Friday night we stayed in a campground in a tiny campground cabin in Yulara (the resort town that was moved just outside the national park), and Patricia and I opted to sleep on the nearby grassy lawn in our swags. We then got up for an *early* hike through the Valley of the Winds in Kata Juta, which means “many heads�? in Pitjantjatjara language. There are 36 rock mounds over 35 hectares of land. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but I have a few photos from Phil. This is a mysteriously beautiful place (I did get a photo driving into the park on Thursday – watch my home page for it), and I find it so strange that it is really unknown to most people. Patricia and I just stopped and sat and watched the sun change the light and color of the ‘heads’, and the birds, and a tiny gecko the exact same red color of the rocks at our feet, watching us, and trying to dig under the rock she was sitting on!

When we headed back to Yulara, Patricia and I decided to check into a motel, to get a little cool air and a bathroom, so Marty took us walking from place to place through town (he worked at Yulara for 9 months) to find a place and browse the visitor center, and we three ended up in a room at the Pioneer Backpacker Lodge with a lovely pool – what a relief that was. That evening, we tried to see sunset on Uluru – it didn’t light the rock due to the clouds, but was beautiful all the same. Then we all had BBQ at our place – this is a popular eating thing here; you order what you want, they give it to you raw, and you cook it yourself on outdoor BBQ grills set up nearby – there were tons of people doing this, which includes a salad/bread/dessert/fruit bar.

We were up again early to try for sunrise on Uluru, which was okay, then we walked all the way around the rock, Patricia and Karen and I. It is an awesome place; feels, and is, a massive single piece of stone. The climb up the rock is strongly discouraged, but not prohibited, and looks quite forbidding – I can hardly believe mom and dad did it years ago before the rock was returned to the ownership of the Anangu-Pitjantjatjara people. The climb is a sacred ritual undertaken by young men entering manhood. We spent the rest of the midday browsing through the Uluru Cultural Center, learning some of the history and stories, and viewing the wonderful artwork.

That afternoon, to recover from the heat, rather than play cards as Patricia suggested, Marty took us on a Pool-and-Pub Crawl – we put on our swimsuits and sarongs, and walked from hotel to hotel (easy to do in Yulara), which are all owned by the same company, and he introduced us to his favorites. Marty order beer, and we ordered our favorite drink – lemon-lime, soda, and bitters – at each pub, and then drank them in the pool. It was a lovely afternoon that ended with a classy dinner at Gecko’s.