Merry Christmas

December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas from Australia! Since we are ahead a day, we get to celebrate early in the outback. It is about as far from a White Christmas as you get. We were up at four to enter the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and watch the sunrise. It was not the best day for a sunrise, but it was still an inspiring site. We then toured around Uluru. There is a climb to the top of the rock, but we did not do it. The park closes the walk if the weather is too hot or if there is a chance of storms – both of which we had today. It’s probably better this way because the hike isn’t really a trail – it’s a chain that goes up the side of the rock. If you fall, there is no ledge on either side & it’s a straight drop down. It is probably best to keep both feet on the ground.

The temperature is above 100, but don’t worry, it’s a dry heat. Rather than being hot & muggy, you feel like you are inside of a toaster. Hot is hot, so we are spending most of the afternoon indoors. There is only one resort in the area as the land here is desolate. We have a very ‘authenticate’ room – it comes complete with an assortment of outback wild life. We’ve had an assortment of beetles, spiders, flies, mosquitoes, moths, and other unidentifiable bugs visit us. Since there is not much in the way of civilization, the bugs are everywhere. Flies attacked us on our Uluru hick. At first we laughed at the people wearing hats with mosquito nets, but by the end of the hike, we were contemplating how much it would cost to buy it from them. Even if we upgraded the room, we would probably still have the bugs. At least the beds are nice and the air conditioning works, although it leaks all over the second bed. There is a campground next to us, and I cannot imagine how anyone could survive in this heat.

Our flights into Australia were nice, but long. From Monday to Wednesday (skipped a day when we crossed the International Date Line) we flew 1.5 hours from Indy to Minneapolis, 4 hours to San Francisco, lay over for 5 hours, then 15 hours to Sydney, and then 2 hours to Uluru. I did not sleep well on the plane, but Sam was out like a baby. The seats at least had in-flight entertainment, so were able to watch a few movies and I finished my Andrew Jackson biography. Our layover from Sydney to Uluru was only 1.5 hours. I thought for sure we would miss it. The travel agented filled out Sam’s visa incorrectly, so she was stopped at customs. Then our bag was literally the last one off the baggage claim. We ended the layover with a last minute sprint to our gate, where we then sat for another 20 minutes. If nothing else, it was good exercise after a long flight. Once we arrived, we explored the resort and decided to take an afternoon nap. That nap started at 3pm and did not end until 3 am. The jet lag got to us more than we expected, but we are feeling much better today.

Tonight we are doing dinner in the outback via candlelight, and then we will do some star gazing. Tomorrow we will fly to Cairns for some beach time and a tour at the Great Barrier Reef. We are not sure if we’ll have internet there, but we should send another update when we are in Sydney next Monday.

Happy holidays and much love,
Steve & Sam

p.s. We tried some unusual food and drinks today. Ginger cola, chicken flavored chips, and bacon and cheese puffs. No kangaroo yet.