Sounds of Silence Dinner

Hours later, we once again boarded the bus for our evening tour event, the Sounds of Silence. Before I left Japan, The Pres had strongly recommended that we join this tour and I’m glad he did. The bus traveled out on some very rough road and took us a few kilometers away from the main resort. We were dropped off on the dunes where we were led up to a large area where we were served sparkling wine and canapés. We watched the sun go down over Uluru and Kata Tjuta while listening to the sounds of the didgeridoo.

Oddly, the “didge” is not native to the Northern Territory. But, due to tourism, it’s exhibited here and everywhere else in the country. Our didge player, Duane, gave a short talk about how to play the instrument. I didn’t understand a word, but he was amusing all the same.

After sunset, we were herded to the candlelit dining area. We sat at a table with three other parties: a woman (Sophie) and her parents (Trudy and Malcolm) from Wales; an older couple (Marie and Reginald) apparently living in sin in Sydney, and a fascinating couple from Holland whose names we couldn’t ever get right.

The wine was flowing and the conversation was lively. We all had stories to share and by the end of the evening, we agreed that we obviously had the most special table in the whole place. Reg made a toast to us and let us know that his son had proposed to his now-daughter-in-law at this even the year before.

Dinner included kangaroo steak (pretty good), crocodile Caesar salad (I don’t think I actually got any crocodile. If I did, I couldn’t taste it), and barramundi (some find of native fish). Of course, there was the requisite beef, chicken, etc and some lovely desserts.

After the meal, there was a fabulous “star talk.” The staff blew out all the candles so that they only light came from the moon. Then, a local astronomer gave a talk about the constellations. We were able to see so many stars and a few planets (Mars and Venus were really bright). Orion and a few of the zodiac constellations were also out. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see the Southern Cross at that time of night. It was a little trippy because they have a different view of the night sky than we do in the Northern Hemisphere. They have constellations we never see, and the ones we share are upside down! Even the moon looks like it’s backwards. At the risk of sounding corny, it was a magical evening: engaging conversations, good wine, and a starry night. The worries of life were literally thousands of miles away. All is right with the world.