Sparks Flew at Uluru — We Found Love in the Outback

Yahoo Travel profiles readers who came back from a trip with the best souvenir ever — true love. Want to share your own story? Email us at TravelEditors (at) Yahoo.com

Michael and Kirra at Oktoberfest in 2014. (Photo: Kirra Schulze)

Name: Michael and Kirra Schulze

Where: Northern Territory of Australia

When: 2009

Relationship: Married happily

(As told to Brittany Jones-Cooper)

My best friend Abby and I spent some time backpacking around Europe, and every time we went overseas, people kept asking us about Uluru — the big red rock in Australia’s Northern Territory. I’m from Adelaide, which is in a different state, so I had never visited. So, Abby and I decided that we’d do a tour of our own country, and booked an adventure tour.

Our original tour got canceled, and we were rescheduled for another tour the next morning. At 5 a.m., the bus rolled up to our hostel, and when we boarded, we were shocked to see that it was filled with really old German couples! I immediately spotted Michael and his friend Marcus, who were by far the youngest guys on the bus, so we decided to sit next to them.

The bus stopped by an office so that everyone could get registered, and as we were waiting, one of the guides startled me with a snake. I squealed and jumped backwards into Michael who laughed at my reaction. I thought Michael was cute, and told Abby that I had dibs on the handsome dark-haired stranger.

Michael, Abby, Kirra, and Marcus standing in front of Uluru during that first trip to Australia. (Photo: Kirra Schulze)

Later that day, I channeled my best German, and tried to strike up a conversation with the guys. I thought I was doing pretty well, until Michael responded in his even worse English…"No German.”

During our chats, I found out that Michael and Marcus were originally from Germany, and were traveling through Australia while on holiday from school. The four of us got along really well, and as we toured the country, I started to realize that there was a flirtation growing between me and Michael.

Related: Love on the Road: I Met My Fiancé While Motorbiking in Laos

Looking back, Michael also admits that he started to feel something towards me, but it was hard for either of us to entertain the idea of starting a relationship because we lived 15,000 km (about 9,300 miles) apart. I mean, how could it work? On our last night in Alice Springs, we went out eating and drinking, and before we parted ways, Michael and I exchanged email addresses.

From that point on, Michael and I emailed nearly every day.

The couple celebrating Australia Day in 2010. (Photo: Kirra Schulze)

In my head I knew that a long-distance relationship was less than ideal. But my heart was drawn to Michael, and as we know, the heart always wins. Three months later, Michael got a month off from school and decided to buy a plane ticket to visit me in Australia.

He arrived on New Years Eve and stayed with me for an entire month. Very quickly we realized that this was the real deal. He was the person I wanted to be with, and we started having conversations about how we were going to make it work.

We made our relationship official, and when Michael returned home we talked every day using email, Skype, and phone conversations to keep in contact. Still, it was hard to be in a relationship with a person who was half a world away.

We kept going this way for about six months, and that fall I went to visit Michael and his family in Germany. Then in April 2011, we met up in Asia and had a honeymoon-like vacation in Thailand. It was basically a halfway point for us, and we spent three weeks relaxing on the beach, swimming in the pool, shopping, and riding elephants.

Michael finished his Masters in August of that year, and decided to move to Australia. Finally, we were going to live in the same place!

Related: They Took a 365-Day Honeymoon Around the World

On their wedding day with Abby and Marcus. (Photo: Kirra Schulze)

On March 9, 2012, I was in the front garden watering the plants when Michael walked up with a guilty look on his face. He was so nervous and kept fidgeting with his back pocket. I’m always suspicious of things I’m not in control of, so I started questioning Michael who, as it turns out, was attempting to make a romantic proposal. Eventually, he worked up the nerve and asked me to marry him as our neighbors looked on.

Exactly one year later, we were married in Adelaide in front group of 40 friends and family. It was a perfect day.

Michael is a mechanical engineer, and the job market in Australia wasn’t the best for his line of work, so we decided that Germany would be a better place for us to build our life together. But first we went on an epic honeymoon.

A reindeer selfie on their honeymoon in Finland. (Photo: Kirra Schulze)

We spent five days in Budapest before heading up to Finland to do a tour of the arctic. We saw the northern lights, slept in a glass igloo, and visited father Christmas before spending the holidays with his family in Germany.

Up next was a lovely trip to Malaysia, after which I headed back to Adelaide and Michael went to Germany to find a new job and set up a home. I joined him four months later.

Over the past couple of years we’ve moved around, started new jobs, and traveled a lot. In fact, since moving to Europe we’ve been to Eurovision in Denmark, Oktoberfest in Munich, a food tour in Portugal, and trips to England and Athens. We’ve been moving fast, but for the first time in our lives, we don’t have any plans for the upcoming months. We plan on staying in the same place for a while, and honestly, we’re looking forward to being a little boring

Maybe we’ll get a dog. Who knows? As long as we’re together, the sky is the limit.

Let Yahoo Travel inspire you every day. Hang out with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Check out our original adventure travel series A Broad Abroad.