Sunrise and Mutitjulu Waterhole

Waking up two owls at quarter to five: only Uluru and Kata Tjuta can do that!

This morning we had the sunrise on the program and left the hotel just after half past five (a few minutes behind schedule, but we almost missed it...), in order to drive to the perfect spot for both mountain things at once.

Of course, the road stretched forever (it must be just around the next turn...), and I kept asking: what's the time? One kilometer before the parking lot (from where you still have to walk up the dune), it was still 7 minutes before sunrise. So: step on it, take the first parking lot, gather all our belongings, and run up the dune! Ursula made a perfect landing and I still had time to take out my camera before the first rays of sunshine appeared on the horizon. It's never boring with us forest women... 😂

The sunrise next to Uluru and then the morning sun on Kata Tjuta were impressive!

Happy and full of energy (it was only 24 degrees and a bit cloudy in between), we decided to take the short walking trail (30 minutes there and back) to Mutitjulu Waterhole. Unfortunately, there were two buses of Asians who had also used the early morning hours for the excursion, so it was pretty crowded (that was the politically correct version - we are experiencing rather terrible thoughtlessness here...).

The waterhole is relatively small but it is the most important place at Uluru: all animals come there because the rock is shaped like a funnel and all rainwater runs into an upper basin, from where it then flows into the waterhole. The young Aboriginal people also learned hunting from their fathers and grandfathers there - there are several caves where the hunters waited for the animals, one cave even has very old (up to 2000 years) cave paintings (only moderately preserved, as everyone touches them and in the past (in the 50s, when they still photographed in black and white) even water was poured over them (for better contrast in the photos).

The rest of the day we relaxed after a hearty breakfast: we slept a little, listened to Bush Yarn in the town square (hunting and weapons of the Aboriginal people, culture and wisdom), wrote postcards, lay in the garden (by the pool) in the shade, splashed around and read a little in the pool. It was simply not only very early this morning, but also very hot during the day (31-34 degrees).

Then in the evening, another attempt to photograph the sunset with timely departure and arrival. It was fantastic and I couldn't get enough of watching and photographing. But see for yourself...