Day 36 Yulara

 Another sunny, chilly day dawned. The apparent temperature was -5.2C! We stayed In bed as long as possible this morning. A leisurely morning followed, with us in the heated caravan and the kids playing outside in the playground. Aah, the serenity. Our plan was to go to the town square for some activities in the morning, then do some walks around Uluru in the afternoon.

The kids loved the free aboriginal art classes where they each received a piece of canvas which they could paint on. They were shown a series of common art depictions and their meaning, to explain how every painting tells a story, then were let loose with their imaginations. The wind made it challenging but they all made something beautiful and unique.

We were told that the didgeridoo lessons would be delayed by half an hour, so we got a bite to eat and sat in the sun, writing postcards and playing in the fountain - that was the kids. Rowan dunked his head in the freezing water to make his hair spiky.  Rob and I each made some phone calls home and enjoyed our Pad Thai from Ayer's Wok Noodle House. Yum. We kept our hair dry and beannies on.

After more delays, the didgeridoo man arrived and Rob and the boys had a go at making some noise. At first it sounded like the dying cries of an elephant, but it didn't take Rob long to get the hang of it and make some melodic sounds emerge. Rowan and Ashley sounded like overgrown raspberries but they had fun trying.

We had run out of time for our walks as Ashley was looking forward to the Boomerang throwing lesson, so we stayed. Unfortunately, that was cut short fairly quickly when one boomerang snapped in 2 and another was thrown into a very tall tree - both by the instructor! We hung around waiting, but nothing more happened. Ashley did get to try throwing his own boomerang, but it was really too windy to be successful. A few spears were thrown, Emma got a splinter, then it was over.

There was a cultural dancing show on straight after so we stayed for that. This was inside a marquis - lucky for the dancers who were stripped down to loin cloths and body paint. They put on a good show and frightened the kids with their haka-like dance. Rowan was all tucked into a ball, cuddled under Rob's arm and Emma was tucked into mine. We did pick the font row, so it was to be expected I suppose. Emma joined in for the emu dance - she was the first to volunteer! She had a great time strutting and pecking the other dancers.

Finally we left to go to the rock. It was already 5pm so we had to choose a short walk. We went to the climbing area so Rob could at least see where it was. It was again closed due to high winds. He is very disappointed not to have had the chance to do it. Still, there is always tomorrow morning. We set off on the Mala walk and I found it really interesting to gain a different perspective on the rock. It is surprising how many contours and caves there are as well as waterholes and ancient waterfalls. There were even rock-art sites. Many interpretative signs were along the way explaining the significance of formations and caves. We also got to see the rock change colours with the sunset at close range. Beautiful.

Wish we had more time here. Time to do more walks; time to see if the climb opens for Rob and Ashley. But, our schedule won't wait and we are due in Alice Springs tomorrow.