It became apparent at first light that the rain had been
significant. We were so fortunate to
have parked in a slightly more elevated area than some. I couldn’t help but feel for one particular
group which found themselves in the midst of a small lake this morning and
although one of the party had spent the night in a caravan, the others had been
in a tent.
The flooding of the park was extensive and finding a dry patch to walk dogs was next to impossible. We were up early and away in the hope of
finding some dry weather.
Unfortunately even at the NT border the rain was still falling. It didn’t stop us making the most of the
photo opportunity and a welcome break.
Our original plan was to stay at Erlunda however after queuing for fuel
for approximately 50 minutes – yes you read right – 50 minutes of sitting in a
huge queue of vehicles which could only be served one at a time, we opted to
continue on to Yulara, another 256km.
The number of vehicles waiting in line was astounding and we vowed that
on the way back out we would make sure to come in from the other side which
appeared always to be a much shorter line.
Evidently Mt Connor which is on the way to Uluru has been known trick overseas tourists into thinking it is Uluru. Bad
Mt Connor. Although I have to say having
seen it now, I’m stuffed if I know how.
It looks like an giant chocolate souffle and nothing like Uluru at all…. But hey
– I live here – so who am I to say one rock doesn’t look like another one! Mt Connor however, in fairness, is pretty
darned impressive anyway.
Having spotted Mt Connor though, we were hungry for a glimpse of Uluru. It didn’t disappoint when the time came and
even from afar it was an extraordinary experience.
As if to announce officially that we had arrived in Central Australia a
Dingo appeared roadside, looked at us and headed off into the scrub as we
neared Yulara.
We had endeavoured to book a site at the caravan park but unfortunately
there were no powered sites available. Our
arrival at Yulara around 3.30pm was put on hold for about 50 minutes waiting to
check in. I counted over 40 vehicles in
a holding pattern while a man with a hi-viz vest ran around instructing people
to park in a temporary park while someone from the vehicle went to the office
to check in. It was crazy and I couldn’t
help but think that given the volume of vehicles that entered the park after we
did, we probably didn’t hit the peak hour!
The vehicles continued to roll in until after dark into the overflow area and this was the view from my door at sunset.
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