Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park - 17th Jan

The alarm went off today at 4.15am with a coach pick-up at 4.45am. We were driven to the sunrise viewing platform where the driver gave us a cup of tea before we walked up. As expected the platform was packed full of people but Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park is the most visited single site in Australia so this was to be expected. We were surprised with the positioning of the platform because we didn't see the sun rise behind Ayres Rock but instead it was to the back of us. We also seemed quite a way from the rock and we were expecting to have been a bit closer. Even so we got some great pictures.

At about 6am we left the platform, got back on the coach and were driven to the base of the rock. We had wanted to do a complete base walk (9.8km) but this trip had been fully booked so instead we'd opted for a trip which included 2 shorter guided walks with a coach pick-up in between - the 2km Mala Walk to Kantju Gorge and a 1km walk to Mutitjulu Waterhole. In hindsight this was probably the better option as the high for the day was going to be a sweltering 42 degrees and already at 7am we were feeling the heat. It was a really great walk to do as the iconic pictures of Ayres Rock are at a distance and you don't get to see the detail of all the markings in the rock. Uluru is highly sacred to the Aborigines and there were certain sections of the rock which we weren't allowed to photograph. Our guide was really good at telling us some of the stories behind the markings and the symbolic meanings they have for the Aborigines.

See the heart?

 

Our walk finished by 10am and we were taken to the Cultural Centre to have a look round. We would have liked to have spent longer here reading about Aboriginal customs and traditions but we had another tour booked in the afternoon so we decided to head back on the first coach for lunch and a quick nap.

Our next pick up was at 3pm for a trip to Kata Tjuta or the Olgas. These are further rock formations 51km from Uluru and consist of 36 different domes. They are a similar age to Uluru however whereas Uluru is fine-grained sandstone the Olgas are much more bolderous. After the mornings experience I'd decided to buy a face net and fortunately Andy was able to borrow one as the flies were pretty bad on the walk.

Challenging

We first went to a lookout point for a 10 minute photo opportunity before moving onto the first of 2 walks. One of the more popular ones is the 7.5km Valley of the Winds Walk however we were only allowed to do the first 2km of it to Karu Lookout as they close the rest of the walk after 11am if temperatures are forecast at 36 degress or higher. We then did a second 2.6km walk to Walpa Gorge. Quite a few people in our group found walking in the heat quite tough and a few turned back on the first walk and very few did the second walk. Andy and I coped quite well however we found both walks far less impressive than the Uluru base walk and the second walk was self-guided so there was no commentary on the geology or fauna which would have been good. Apparently there are plants found in the gorge which do not exist anywhere else in the world however where they were and why ...we haven't a clue.

 

After the walk we headed to a sunset spot however again the sun seemed in the wrong position. We'd have liked to have seen it set behind the Olgas but instead it was the other side. We were offered fizzy wine and peanuts which we had to drink and eat through our face nets with the driver rating the abundance of flies an 8/10 today. We felt disappointed in the tour guides packing up immediately after the sun went down as the sky behind the Olgas turned a really nice pink and we'd liked to have stayed at least 10mins longer to appreciate it.

Back at the Ayres Rock Resort we arranged to be dropped off at the Outback Pioneer Lodge where we did the cook-it yourself barbecue. We chose two prime Scottish beef steaks and there was salad, coleslaw, corn on the cob and fruit salad. After a 4am wake-up we didn't last long and by 9pm we were ready for bed.

Dinner