Arrival in Yulara and the Wintjiri Wiru theatre experience
Introduction
Short walk to Terminal 2 for flight to AYQ (Ayers Rock Airport) on Qantas. Nice flight and good in-flight entertainment available on smart phone app. Departure was 0930 and we were scheduled to arrive at 1235 but the flight was delayed by an
hour so we arrived just before the Brisbane flight. We kept ahead of the crowds, picked up our Hertz rental car and headed into Yulara. We arrived just ahead of the crowds who came from the airport by shuttle buses. We settled into the hotel, found the
restaurant and had a welcome drink and a bite to eat before waiting for the shuttle bus to take us to experience the Wintjiri light show with drones and sounds.
Desert Gardens Hotel and Yulara
Although many thousands of tourists visit Uluru each year the local accommodation is somewhat limited. The town still has the feel of a frontier settlement with most of the hotels and shops protected within a concrete perimeter. Outside the desert takes over,
with red dust and sparse vegetation. Inside there are swept paths and watered shrubs with labels but it still feels isolated and barely functional.The hotels serve drinks to guests but you cannot buy wine or beer to take to your room - despite the advertising
extolling the virtue of sitting on the balcony watching the sunset with drink in hand. In a nod to technology Yulara has a cellphone tower and a solar array for power.
Central Australia
There it is...
Uluru - Ayer's Rock
Our rental car - Victoria number plates - "Do NOT stand on the bonnet or roof..."
Must be to the right..
Desert Gardens Hotel
More of the entrance
walk from Reception to our room
It's up there, on the right
And here it is - nice room
We paid extra for the "Uluru view" but someone forget to trim the trees.
The centre of Yulara - sails and a few shops.
Yippee! A cellphone tower.
And a solar farm.
And just around the corner, an ANZAC memorial, complete with Uluru view.
Wintjiri Wiru
To quote "Wintjiri Wiru, meaning 'beautiful view out to the horizon' in the local Pitjantjatjara language, is a breathtaking cultural storytelling experience that brings to life a chapter of the ancestral Mala story through choreographed drones, lasers and
projections that illuminate the night sky. A story passed on for thousands of generations, now passes to you."
We booked this for the first night so that we might understand better the local people's view of the world. It was a telling of their ancient history, brillantly illuminated with lights, lasers and drones. It was our first drone show experience and it was truly
wonderful. A large bus picked us up from the hotel and took us to the venue, a few minutes out of town. We were offered drinks and nibbles whilst watching the sun set over Uluru and Kata Juta. When dark were were seated for the show. There was some
concern that the winds might be too strong to allow the drones to fly, but a few test flights showed all was well. The lights in the trees came alive and the drones took to the air. We were asked not to photograph the drones, so there are no photos of them.
The viewing platform with Uluru in the distance
Looking west with the domes of Kata Juta on the horizon
Uluru as the sun set
Test flight of the drones, at 200m, 400m and 600m. All was well so...
On came the lights.
Advertising photo of the drone show
Time lapse of Uluru from our hotel window
Having paid extra for a hotel room with a view of Uluru (but no discount for being obscured by trees), I set up the camera to capture a time-lapse as the sun went down. Not a great view, but interesting.
