Have We Landed on Mars?

As we began our descent into the Ayers Rock airport Dom turned to me and asked if I had taken him to Mars.  The landscape is red and at first glance, looks barren.

And so, after a 3.5 hour flight from Sydney, another adventure began.

We exit the plane on the tarmac and are immediately bombarded by tiny flies!  WHAAT?!  Nobody warned us about this.  Ellie, our blond statuesque driver meets us and says, “Welcome to The Outback.  The temperature is 105 and the flies are the norm.”

The hotel (Sails in the Desert) is 10 min from the airport but it truly looks like it sits in the middle of nowhere.  Don’t get me wrong...it is lovely.

We have a mid afternoon tour scheduled to Kata Tjuta Domes.  As we wait for our tour van we are so distressed about this fly situation that the young man at the front desk races away for a minute and returns with 2 bush style hats with nets. 

We look hilarious but 

a.  We don’t care

b.  We are not alone.

  

Bless his heart and the good tip he just earned.  The flies are really harmless; but so annoying.  I am reminded of MacLeod’s Daughters, an Australian TV show on Amazon Prime, that I am addicted to.  I have binged up to Season 6.  It takes place in the Outback and when I saw the actors delivering their lines with flies in their eyes and on their clothes, I thought it was because it took place on a cattle ranch and blamed the cows.  I now see the set was the authentic Outback.

So our tour guide, Georgia, was another Italian immigrant, from Tuscany.  They’re all over! (See prior blog for more on the Italians)

I would say that Kata Tjuta is a distant relative to Uluru; each having their distinct features and originations.  We hiked half of Walpa Gorge Walk because of the extreme heat.  Believe me, we were quite satisfied.

The park people warn that you must drink 1 liter of water per hour and eat even if you are not hungry.  I suppose they expect you to sweat out all that water and I didn’t see many toilets out there.

Tomorrow we will be up for a 5am sunrise tour of Uluru Rock, followed by a sunset Field of Light exhibition.  I know there will be a nap in there somewhere.