Coober Pedy to Uluru

Our plan was to pack the kids in the car early again so we could get an early start.  We left just after 7am and stopped at the local IGA for some breakfast muffins. 

We were able to drive for quite a while before stopping at Marla for a quick toilet stop and then continued on till we crossed the NT border. We had to stop to help someone on the side of the road who had blown a tyre and didn't have the necessary equipment to change it.  The kids were occupied by their tablets so we were able to keep driving until Erldunda Roadhouse located on the turn off road to Uluru.

We got out and had some lunch here and amused the emus at the Emu Farm there. It was great for the kids to see them up close. We hadn't seen many while we were driving.

From the roadhouse it was 272kms to Uluru. We drove for quite some time then started to see what looked like a good size rock... I had been told that there was a mountain before Uluru so we weren't quite convinced that it was Uluru but as we kept driving and couldn't see anything else we started to wonder... maybe it was it?!? We eventually found a sign that stated 'Mount Conner Lookout' so we had to patiently wait for the next possible sighting of Uluru. Well, the anticipation got a bit much toward the end and the kids started to get a bit cranky and it was really hot so the last hour of the drive wasn't one of our finest.

Mount Conner - the faker!

As we got closer we noticed huge rain clouds and showers of rain off to our right and another to our left. It did nothing to cool the temperature but certainly added to the humidity!!!

We eventually saw Uluru and not long after we found our camp. Wow! A free camp where there was no one else! This is great! What's the catch? we wondered!  Turns out no one else is as stupid as us!!! It was extremely hot, extremely humid and not a breath of wind! The boys found a couple of big red mud puddles which kept them amused for a while (and burnt a bit of energy!) and subsequently used half of our water tank trying to clean them off!!! But they had a blast and helped keep them cool for a while.

Our first glimpse of Uluru

Dark rain clouds! 

After dinner we were NOT looking forward to going to bed. The temps hadn't dropped and sweat was dripping off us.  We set up the fan on the kids but it didn't reach the adults.  The kids slept ok but the same can't be said for the adults. Sleep is overrated anyway, isn't it???

Who wouldn't want to camp here? It looks beautiful!