All the hotels have their own Uluru viewing dunes and, since I had not walked along the track to the one closest to the Outback Pioneer Hotel, I found the track on that morning before departure.
I reached the top of the dune and there it was, that rock which had been the focus of my attention for days, under the largest sky.
In the west, Kata Tjuta stood colourfully.
All around me the red sandy earth predominated. 
Native plants flowered profusely. 
Then I wandered through the planted gardens of the hotel complex, all the while wondering whether these plants would be happy in my Bellerive garden. 
Never let it be said that flowering plants do not grow in desert conditions.
Finally it was time to bus out to the airport; me and a number of large coach loads of people. Enough to completely fill a large jet plane. In the inevitable queues I felt a mood shift. People’s normal uncaring, unkind and self-centred behaviours began to return. They were no longer relaxed and generous because, I imagine, they felt no longer on holiday. It was an unpleasant reminder there was a world out there that was not always a sharing and giving one.
I was seated on the left side of the plane so my last sightings of Uluru and Kata Tjuta were made as we taxied along the runway. 
Then I was back to seeing the vegetation on the red land as dots. Until a green world re-entered below as I travelled closer to Sydney.
Throughout our stay at the Ayers Rock Resort, Betty and I did our own thing during the day and met for dinner at night where we told each other the stories of our days. It would be so interesting to have Betty’s stories to complement those I have written. I feel sure her perspective must be so different to mine.
Mainland 'discoveries' 