Mackenzie : Today we got up and went to the bush tucker tour, it was about trees and bushes, we got to eat a berry it was sweet. After that we went back to the caravan and had lunch and drew for a while. We went to the Olgas and we went through them it was a big walk, they are bigger than Ayers Rock. We went to have another look at Ayers rock and mum took photos, we didn't go to the top. We went to the shops and then home to make dinner.
We did one of the free activities today which was a garden walk- bush tucker tour. It was conducted by Leroy a local aboriginal who works for the resort in the plant & tourism section. This was a very interesting tour, we got to try fruits from the trees and smell & touch all the plants he was talking about. It went for about an hour and the kids were captivated as many of the trees they recognized from their school so to rub the leaves & smell them and know what they used them for on the land was really exciting for them. Most of the trees were bought in to Yulara to go around the resort as they wanted it to appear like an oasis in the desert, they certainly achieved that and as we wandered in and around the beautiful resort it was amazing how much thought had gone into the trees and their placement in the resort. Trees that we all take for granted were a source of food, nutrition and a way of life for the tribes people, with the women able to make anything out of basically nothing. We did a lap of the fancy resorts and read all the information on the area which was so interesting and we watched a man carving didgeridoos and then he played them for us. We then went back to Bentley and to make a quick lunch before heading to the Olgas. They are within the same National Park as Uluru and are 50kms away. They are so amazing too, it is so hard to imagine first stumbling across these 2 amazing freaks of nature, the landscape is fairly flat and then out of no where is a massive red rock and travel a bit further and again be confronted with the most amazing red rocks. The Kata Tjuta (Olgas) are massive, there is 36 domes and the highest is 546mts above the surrounding plain, which is nearly 200mts higher than Uluru. We went on another long walk today, through the gorge and all around the Olgas, it was beautiful, again it was sheer rock wall and had small caves that had greenery growing out from it. Once in the gorge there were small creeks with flowing water which, because of the shade of the next dome the water was freezing. In the shade it was really very cold and in the sun it was quite hot, it was really hard to find middle ground. You get to go right in and again there are great walkways made and where there isn't there is rocks lining a path to show you the way. We made the walk in and surprisingly it seemed quicker and easier on the way out. I saw a postcard that had lovely photos and said something like "Northern Territory - 1 rock, 1 gorge, 1 range and 1 million flies" This is by no means an exaggeration, it may have said 1 billion flies because that is what it has felt like out here in Alice Springs, and they are those dumb annoying flies that just sit on you waiting to be swatted. For all those people who I have always thought crazy & eccentric for wearing those ridiculous looking fly nets over your hats I am sorry, truly sorry, you are by far the most sane and sensible people I know, next time I'm here I will spend the $7.90 and buy a net, just to avoid a fly in my eye, up my nose and in my mouth- and yes all 3 happened to me. We went back to the rock in the hope it would be open as when I had loaded the photos last night I had noticed I didn't get a shot of Mack properly, as it was all the shots were from low down on the rock because as we got a little higher the camera was the last thing on my mind. So we did a quick re-enactment of yesterdays climb but stayed low as there were police there and an ambulance came in so we didn't know what was going on but the ambo came in with lights on so we decided to leave, people were still climbing so it mustn't have been extreme but still not nice to gig. We did a quick lap of town making the most of our time without Bentley. I strongly believe our Bentley has kept us below budget on this trip, as Daniel loves to eat out and it makes it near impossible to do that with Bentley so instead of me being the big baddy nagging about budget it is very simple we cant eat out as often as he would like. So back to the van to cook we went!
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