We’d done a fair bit of research in preparation for this trip. And in particular we’d sussed out what there was to see at Uluru. But in all my reading and research, not once did I come across this little surprise:

See it in the distance?? We saw the rock peaking over the horizon and got excited to see the first glimpse. The phone and camera came out to capture that first moment. The kids continued to watch Dinosaur Train…. Ok, so maybe the excitement was just mine.

Anyway, we edged closer and closer to the rock and both Corey and I remarked how we didn’t remember it looking so steep.

We came upon a lookout filled with buses and tourists everywhere so Corey offered to pull over so I could grab a clearer shot…

When I got back to the car the conversation went something like this:

Me: I didn’t realise it was so tall and flat.

Corey: Me either.

Me: It must get photographed from the other side, perhaps the road loops around it because it doesn’t look familiar at all.

Corey: the GPS says we’re still 100km away, that definitely doesn’t seem that far.

Me: I don’t recall it having a ‘skirt’ around it. It kind of looks like it’s been mined up three quarters of the way up.

Corey: I don’t reckon that’s it. It’s not Ayers Rock.

Me: What do you mean you you don’t think it’s it. It’s a big bloody rock in the middle of no-where, what else could it be?

Corey: Grab the 4WD map book and see what it says.

Me: Ok *flicks through book* Ummm… It says Mount Connor.

Corey: I knew it didn’t look right.

Me: I wonder if the bus driver of all those tourists waits for them all to get back in after taking 100 pictures before he tells them it’s not Uluru!

Both: laugh hysterically

Dumbasses! Well, we did get the first glimpse of the real Uluru which looked much more familiar!

We have arrived!

It’s been a long couple of days as we expressed it from Port Augusta, doing two big 650km+ days to make up for the time that we lost getting a new clutch. Yes, that was the diagnosis after having to return to Port Augusta from the Flinders Ranges.  We headed back and then had to wait until Monday morning to lob up on Holden’s doorstep.

We ended up getting a brand new clutch plus they did the factory recall that should have been done by our dealer when it was serviced three weeks ago but wasn’t (seems to be a trend happening there) and it was really great to get some excellent service – both Broken Hill and Port Augusta Holden dealerships run rings around our local guys. #justsayin

Our time spent in PA was filled with rain and thunderstorms but we had a little poke around.  The Australian Arid Botanial Gardens was a pleasant surprise with some awesome sculptures and we went back again after we were rained out the first time around.

And then we were finally on the road.

We bypassed Coober Pedy.

And free camped about 90km out in the middle of nowhere last night.

Across the border today!

Both the girls have been awesome with the couple of long days.  But poor Miss A struggles with the straight back seat of the Colorado and I spend much of my time twisting in my seat to try and configure something that will support her head.  I may have to resort to velcroing her head to the seat!

We were lucky enough to get TV reception to watch the Hawks v Bulldogs game but sadly, as I write this, the Hawks didn’t get through to the finals… the reign is over.

Hopefully Corey will recover from his doldrums before we start another day of exploring tomorrow.  Apparently there will be thunderstorms starting tomorrow but hopefully we can have a look around here before heading to Kings Canyon for a night… and then it’s off to Alice Springs!

So I’ll leave you with this gorgeous shot of the full moon over one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

Have you ever been to Uluru? Any tips on how to stop a toddlers head from flopping all over the place when they are sleeping in the car?