We had an early-morning pick up with Emu Run Tours for a LONG day trip. (6AM – Midnight-ish) Don’t let my long sleeves fool you. It is hot outside, and I chose to wear long sleeves during some of the trip to protect my skin from the sun.
Our first stop was at a roadhouse, Eridunda (home of the emu), for a buffet breakfast. Emus were the attraction outside the roadhouse, and breakfast was the attraction inside. I’ve never developed a taste for baked beans for breakfast.
Our bus pulled to the side of the road, and we were told to cross to the other side and climb the small hill for some scenic views. Our driver cautioned us to watch for traffic. He said that traffic is so scarce that when a car does come by, people aren’t expecting it so they forget to look.
I’m not sure if the ground here would be classified as dirt or sand. 
We saw a land formation that I thought might be Ayers Rock in the distance, but it was not. It was just one of the many lonely mountains that seem to pop up at random in the middle of the outback.
This salt flat is amazing. Australia is so dry, I have no idea how this came to be here. Our guide may have told us, but I dozed some off and on in the motorcoach. Sorry.
Our first short hike was into Walpa Gorge to see the domes of Kata-Tjuta.
We walked the trail and marveled at the large boulders scattered in the landscape.
After crossing the bridge, the domes rise up on either side of the trail.
Here, the ground surface is more like rock. The loose dirt to the right and left of the path is much coarser here than it was earlier on the tour.
Next we visited the mud-bricked Aboriginal Cultural Center to learn about the Pitjantjatjara people and the sacred site upon which the center is built. Photos were not allowed there.
A guided Mala Walk followed the northwest side of Uluru (Ayers Rock), where we witnessed Anangu rock art, marveled at sheer vertical walls and heard dreamtime stories of the Anangu people. In some of the areas, no photos are allowed out of respect or the sacred location.
At the back of Uluru, we took our second guided walk to the Mutitjulu waterhole – home of the ancestral water snake called Wanampi. (No worries, we saw no real water snakes.)
Our trip concluded with viewing Uluru at sunset and enjoying a sunset bar-b-que. 
Uluru seemed to change colors throughout the day depending on the sunlight. 
Whew! We did not arrive back in Alice Springs until nearly 1 AM. What a long but wonderful day!
Watch for my next post: Fremantle, Australia.