Uluru Day 2, 09.01.25 Once again, the weather…

Slowly but surely, we are getting used to the local time. However, the puppet is a bit hindered; due to the air conditioning interruption in Sydney, he has become a bit sluggish. Today is free for us; only in the evening is a helicopter flight scheduled... 36 minutes around Uluru and Kata Tjuta, formerly known as The Olgas. For breakfast, we take a stroll to the so-called Town Square for a cup of coffee and breakfast sandwiches. It is already quite hot, so we head to the pool afterward. We enjoy various swims and listen to our audiobooks. In between, I also give our travel diary a little boost. By the afternoon, clouds start to gather, some of which are darker. Oh dear... the puppet senses something ominous. It thunders. But just once. Being as optimistic as we are, the puppet more so, Snuck a little less... we decide to get ready for the helicopter flight. My phone rings... an Australian number from Yulara... it can't be… Yes, it is Professional Helicopter Services. The flight cannot take place because too many thunderstorms are forecasted in the area. With all the optimism, we are disappointed! Very much so. At first, we are practically speechless and at a loss. Then we try to organize alternatives. Not so easy, as we are flying further towards Adelaide tomorrow. Luckily, the puppet discovers a flight for tomorrow morning. Although significantly shorter, and only to Uluru. But better than nothing! Quickly booked, hooray! Everything fits perfectly with timing! Sometimes you just have to be lucky! Lightly uplifted, we savor the dinner; the puppet has kangaroo… virtually no cholesterol. One more glass of wine in the room, and we quickly drift off again. And tomorrow is a new day! Or something like that... quickly getting the suitcases ready for departure, we'll soon be picked up for our helicopter flight, and when we return, there won't be much time left. Then we head directly back to the airport. Organizing the helicopter flight has really turned out to be quite complicated! Initially, we had booked a sunrise flight. This was canceled because the heli was unavailable for some reason that day. Then we booked the sunset tour with another provider… this was canceled due to weather. Now we have our last-minute flight… it’s keeping us on our toes! In the helicopter, there are 3 passengers and Emily, the pilot. The flight is impressive, thrilling, exciting, and scenic… it’s hard to describe adequately. The view of Uluru is stunning. Far too quickly, we find ourselves back on solid ground. We hope the photos can better convey our experience. Now we are already back on the plane to Sydney, from where we will continue directly to Adelaide, where we will meet Marti, my Australian host mother, tomorrow. She has already put together a nice program for us. I’m sure it will be another eventful stop on our journey!