Uluru and Katjuta 13th July
We had an uneventful drive to Uluru. As we approached we were looking for a free camp that suggested good views of the rock at sunset and sunrise. We took the van past an open area with a few caravans , trailers and backpacker cars, then over a dune where there were camper trailers and off road vans . When the third dune was behind us there weren’t many campers and there were no caravans. We saw a prime spot on top of a dune with full on views of the big orange rock. At this point we dropped the pressure on the Muxy tyres to 15 psi and gave it a crack . Well 4 cracks actually and the video link at the bottom of the page is the final and successful one.
And my was it worth the faffing around with tyre pressures, compressors and a little bit of digging. The million dollar view for free was achieved.
Uluru is actually an ancient alluvial fan ( hopefully you are making your geography teacher proud here) from a mountain range long since eroded. The sandstone incorporates granite. It is unusual in that it has very few joins or splits for such a large monolith . It is 10km in circumference and the majority of its mass is under the sand.
Kata Tjuta which you can see in the background of the video has a structure made of boulder and rock conglomerate with held together by sandstone and has a composition similar to granite. It was created at the same time as Uluru. Unlike Ulurus smooth and monolithic appearance Kata Tjuta has crazy bulbous shapes .
This is by far our favourite site and we spent three days and nights perched here soaking in the views and rays . The colours of the sunset and sunrise cant be done justice by photos. The sunrise and night sky in particular are the best i have ever seen . The dawn starts a full 40 minutes before the sun pokes its head over the horizon and the colours and soft light are across 180 degrees.
We were luck to have no moon appearing until after midnight and the stars and planets had no light pollution at all to battle with. I have never seen so many shooting stars.
We can now find true south from the “pointers ” and southern cross. And with a fantastic app (Thanks Hannah ) called sky view free we can learn more constellations.
The desert winter flowers were out and the delicate pinks and yellows were beautiful.
We walked part way round the base of Uluru whose size and solidity blew me away . We met both Rich,Dee , Josh and Hannah ( Pedalling Kiwis) and Nick and Jess ( Mad rugby fans) on our trips. We organised to meet up.
The walking on and to the summit of Uluru is a subject that i know can be debated hotly so i wont make any points. The traditional land owners request you not to climb up. Apparently one third of all visitors climb up Uluru. The signage especially for foreign tourists could not be more confusing . Dont climb but if you do then use this chain to get up .
The previous night we had tried to purchase a beer at the Ayers Rock resort bar and also get some takeaway beers. We were told that by law unless we stayed at the resort – No can do . There is no other options for 120ks. Luckily Nick offered us his campsite ticket and we were soon in receipt of 12 bottles of beer and two bottles of wine (maximum allowance).
Nick and Jess came and visited us at our new winter residence of 1 The Dune Uluru after their cycle round the rock. We kicked back had a few drinks and a lot of laughs. They had to go as they were booked for a meal at Uluru itself to catch the sunset.
The Pedalling Kiwis came up the track around 6 ish, We had a few more drinks , more laughs and warmed our selves round the fire. Rich and Dee graciously went and got their roast lamb dinner from their bbq at the van to share with us and we prepared veggies with the kids . Tasted bloody fantastic !
Josh and Hannah bamboozled me with card tricks they had learned as they sat in the back of the car travelling. Marshmallows brought the evening to an end.
The desert diurnal range is fantastic with a max of 27 dropping quickly to 4 degrees c at night. So sunbathing followed by huddled round a roaring fire. In the morning as soon as the sun breaches the horizon it warms quickly – heaven !
During my no beer hours I kept myself busy by making a sand lounger with TCB TV. (Thin Crust Base)
On our final full day we visited Kata Tjuta and walked through the valley of the winds which takes you inside the rock ring and by little streams and pools.
One of the additional benefits of 1 The Dune Uluru was that it had great phone reception so we were able to make the family phone calls and facetimes that were overdue. We even achieved our first three way facetime that spanned Melbourne Uluru and Edinburgh timezones.
