Ayers Rock

Next up on our list of destinations visited was Ayers Rock (also known as Uluru). Known as one of the hottest locations in the country, we knew we had to visit this remote place at the beginning of Stacy's parents visit (and before summer temperatures really began to soar). Even still, temperatures did not drop below 40 degrees while we were there!

Some of the major highlights of our visit included observing a sunset at Uluru, completing a sunrise walking tour, and visiting Kata Tjuta (also known as the Olgas).

Here are some pictures from the sunset viewing:

The following morning, the guys woke up early to do a sunrise hike around the base of Uluru (the girls stayed back to hangout with Mr. Matty). The temperature was 26 degrees at 5 am when they started and went up to 39 degrees by the time they completed the 10.6 km loop. In addition to dealing with the heat, they also had to deal with all of the mozzies that are well-known in the area (hence the mozzie nets you'll see them sporting in some of the below pictures)

Blair walking the base

Caves along the base

Stacy's Dad in a cave along the base

Mozzies, mozzies everywhere!

Some people are crazy enough to want to climb Uluru. You can see the hiking trail heading up the side of the rock in the pictures below. More than 36 people have died doing this climb. The pictures simply do not show how steep this climb is.

The hiking trail up the rock

The hiking trail from a side angle - to show just how steep the climb is!

One of the final sites we viewed were the Olgas. These "other red rocks" are located about 60km away from Uluru. Not quite as spectacular, but they are known for their fantastic hiking tours. Unfortunately, we arrived in the afternoon and the temperature was simply too hot to even consider doing a proper walking tour. Here are a few pictures that were grabbed on a very brief tour of the area.

Stacy's Dad with the Olgas in the distance