Day 35 - Sunrise & Sunset Spotters

30.01.23

The alarm clock wakes us up - and it's early. Marco gets up at 05.15, gets dressed, and immediately leaves the room. 5 minutes later, it's time to get up, get dressed, and get in the car. Marco has looked at the sky and decided that we should leave immediately. Because we're trying again with the sunrise today. Clear starry sky and the first signs of dawn are already visible. Full of anticipation, we rush into the National Park and look for a spot to watch. On our map app, we have discovered two options. We drive to the first one and are disappointed. Unfortunately, this spot no longer exists. We are at the second one. But like yesterday, we are disappointed, along with about 30 others. Many thick, dark clouds are frolicking in front of the rising sun. Maybe the sun will manage to break through between the clouds. We wait for about an hour until, like the day before, we are alone again. Unfortunately, without success.

We return to the hotel with Hector and drown our slight disappointment with coffee. But now a highlight of the day is coming. At 9:00 am, we are picked up at the neighboring hotel by Peter in a small bus, along with four other tourists, and shuttled to the airport. There we get into a dark blue helicopter. Because we have booked a scenic flight to Uluru and Kata Tjuta ('kata tschudah'). Jimmy, our pilot, flies us to these two World Heritage Sites. On the way, he tells us a lot about the area. The largest wild camel population in the world lives in this region. Unfortunately, we didn't see any. The plain is also very green, which is due to the many and increased rainfall in the last two years.

The flight goes by much too quickly. So we are back at the resort at 10:20 am. There we go shopping for our dinner. Today the goal is to see the sunset at Uluru (attempt 3). More on that later... It's almost noon, and we get ready for the pool. After the busy morning program, we need some rest. We read, doze off, and refresh ourselves with two visits to the water. Shortly before 4:00 pm, we are back in Hector; packed for a short hike and dinner afterwards. Back at ground level at Kata Tjuta, we climb the rather short (1.3 km) Walpa Gorge Trail - at the same time with about 20 Asians. They are wearing jeans, sweaters, or thick track pants. Luckily, it's only 33 degrees, calm, and relatively sunny...

Now it's time for the sunset at the end of the day. We cruise the 40 km from Kata Tjuta back to Uluru and place ourselves on a bench at the Sunset Carpark. It doesn't look bad for a long time. But exactly where the sun sets, there are thick clouds in front of it... We stay calm, eat bread, cheese, meat, and cucumber, and enjoy the evening atmosphere. Suddenly, the sun finds a hole in the cloud cover and colors Uluru in a dark orange. The slot is short but breathtaking. The sun sets, and the sky shows itself in its most beautiful evening twilight colors. We can't stop marveling and stay until the stars shine brightly.