We skipped hotel breakfast because it was a very steep $50 each. After our hotel room PB&Js we made the short ~20 minute drive to Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock).

Driving up to it was impressive. I’m so glad we decided to drive here instead of fly, because after 12 hours of driving across entirely flat terrain, seeing this giant rock protruding made me realize just how special it is. It makes sense that it is such a sacred place for aboriginal people.

We arrived at 10 and it was already quite hot. We parked and started walking the base trail. Nick remarked that the map predicted the whole loop would take 3.5 hours and in a brief moment of stupidity and confidence I said “we’ll be quicker than that.” Reader, we were not.

We donned these ridiculous looking nets on our heads to protect ourselves from the flies. They are incessant. They drove us all crazy, but especially Millie.

She was over the hike from about 5 minutes in. Her whining slowly got worse and became crying and then screaming so loud it echoed off the rock. I felt for her but by this point we were in too deep and the only way out was through. It got hotter and hotter and we all started questioning what we had done. The flies annoyed us even with the nets.

Halfway through, we paused in some shade, drank a lot of water, promised some piggyback rides, and ate a snack. This stabilized Millie enough to get us through the rest of the long, very hot, walk.

It was beautiful and I’m so glad we did it, but it did take a lot out of us. I applied sunscreen twice and still somehow fried my shoulders. In the end we walked the full circumference of Uluru—over 6 miles! It looked a lot smaller from afar.

The car AC felt amazing and Millie and I refused to walk anymore. We drove to the Kata Tjuṯa viewpoint. This is a similar, though bumpier, big-rock-in-the-Outback. Nick ran out to do the short trail and Millie and I waited in the car with snacks.

We came back to the hotel and sat in the room to avoid the sun. Millie and Nick watched The Addams Family and I took a short nap. Just before 5 we went down to the pool to take a dip and have an early dinner poolside.

At 6:30 we went back to Uluru to see the sunset. The flies continued to bother us but it was worth it. Everything glowed brighter and brighter as the sun went down.

On our drive back we continued to stare in amazement at the sunset. I kept commenting on its beauty and Millie said, earnestly, “yeah well I am thinking about how I can meet a prince to marry me one day, but there aren’t any castles around here.” To each their own.