Day 33 Alice Springs to Yulara Resort

It was eerily overcast this morning as we set out from Alice Springs (AS).  There was a westerly breeze but it was not cold.  453km later we were in the Yulara Resort, and 18km from Uluru. The first 200km were south along the Stuart Highway and then, at Erldunda, we turned west into the Lassiter highway.  There was great excitement when this giant structure arose into view.  The Rock, the Rock!  No, it could not be. We were still 170km from our destination.  It was indeed Mount Connor, which is a sight in its own right.  It was 30km from Yulara that Uluru and the Olgas first came into view.  The countryside from AS and 50km west from Erldunda was of undulating plains with occasional rock formations cum hills, but thereafter, we drove through mile after mile of red sand hills, trending north south.  They were covered in low growing shrubs and grasses, including spinifex.  As we step out of the caravan this evening the ground is ----- red.  The sun came out as we neared Yulara Resort, so it forebodes well for our voyage of discovery tomorrow.

090514 The Cannonball monument, in memory of five people
who lost their lives in the inaugural NT Cannonball Run
 on 24 May 1994, including two Japanese
competitors whose car rolled into spectators.

090514 Cattle herd west of Erldunda.  Note the plain.

090514 Different foliage as the countryside
changed to sand hills

090514 Mt Connor from the Lassiter Highway,
an excellent alternative to Uluru when/if it erodes away.

090514 One of the thousands of red sand hills

090514 A wattle tree, prolific in the red sand hills

0900514 Our first sight of Uluru

090514 Our first sight of the Olgas