Last night we went to "Sounds of Silence" dinner. There was a HUGE crowd of people waiting for the bus (it took 3 buses to get everyone out of there). The good news was that each of the three buses went to a different site, so there wasn't an overwhelming number of people at any one place. We drove to a slight rise in the desert, where they had cleared brush and ringed off a circle. We were served canapes (crocodile with mango, kangaroo on toast, and for the fearful, smoked salmon. They served both soft drinks and champagne. Then after generous rounds of drinks and canapes, we wandered down to tables for the evening meal. Although it was serve yourself buffet style, it was elegant and, again, very generous. It got dark as we ate. By the time dessert came around, we were stuffed. They turned down the lights, and we could see the sky filled with stars. Nothing like a dry desert to see stars - but here it was amazing. The Southern Cross is the only one I really knew. I didn't know it consisted of 5 stars (I should have been paying more attention to the Aussie flag). To the left of the Cross is Alpha Centari and Beta Centari. To the lower left is a dark region known as the Coal Sack. The whole thing is sitting in a huge swath of the Milky Way. On the horizon we could just see the handle (upside-down ) of the Big Dipper (the dipper part was below the horizon). They had set up two telescopes so that we could see Saturn and its rings, and the Alpha Centari which is actually a binary star (really 3 but who's counting). I really could have sat out there looking at the sky for much longer. When we were driven back to the resort, Charlie and I took a short walk out in the dark to see the spectacle just a bit longer.
This morning on our first flight (Uluru to Alice Springs) we had a chance to see the Outback near Alice Springs. There are the weirdest set of mountains (curved and twisted) that I've ever seen. We found out later they are called the MacDonalds. It looks interesting - a place to return to. Then we took the flight from Alice Springs to Adelaide. On first impression, Adelaide is like a small LA. Mountains to the East (not north) and water to the West (kind of LA). The central area is only 6 or 7 blocks square. We had a great Chinese dinner. Tomorrow we go out wine tasting. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for some bottled water, and I spotted my favorite candy bar a Violet Crumble - MUCH better than it sounds. They used to sell these at the Rialto in South Pas when it was functional.
Hasta Manana.
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