On our Australian bucket list: Uluru, the famous monolith rising from the otherwise flat landscape of the scrabby central Australian outback. We got that checked off this past weekend when we joined Mulgas Adventures for a 4-day/3-night camping trip.
I have to admit – right after booking the trip, I kicked myself for choosing, of all dates, the weekend of the full moon. One of my main motivations for visiting the outback had been to soak in the grand sight of the milky way spilling across the unpolluted night sky. Ah well, lemonade: we got to watch the moon rise by the glowing Uluru at sunset. That was quite a treat in itself too.
The other thing about camping under the full moon though, is that it really is very bright. We slept in swags in the open, and I had to bury myself in my sleeping bag to escape the glare!
But in the outback, the weather changes really quickly. Though we had watched the sunset under clear blue skies, by the time we awoke in the pre-dawn darkness, voluminous clouds had already moved in. The rains held though, and we were treated to a spectacular sunrise.
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