Uluru

 We have made it to the red center.

We started out in the middle of the night, leaving our apartment at 4 a.m. to catch a 6 a.m. flight to Sydney (the only place flights originate to Uluru).  

sun coming up -
somewhere over Victoria

the Blue Mountains - west of Sydney

the coast as we approach Sydney

Leaving Sydney, the suburbs quickly gave way to the Blue Mountains.  West of there, the outback begins.  Initially, you could see some signs of life (buildings and roads), but that soon gave way to vast, wide open spaces.  From the air it was like a kaleidoscope of changing colors and patterns.  Here's a sample...  (take a map of Australia and draw a line between Sydney and the southwest corner of the Northern Territories... these were taken somewhere along this line).

trees line the rivers, making them visible from the air

with temps above 90,
assume the white areas are salt deposits

a slice of pizza?

red desert

Uluru from the air

Kata Tjuta (another monolith) that is part of the national park

red road leads towards the red giant

You can catch a glimpse of Ayer's Rock Resort where we are staying, just in front of Uluru.  We are in the Lost Camel Hotel -- thankfully they have a pool, since the high is expected to be 100 degrees.