ULURU / AYERS ROCK

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Our first Outback adventure took us to Uluru /Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Ayers Rock Resort is only a 20 min. drive from Uluru/Ayers Rock and 45 min. from Kata Tjuta/The Olgas. This Blog entry covers the first two days where we explored Uluru and completed the 10.6km walk around it. The most fascinating part of this circumnavigation was the continual changes in character of both the vegetation around, and the appearance of, Uluru. I hope these shots reflect that. Cheers from Jan & Garry

The panorama above was taken from the north east, showing a longer and more streamlined side of Uluru than the tourist carpark view from the north west. If your eyes are good you can just make out the tiny profile of The Olgas at the right hand end of The Rock.

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Photos

1. Uluru / Ayers Rock
The start of two fascinating days exploring Uluru and its surrounds. This shot is from the prescribed 'sunset viewing' car park about 8km from the Rock.

2 Mala Walk - Climbers
On the western side of Uluru is the Mala Walk to Kantju Gorge and the start of the base walk. Climbers can be seen on the only access to the summit. 36 people have died trying to climb Uluru.

3 Uluru Iki
Not as dangerous and not against local indigenous people's wishes, so I climbed it - my Little Uluru.

4 Mala Walk
We took a Ranger guided one hour walk into Kantju Gorge before starting the base walk - the vegetation thrives on water that collects here after rain on the Rock.

5 Kantju Gorge
At the head of the Mala Walk - a sheer rock face ... massive - a sheltered nook where animals came for water.

6 Wild Flowers
Thanks to recent rain much of the 'desert' was green or decorated with wild flowers. Here we are approaching the eastern end of the Rock, out of sight in photo 2.

7 'Sensitive Site'
Sacred men's and women's sites were marked with 'no photography' signs - this reduced the chance that a local Anangu person would accidently see a site that was forbidden to them.

8 East side of The Rock?
Half way round Uluru, at the lower, pointy end. So different to the traditional tourist photo - but spectacular in its own right.

9 South side shelter
With more shelter & shade on the southern side, trees, shrubs & grasses flourish. Here we also saw a heavily laden native fig just about ready to provide 'bush tucker'.

10 Light & Shade
This view, still on the southern side, highlights the bedding planes in the sandstone. Their character changes with different angles of sunlight.

11 Nearly there!
After 3 and a half hours (including the ranger guided walk) we had completed the loop around Uluru. A dry but pleasant 34 degrees gradually drained the energy.

12 Sunset on Uluru
From the designated sunset area (no stopping allowed roadside) we were not disappointed with our first Uluru sunset. The radiant glow was magnificent.

Comments

[Ian]

Great shots - looks like we\'ll have to add Uluru to our \"must do\" list!

[Heather Jennings]

Great photos!
Hi Jan and Garry Wow - what great photos! What a contrast to our last few days in prague. Imagine wearing shorts and short sleeve shirts! We just arrived in Berlin - long pants, coats, scarves, hats, gloves - a very cold and misty 7 degrees here.