Kata Tjuta and Uluru, The Red Centre

Uluru waterfalls!

G'day!

Probably everyone has heard of Ayers Rock now known by its Aboriginal name Uluru.  But most of the tours offered are for 3 days to Uluru/Kata Tjuta/Kings Canyon.  I had never heard of the other 2 places but they must be grouped for a reason.  So I booked my tour with The Rock Tour for $355 (all inclusive).

I was picked up just after 6 am in front of my hostel, Alice Lodge Backpackers (no incidents this time).  An hour later, we headed south on the Stuart Highway.  Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is 450 km/270 miles from Alice Springs so much of the first and last day is spent traveling on the Stuart Highway.  We stopped in Curtin Springs to buy beer since alcohol is unavailable in the park and stopped along the Highway to pick up firewood.

The many heads of Kata Tjuta

Normally there are 21 people on a tour, but this year, the numbers are down.  It's probably partially due to all the weather/water related incidents in the news earlier in the year.  The other major factor is that Tiger Airways' planes were grounded.  Tiger and Qantas (very expensive) are the major carriers into Alice Springs while Qantas and Virgin Blue fly mostly internationally into Yulara, Ayers Rock Resort.

We had to drop 7 of our passengers off at Yulara because Tiger was grounded while they were on their Rock Tour and they had to scramble for new itineraries.  We picked up 2 passengers for our tour so our final number was 10 guests.  Rachelle was our intrepid guide.  My tour mates were Christine and her sons Andrew (26) and David (13) from Melbourne, Elizabeth (Irish), David (British Israeli) and 2 pairs of French girls (all mid - late 20s).

View from Karingana, the second Kata Tjuta overlook

The traditional owners of Kata Tjuta and Uluru are Anangu and the Australian government handed the lands back to them 25 years ago in 1985.  Since then, while the Anangu welcome visitors, they also stress that the places are important and sacred to their culture.  Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is World Heritage listed for its natural values and as a living cultural landscape.

Tjukurpa is the Anangu story of creation that is taught and remembered through songs, stories, dances, rock art, and objects to the right people.  Some of this knowledge are rituals for men only or for women only; some are only for those who inherited the right to the knowledge or earned it.   Kata Tjuta is a sacred place for Anangu men and none of its creation stories are shared.

We had to climb this smooth slippery area -
good thing it wasn't wet

Access to some areas are restricted to certain people so visitors must stay on the marked tracks.  Several areas of Uluru are signposted (and on the map) as sensitive and photos are not allowed.  If caught by park rangers, violaters would receive a fine and have their pictures deleted or film destroyed.

Our first stop was Kata Tjuta or The Olgas after the tallest mountain (1066 meters/3500') in the group.  Kata Tjuta means "many heads" in the Pitjantjatjara language, an apt description of the 36 steep dome-shaped rock formations.   Kata Tjuta is of sedimentary conglomerate rock held together with sandstone and the weathering has made the area unusual.

Looking back from Karingana

We did the full circuit of the Valley of the Winds walk, (7.4 km/4.5 miles, 3 hours) steep, rocky and difficult in places.   The walk to Karu, the first lookout, is pretty easy and the view is nice.  But the view from Karingana, the second lookout, is spectacular.  It's more difficult to get up there if it's hot but it was fairly cool and overcast when I was there.  When the temperature is 36*C (97*F) the track is closed after the first lookout.

We went to the Uluru tourbus sunset viewing area.  The area is between Kata Tjuta and Uluru (25 km/16 miles apart) and the sun sets behind Kata Tjuta.  What we are meant to see is the reflection of the sunset off of Uluru.  To really see the sunrise/set color effect, I think one needs to be closer to the rock than we were.

Can you see an elephant?

We ate our chicken and pasta dinner which Rachelle cooked over gas burners.  The park ranger pointed out a dingo before he made sure we left the area.  Not too many dingo sightings, so we were lucky.

Ayers Rock Campground is equipped with hot showers and toilets but the lights in the women's side didn't work (same thing at Kakadu - interesting).  And it was COLD so most of us stayed "grotty" (grotesque) and "manky" (stinky?) the whole time.  

Sunrise:  Uluru is to the right

Us newbies were introduced to our swags.  A swag is of waterproof canvas and foam padding and lined to make a sleeping bag holder.  You zip yourself into your sleeping bag and then zip up the swag.  There's a flap that you can pull over your head.  It's designed so that it doesn't touch your face but protects against rain, etc.

We slept under the stars in a circle around the campfire.  Too cold for mossies.  I got teased because my sleeping bag from home is rated to 20*F/-6.5*C.  (Thanks to shoulder season high altitude Utah camping - too hot and crowded in summer.)

