Sounds Of Silence Sunset Uluru

For a change, we are polished and clean and wearing smart casual clothes, a few steps above our normal attire of shorts and teeshirts stained with red dirt.

Tonight we are experiencing The Sound Of Silence Sunset Dinner at Uluru. It’s a must do thing if you are visiting the rock and wanting a bit of outback candlelight indulgence.

Jen has packed her thermal gear just in case and lots of layers as it does get cold once the sun sets.

The AAT Kings coach picks us up outside the campground at 4.50pm and we are taken to a private location, not too far from Yulara centre but down a dirt track that is off limits unless you are on the tour. Like every night, the coach is full and there are other combined tours too that will experience the Sounds of Silence.

We arrive at our private location and are directed up a a small hill by our hosts to a viewing area and immediately provided with a glass of champagne.

In the distance sits Uluru and behind us, the sun is starting to set. It’s a fairly cloudy night tonight but there are a thousand shades of colour reaching over the landscape and into the sky. Everywhere is so vibrant and full of life. Blink and the colours change. We can also see The Olga’s on the far right hand horizon which are a good 50km away.

Normally the sunset lights up Ayres Rock before it disappears but tonight, the clouds obscure the light but never the less it create an impressive backdrop. We are quickly into more champagne, then beer and a glass of red before our hosts welcome us to the Sounds of Silence and invite us down the hill to the sounds of a didgeridoo to our outdoor candlelit tables.

We join a family from Brisbane who have settled in Australia from America. They still have a soft American accent but they have adopted the lifestyle of the Aussie with gusto.

There’s one natural born Aussie in the family, Jasmine (Jazz) who is priceless and is married to one of the brothers, James with a crazy moustache. Sam is the younger brother at 22 and then there’s mum and dad. They are fun and although there are others on our table, myself and Jen latch onto them as they do to us and I don’t think we stopped having a laugh all the way through the evening. It supposed to be the Sounds of Silence dinner but after a few more glasses or red, our table was by far the loudest group and it quickly became the Sounds of Laughter.

Our host, Daniel was a tall handsome man with a well groomed beard from New York. He’s a musician so we encourage him to serenade our table with a soulful classic.

The food tonight is Australian bush inspired and laid on as a buffet. There’s crocodile, kangaroo, barramundi and everyone’s favourite, lamb chops plus plenty of salads and bush vegetables. It’s a plate full but everything is super tasty with subtle hints of Australian bush tucker flavours infused through each dish.

The shiraz seems to be flowing quicker on our table than any other and I think we are all a bit merry. It’s not even that cold tonight so no need to wrap up.

Before dessert, the candlelight’s go out and we look up to the dark sky for some star gazing. It’s not very clear but with a laser torch beaming into the sky, our host points out Jupiter, Saturn Orion’s Belt and and of course the Southern Cross. Where’s Leo The Lion shouts Jen with a slightly slurred speech. So the host point his lazer beam to a place in the sky at a cloud where Leo The Lion would be. Jen’s happy now.

Lights back on and dessert is served. We are treated to an assortment of treats finished with subtle hints of bush fruit and by this stage it was way too difficult to name them... hick!

All over too soon, we board the coach for our return to camp, everyone singing silly classics like “We are the champions” as we go.

it’s a great night and something very unique and different to add to our memories of this trip.Read more