After a night 19 miles away from Uluru, we are waken up by a storm. The van shakes because of the wind, and we have to close all the windows because of the rain. We had planned on waking up early to go hike at Kata Tjuta (The Olgas in English), but given the weather we decide to wait a little bit. When we finally leave, the sky is still dark and we can see thunderstorms around Uluru and Kata Tjuta.
And what is crazy is we can clearly see these dark clouds, and right next to them the sky is clear blue !
As we get closer to Kata Tjuta, the thunderstorm starts dissipating. It looks like we are going to get lucky with the weather!
We arrive at Kata Tjuta around 7:30 am. Kata Tjuta means “many heads”. It’s 36 domes of red rock that cover over 14 square miles. The highest of all is the Mount Olga, that is 1,771 ft high, and 3,500 ft above sea level.
It is possible to walk around these domes and observe the incredible environment of the Australian desert. To do so we followed the “valley of the winds” path, that goes around the biggest domes from the North and offers incredible views on the surrounding plains.
This hike is a lot less popular than Uluru even though it is only 25 miles away. We didn’t want to miss it, and we weren’t disappointed. The 4 mile walk takes you through a third of the site. The remainder of the site is extremely sacred and only aboriginal people are allowed.
Just as we start walking, the sky clears out nicely and we have a beautiful blue sky.
At first we walk past a few domes, where the color of the rock is incredible.
We then cross a tiny river.
And we find ourselves really in the middle of several domes.
The scenery of these huge domes surrounding us is amazing.
At times we have to climb on steep rocks but the view around is gorgeous.
We quickly over take a few groups that are already on the trail. And find ourselves all alone to admire the beauty of the site.
After climbing a little while, we arrive at a lookout overlooking the plains. It is beautiful.
The walk is gorgeous. Of course we can’t stop taking pictures.
After walking around different domes, we go past steep gorges and arrive in a desert area with eucalyptus trees.
The second part of the trail brings us in the plain, from where we have an incredible view on Kata Tjuta from afar. Grandiose!
We remain speechless in front of such beauty.
We are really lucky with the weather. The only thing we haven’t told you guys yet is that it is getting really hot. The temperature is supposed to climb to 100 degrees today. And at 9:30 am it is already well over 85.
We finish the trail in 2 hours and are glad to have been able to see this natural wonder.
Before leaving Kata Tjuta, we stop at a lookout that offers a really nice view on the entire site. The colors at sunset and sunrise must be incredible here.
After this awesome morning, we head to Uluru, that we could barely see this morning because of the rain.
I am sure you all know about Uluru. This huge rock in the center of Australia, and probably one of the most famous sites in the country. But what is it exactly? According to Wikipedia, Uluru is just the tip of an underground rock formation, that has been uncovered by erosion. Renamed Ayers Rock by the English settlers, Uluru is an inselberg. Which means that like an iceberg, the mass underneath the ground is at least three times bigger than the part we can see. In terms of size, Uluru is 2.2 miles long and 1,114 ft high. Pretty impressive for a rock.
This UNESCO world heritage site is, before anything else, an important spiritual symbol of the Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory.
An important feature of Uluru, is how the colors of the rock changes with the sun during the day, and ends up bright red at sunset. That is why we plan on coming back at sunset and sunrise.
But before that we wanted to go see it from up close. It is usually not recommended to go there after 11 am/12 pm when high temperatures are forecasted like today. So we will stick to a short 1.25 mile walk, the Mala Walk.
There is nobody on the trail, it is already really hot outside. It is really impressive to walk at the foot of Uluru. That is when we truly realize how huge it is.
All the different forms it has are incredible.
There are even caves where the Mala people used to live.
Some paintings on the wall of the caves can still be seen today !
We walk to the Kantju gorge, a very peaceful place.
And it is impressive to find water here.
This short hike was really nice. There is another 6 mile long trail that takes you all around Uluru, but it is already late and the heat is becoming unbearable. And the 1.25 mile trail already gives us a nice idea of what Uluru looks like from up close. We will admit, we still prefer the view from afar.
That is why we stop at the sunset viewing parking lot on our way back, that way we can take a picture from afar.
Stunning !
