Musca vetustissima

Last night we succumbed and did the full tourist thing and signed up for a dinner/tour. Well whilst here we may as well put some money into the area....though it looks like the OS folk bring enough in. Anyway it was called Sounds of Silence and involved being bused out from our hotel/apartment to an Uluru viewing area.  I suspect we probably travelled less that 800 meters distance as the crow flies, but what is a tour if you have to walk.

Anyway, we got to view sunset, drink champers, eat kangaroo and crocodile canapes before dinner. Then we sat down for dinner.......by then it was lovely out in the open and the flies were mostly gone. We got lucky and landed a young table......that is we were the only old farts. We had an interesting bunch: a couple of young, out there, advertising, Sydney girls, a Mexican couple, and a young married couple from Wiltshire. It was actually a bit of fun, sharing travel and other stories. The best story of the night was one of the young women's about having a coffee table made on spec in Asia, then realising all the costs to have it inspected, fumigated etc.....and then to have it start making a noise after delivery. After much investigation, it turned out she had a bug inside it that was making the noise, which by the way she had recorded on her phone. The government took the table away to put it in a freezer. Apparently she is expecting it back soon.

Dinner was bush tucker inspired, the kangaroo was well cooked and tasty, the cutlets were nominally lamb, the wine was flowing and Victorian. We had some local aboriginal dancers perform and an astronomer pointing out highlights in the night sky. Marjan saw a shooting start and had a look at the Magellanic clouds through the telescope......I had shiraz.

A really lovely evening.

My phone buzzed at 4:30am....again. Marjan had decided that the crepuscular lifestyle was all very well, but she was having a morning of sleep and rest.....so I went off by myself.

I went to the dawn viewing....almost religious........but from the sunset spot. I had spotted the possibility for a particular shot of the sun peeking over Uluru and wanted to try it. Of course I took about 100 shots, but what the hell.

 


Abuela would say that the flies were pesadissimas, well they were worse. I can normally cope and have only used the net occasionally. They are pesky, but I have not found them much more pesky than a particularly bad BBQ in Victoria. This morning however musca vetustissima got to me. I had forgotten the net and they were everywhere and super persistent. When I tried changing lenses, thereby having both hands occupied, they would swarm all over my face, in my ears, nose and eyes. I really got creeped out. A new passion, I am planning to start an organisation to wipe out musca vetustissima by any means....I will not cavil at chemical, biological or nuclear approaches to eradicating this pest.
Yuuuccccckkkkk!!!!@#%^&*%#@Yuuuccccckkkkk!!!!

Anyway, I went back and got my net before trying to get some wildlife. Not very successful, but I did find out another interesting fact. Uluru is rusting. The red is caused by the reaction of iron, water and air.....in other words rust. The actual rock underneath is grey. I love nerdy trivia.

I am resting now, Marjan is resting still!