Day 68: Wed 29 Jul 26 - Yulara

Wed 29 Jul  26 - Yulara

A mild morning, 6 feeling like 2 Degrees, Partly cloudy with moderate SE winds. AT 2pm it was only 15 feeling like 11 Degrees. It was windy and cold all day.

After a short walk around a couple of lookouts this morning to start the day, at 10:00 we delivered Olli to a young Peruvian lady we contacted (and paid) to look after him for 3 hours so we could take a Helicopter flight tour around Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Sandra normally works at the supermarket and it was her day off. Minding pets is a bit of a side hustle for many of the tourists who work here, and their contact details are made available at the information centre. Olli wasn't happy to leave us, and he gave Sandra a bit of a difficult time, but apparently he eventually settled, and was VERY happy to see us again at 13:00. Shortly after Sandra left us, we were collected by a shuttle base and taken to the helipad where we were given our flight brief, before boarding a 25 minute helicopter flight over the area. It was an amazing experience and provided a completely different perspective of the 2 iconic central Australian attractions from 500m above. Unfortunately, the young boy sitting next to Noel in the back got a little air sick, but apart from that, it was a wonderful experience for both of us. After the flight we were dropped back at the town square, (about 800m for the caravan park), where we took advantage of the break, and had an early lunch before Sandra dropped Olli back to us. We then walked back to the van where I had a quiet afternoon, while Noel joined a 45 minute Bush Garden Walk at a nearby hotel, with a local indigenous guide who covered a range of plants used by aboriginals for cooking and medicine. Tomorrow I plan to drive out to Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) and do a couple of long walks. 

We had a 25 minute Uluru and Kata Tjuta flight experience using Professional Helicopter Services

About to board - Noel's first time in a Helicopter, and she loved the experience

And we're off (Not really - it was another flight, but you get the idea)

Taking off - Us for real

Kata Tjuta (Olgas) in the hazy distance

Flying over the shifting dunes

Kata Tjuta (Olgas) 

Kata Tjuta (Olgas)

Uluru

The lady sitting in the back was kind enough to take this photo of us with Uluru in the background. Unfortunately her young son also sitting next to Noel wasn't faring very well. 

Uluru 

Uluru - Note the carpark at the bottom right is where we parked last night for sunset viewing


The landscape from above

The landscape from above

The landscape from above

Kata Tjuta (Olgas). I will visit here tomorrow (54km away) for a couple of walks 

Kata Tjuta (Olgas) 

Kata Tjuta (Olgas) 

Kata Tjuta (Olgas) 

Kata Tjuta (Olgas) 

Kata Tjuta (Olgas) 

Kata Tjuta (Olgas) 

The landscape from above

Circling back towards Uluru

A magnifient experience.
Noel enjoyed it so much, I might be up for funding more such experiences in the future.


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