Uluru & Kata Tjuta

20 May 2012

April 27th – 28th – 29th

It’s been a cold night, we’re as far south as I’ll ever be for another two years, and the temperature at night drops to a cold 5 degrees Celsius, at best.

We spend our first morning in the resort, after a late breakfast, a long shower, laundry, etc etc. Three weeks or so in the outback have taken their toll on the amount of clean clothes and the car, everything is red and dusty. The visit at the supermarket is like two kids in a toy store: oh look, choice! Fresh bread, wow, and they even have yoghurt and fruit! And chocolate! Two kids I tell ya.

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It’s time for sunset at Uluru, THE main attraction really. It’s a bit touristic to be honest, imagine a hundred campervans and caravans all parked together facing the Rock, waiting for the sun to go down, a beer or a glass of wine in the hand… Well, touristic or not, it’s the fourth time I visit this place and I’m still at awe. The Rock goes from a light red in the day to a bright orange when the sun actually sets, then the colours plunge to brown until obscurity takes place and the surroundings ooze with magic under the starry sky. It’s seriously breathtaking.

Saturday morning, off to Kata Tjuta for the Valley of the Winds, a three hours walk in the secret Kata Tjutas. White Fellas have little knowledge about the mythical place, as the Anangu People consider the Kata Tjutas to be even more sacred than Uluru, sharing very little about the area. All we know it’s a male place, for the young boys to pass into manhood. Women aren’t supposed to come here, most Anangu women don’t even look at it, even from a distance.

Still, it’s a great view from the viewing point, and an even more spectacular view from within. After a couple of hours walk, you get right “inside” the gigantic boulders. There’s a great valley between the domes and the lush and green vegetation contrasts with the arid red rocks.

Back in town, the only pub sells its beer at a ridiculous ten dollars, and it’s not even a good one. Still. It’s a pub. It’s been a while, so…

It’s our last day at the resort already; we’ll spend it at the base of Uluru. So we start off with the Rangers Walk, which explains a few of the stories about the place. Stories such as the creation of the Rock by a Dreamtime mole, or the four old Mala’s (Dreamtime Wallabies) who are sitting in the cave, teaching the young males about life.

We sneak back at the Caravan Park for a shower, and will be camping tonight 40k east of the resort, as we’ve booked a “Bush Tucka Tour” tomorrow.

The bushcamp is actually a lot quieter than the campground at the resort; maybe we should have spent more time here.

Distance to-day: 394km, total: 15303km.