The Rock Tour bus

With sweats, socks, arctic sleeping bag and swag, I was warm.  I didn't hear or feel the mice.   What?! Mice?  Yep, that's the etc., lots of little mice running around.  Heard a couple of stories in the morning about mice on and IN the swags.  Heard and felt the rain though.  I don't care what anyone sez, it was rain, NOT mice, on my swag!

Rise and shine at 6 am to roll our swags tight and break camp to go see the sunrise by Uluru.  We went back to the sunset viewing area, saw the sun rise next to Uluru, and enjoyed the brilliant colors in the sky.

The Anangu, "Don't climb Uluru."

Finally, what we all specifically came for: Uluru up close.   Uluru truly is awesome.  It is unusual because of its massive size, homogeneous composition of coarse grained arkose, a feldspar sandstone, and its lack of jointing.  So it looks like a monolith with little evidence of erosion in scree slopes or soil on it.   Most of its bulk is underground.  Its highest part is 348 meters/1142' and its circumference is 9.4 kilometers/5.8 miles.

While visitors are allowed to walk all around the base of Uluru, there are several reasons why they are discouraged to climb Uluru.   The most important reason, for me, is that it is a sacred place for the Anangu and they don't want anyone to climb it.   They have decided to lead by example and no longer do their ritual climbs.

Uluru rock art

Another reason is the bad fortune that has befallen people who have climbed or taken a rock from Uluru, or taken a picture of a sensitive site.  A "sorry book" in the Cultural Centre is full of letters from all over the world apologizing and/or sending back mementos.

And if those reasons are not enough, at least 35 people have died while attempting the dangerous climb.  Apparently the most accessible place to climb Uluru is on the western face.  A knee-high post and chain line on part of the face is visible from the carpark.  That's only 1/3 of the climb.  The climb is closed during adverse weather conditions and for important cultural reasons.

Doesn't the pattern on the far left look like a brain?

However, there are visitors who come with the goal of climbing Uluru and many are not dissuaded by any of the above reasons.  Some of the 100,000 annual climbers leave human waste including nappies and rubbish on Uluru which cascade down after rainfall.  Despite lengthy discussion to ban climbing, the joint governing board has not made the highly controversial move.

A ranger-guided walk (included in $25 park entry fee) that teaches about Anangu culture and the significance of Uluru is available daily at the Mala Carpark.  But we had Rachelle who told us everything we needed and wanted to know.  I am impressed with the professionalism of Aussie tour guides.  Tourism is big business and the guides really know their stuff.

Lungkata, the blue tongue lizard man

One Tjukurpa story is about Lungkata, the blue-tongue lizard man.  Lungkata, while hunting around the southern base of Uluru, killed an emu that others had speared and started cooking it.  He hides the emu meat and lies to the two hunters when they see his fire and confront him, saying that he has not seen the emu.

The two hunters find and read the tracks, deduce what has happened, and go after Lungkata.  Lungkata gathers up the meat and runs up towards his camp, a cave up on the western face, dropping chunks in his rush.  But Lungkata is soon caught and burned in a huge bonfire.  The smoke and ash still stain the side of the rock (it is very clear and IS in the shape of a lizard), the emu's thigh is visible closeby, and the boulders below are chunks of emu meat.  So the Lungkata story also teaches against lying and stealing.

The Mala Walk is probably the most popular walk because of easy access to one of the two waterholes at Uluru, rock art, and caves and rock formations whose creation story is allowed to be widely shared.

After Rachelle gave us our interpretive Mala Walk (2 hours) we finished the Uluru Base Walk, a 10.6 km/6.4 miles loop (another 2 hours).  During our walk, it sprinkled on and off; the downpour began just after most of us had returned to the minibus.

After lunch, we visited the Cultural Centre for an hour.  Heaps of information on history, kinship and relationship, geology, land management, weather, food and medicinal uses of flora, fauna and insects, arts and crafts, the "sorry book", and more.

The footprint of Lira, the poisonous snake made
during the battle with Kuriya, the woma python

After an hour and a half of heavy rain, the waterfalls on Uluru were flowing!  Only about 15% of visitors get to see the waterfalls as rain is sparse, about 30 cm/12" annually.  We splashed through the rain to take pictures; even Rachelle was thrilled and took lots of pix.  Then we drove all around Uluru.

Uluru is an Australian icon and deservedly.  Kata Tjuta is just as deserving but how many icons can a nation have.  But because of its proximity to Uluru, hopefully most visitors will also enjoy Kata Tjuta.  You'll get the rest of my adventure next time.

Cheers!
Cyn