SYD to AYQ … Sydney to Yulara

From the “teaser footprint” posted earlier today, you already know that we are in Yulara to visit Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. This is the story of the travel day that took us to Australia’s Red Center.

We were up at 6:00a … after a good night’s rest at the Ibis. By:7:30a, we were checking out of the hotel. The autumn morning was cool. (Yes, I know it’s April, but remember … we’re in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s all topsy turvy down here.) The walk to the airport was a pleasant way to start our travel day.

The terminal was not very chaotic. We easily found the DIY check-in machines for JetStar. Entering the details, we got our bag tags … but no boarding passes. Of course, they wanted to weigh the bags and not giving boarding passes guaranteed that we could not slip our bags onto the baggage carousel without having an agent verify we were within our limits.

The security check point had no lines to speak of … nice. Before long we were in the food court, getting our brekky and doing our morning reading to pass the time until boarding was called.

Our JetStar flight pushed back on time at 10:35a. It was an uneventful flight. We even got some food … just to spend the AUD $15 credit we were each given by Qantas because we purchased our tickets through them.

As JQ660 began its descent into Yulara, the cockpit announced that Uluru would be visible on the port side of the plane … our side. We got some lovely views … and despite the dirty and scratched up portholes, I managed to get a couple of half-decent shots (already shared in the previous footprint).

Once we deplaned, we stopped at the Avis counter to pick up our rental car. By the time we had the keys in hand, our bags were already on the carousel.

Finding the Ayers Rock Resort was not a problem. It’s really the reason for Yulara being where it is. There is a Town Center with shops, the Gallery of Central Australia, a cinema, and a number of accommodations of various levels of luxury. All part of the town. All part of the resort.

Since this trip is following on the heels of the Kimberley expedition, I opted for the Emu Walk Apartments which I had read had laundry facilities that we could use. Even better, the laundry facilities are en suite.

After settling into the apartment, we walked over to the Town Center — an easy 5-minute walk. First we checked out the tour center. After perusing the offerings, we decided to DIY explore Uluru-Kata Tjuta since we have our own wheels. The one exception we made was for the Field of Light art installation. It can only be visited on a group tour.

Next we stopped at the supermarket for groceries to self-cater breakfast and maybe a few other meals. Tonight, however, we ate out at the Mangata Bistro & Bar at the Desert Garden Hotel … a five-minute walk from the apartment … in the opposite direction from the Town Center.

We wrapped up the day with a quick sunset view from a lookout on the way back to the apartment. Will have to do some recon on the other lookouts and see if they offer better views.Les mer