Around lunch time we check in to the paying campsite at the Ayers Rock Resort, the closest campsite to Uluru. We wanted to stay the closest possible to have to drive shorter distance to go and see the sunset and sunrise. Also short distance means less kangaroos and wandering animals on the road at night… And this paying campsite also means we will finally be able to take our first shower in 4 days ! With these high temperatures it is more than welcome. We also take the opportunity to book a powered site so we can charge all our electronics. Icing on the cake, the camping has a swimming pool ! So you can imagine where we spent the afternoon… It feels so good! We also decide to do some laundry, because our clothes are really starting to stink. Even if we love our experience in the outback, we have to admit it feels great to be able to have a spot where we can put the van in the shade, and where we can take a shower and rest by the pool.
Late afternoon, we head out to the sunset lookout parking, where we find a spot all alone. The people all stopped at the very beginning of the parking lot, and are all squeezed together… All they had to do was drive just 30 more seconds to be all alone like we were !
Some big clouds have appeared during the afternoon, so the colors are not as perfect as expected but still very pretty.
We thought we would be bothered by tons of flies, but not at all. We don’t even need the fly net above our heads! Maider is super happy.
We can admire the sunset without being bothered. The temperatures have even dropped a little, so we don’t feel like we are going to melt to the ground ! And during the very last minutes before the sun disappears, we get treated to an incredible spectacle with stunning colors. Uluru turns bright red.
We are so happy to have witnessed such a beautiful spectacle, and all alone. We imagine that in high season the parking lot is jam packed with people fighting for the best spots. And we have the area to ourselves. Can’t dream for better.
Despite the clouds, we have seen an incredibly beautiful sunset, with stunning colors on Uluru.
We can finally spend an evening eating outside without being bothered by the flies. And thanks to the shade, it is almost cool inside the van.
A short night awaits us. Indeed, the sun rises at 5:48 am tomorrow. And contrary to the sunset viewing spot, where buses and private vehicles where separated, for the sunrise, everybody goes to the same parking lot. Which means a lot of people ! Even if we hope we will be able to be alone like last night, we still go to the park entrance as soon as it opens, meaning 5 am. And believe it or not, there is already a line in front of the gates. The parking lot is then located 9 miles after the entry gates, and it is pretty empty when we arrive. Contrary to last night where we looked at the sunset, here you have to walk a little to get to a lookout that has the view on Uluru. But when we see the number of huge buses arriving we decide not to climb up there and stay close to our van, where we already have a very nice view.
The big advantage of the lookout is that it is a little bit higher above ground, so the view is a little better. But the thing is the platform is just super crowded, and we don’t feel like admiring a natural scenery with hundreds of tourists yelling and pushing around us. So we stay near the parking lot, with another couple.
And we find ourselves being all alone !
It is still pretty dark when we arrive. During the night there were a few thunderstorms, so the sky is pretty cloudy and we are afraid we might not see much.
And indeed, the colors on Uluru will take quite some time to appear.
But on the opposite side, where the sun rises, the colors are stunning.
As soon as the sun comes out, and before it disappears under the clouds again, we get nice red colors on Uluru.
We manage to capture some nice colors. Once again we are lucky to be in front of such a beautiful scenery.
We have to admit, we preferred the sunset, where we were truly all alone, and where we stayed longer to admire the colors and the beauty of the place. Here, almost everybody jumps back in the bus and leaves as soon as the sun is out. There are too many people for us (even though the parking lot is half empty) and we can’t find the same peacefulness we experienced yesterday evening. The experience remains amazing, and we realize how lucky we are to do this. Another item crossed off of Maider’s bucket list.
We then go back to the camping to take a shower and have breakfast before going back on the road.
The goal : reach Alice Springs, 450 km further and do some grocery shopping in an actual city. This is the first big city we go through, since Port Augusta, on our first day of this road trip. And we are today on our 7th day. It will also be our first time seeing traffic lights since Port Augusta as well. The monitor on the car shows that it is already 97 degrees, and it is not even noon. We decide to stop on the way to grab a bite to eat and spend some time under the AC. The grocery shopping in Alice Springs will also be a great excuse to get some nice cold air.
It is only 4:30 pm when we are done with all the grocery shopping, and we decide to drive another 90 miles North of Alice Springs, because it is still so hot outside. Our plan for the next few days is to reach Townsville, in the North part of the East coast. Around 1,200 miles await us, and we plan to drive these over the course of the next 3 days. We will see you for our next stage of this trip in Australia on the East coast, after an incredible time in the outback.