 4 moons. I thought that was really cool. Very educational night, as you can see.
Now we are waiting for our flight to Cairns. This is our goodbye to Australia's desert. We are looking forward to the Barrier Reef.
Mercedes
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