Urulu Sunrise, Alice Springs and Darwin

We arose @ 4:00 am in order to make a 5:00 am bus to watch the sunrise on Ayers Rock followed by breakfast and a short flight to Alice Springs, then on to Darwin, capital of the Northern Territories.  Urulu was just as stunning in the pre-dawn light of morning as it was with the sun setting.  Perhaps it was the early hour, but the experience seemed more solemn, more in keeping with the spiritual nature of the place.  Or perhaps it was that Susan and I could walk up the trail away from the crowds and enjoy the relative quiet together.  Either way, it was beautiful, and we enjoyed watching the sun rise and seeing the rock change colors in the relative cool of the morning.

There was a previously unscheduled 5 hour layover in Alice Springs on our way to Darwin after we left Urulu.  But never fear - we filled it with what turned out to be surprisingly interesting side-tours.  First stop the Alice Springs Reptile Farm for a presentation by a young woman of the various reptiles native to Australia. The lecture was slightly delayed, as she had just returned from capturing a Western Brown Snake out of someone's back yard - one of the top 10 deadliest snakes in the world.  No big deal...  :-/

Susan admiring a bearded dragon. 

This was followed by a very tasty steak lunch and a trip to the School of the Air - the "Largest Classroom in the World", an online school that provides quality education to those children who live in the 150,000 km^2 outback too far from a school to be able to attend in person.  The school started in the early '50's using shortwave radios provided by the government.  We saw a short film about the school and then were able to watch a bit of an online class conducted by one of the teaching staff.  Pretty neat.
Following the tours, we made our way back to the airport for the continuation of our journey to Darwin in the very North of the country.