As a decade birthday gift for Erick, we signed up for "Exploring Australia and New Zealand," a University of Michigan Alumni tour coordinated by Odysseys International. This post covers the Uluru and Kata Tjuta portions of our trip.
(You can click on a photo to see a larger version.)
Day 8: Next came the 280 mile journey through Australia’s Red Center to Uluru/Kata Tjuta National Park.
(Ayers Rock and The Olgas, respectively, are the English names for these sandstone rock formations.)
Our comfort stops included one that featured camel rides, rescued joeys, emus and a dingo.
We had lunch at the Mt Ebenezer Road house after passing near the center of Australia.
We saw Mt Connor, which is located on a private cattle station (we would call it a ranch), and some nearby salt flats. We arrived at our hotel, Sails in the Desert, in time for a late dinner.
At the camel stop:
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| Camel rides were offered here, but we didn't take one. |
There are about a million camels roaming wild in the outback and they cause a host of problems. Camels were imported to Australia in the 19th century from Arabia, India and Afghanistan for transport and heavy work in the Outback in the days before motorized transportation.
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| Emu |
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| Rescued joey |
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| Quite a tail on the little joey |
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| Dingo |
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| Local bird |
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| Camel memorabilia |
When we arrived at Uluru, we walked through the Aboriginal Cultural Center (no photos allowed there) to learn about some of the origin stories (creation time – Tjukurpa).
We rode the whole way around Uluru and went on a series of walks to examine Uluru sites more closely, see cave paintings and a water hole.
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| Approaching Uluru by bus (English name. Ayers Rock) |
Views of Uluru up close and with zoom - note the color differences related to position with respect to the sun:
Walk to the cave and waterhole:
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| Creation time marker |
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| Our walk begins |
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| Marker explains the connection with creation time stories |
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| Pointing out the cave markings |
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| Marker for the waterhole with creation time stories |
Viewing the section of Uluru with the climbing chain: With temperatures in the 100 F range, no climbing was permitted on the day we visited. The climb is dangerous under the best of circumstances and people have lost their lives attempting it.
Although there is still a climbing chain on Uluru (click on the photo below to see it), climbing is discouraged because of the site's significance to the aboriginal people in the area.
In the evening, we gathered for a champagne and snacks reception to watch Uluru change colors with the setting sun and see an almost full moon in the sky nearby.
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Our tour group minus Erick who was off exploring.
Note the face nets to keep away the pesky flies (non-biting thank goodness). |
Uluru color changes at sunset: These photos were taken over a period of about 50 minutes as the sun was setting.
Day 9: It was a bit rainy.
We headed for Kata Tjuta (many heads in aboriginal language) with its 36 domes.
By the time we had circled it on the bus, the rain had stopped and we headed for a hike to the Walpa Gorge.
I hiked part of the way in and got photos of a kangaroo that was out feeding close enough to the trail for a photo using a zoom.
Erick hiked as far in as the trail went and took some additional photos
Kata Tjuta (English name, The Olgas, after the wife of an early European explorer), views from our tour bus:
Hiking to Walpa Gorge:
Approaching the Walpa Gorge walk:
Views from the my hike along the trail:
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| Just before I turned back |
On the return hike:
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Above: far view of the kangaroo (below the light green patch in the center)
Below: Zoom view of munching kangaroo |
Erick continued and took these photos:
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| Tadpoles in a pool at the end of the trail |
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| Wildflowers |
Leaving Kata Tjuta:
In the evening, we left the Outback for a 3-hour flight to Sydney in New South Wales.
Next up: Exploring Australia, Part 4, Sydney, New South Wales
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