Another awesome day out here at Uluru. We got to sleep in, which was much needed, especially given all we'd done yesterday on five hours of sleep. We got out of bed around 9:30, so we could try and make breakfast, which we had been told was included. However, when we got there, they said it was $30 for the buffet, which neither of us was willing to pay, so we ended up just heading back to the room, a little frustrated because we could have slept in longer. We had a cup of tea, and then decided to take our work out by the pool and sit in the sun while we worked, since we didn't have anything planned for the morning, but have tons of schoolwork. I ended up just working on my blog, as there was so much to say about yesterday. It was really nice to just sit in the sun, and felt like summer which was a nice change from the semi-chilly weather we've been used to. We took our time eating lunch, and lounged around in the sun a bit more, finishing up our blogs, working and just talking.
At 2:00 we boarded the bus and headed out towards Kata Tjuta, which is a little further out than Uluru (about 30 more km), so it took us a little over a half hour to drive out there. Kata Tjuta means "many heads" in Pitjantjatjara, and is named so because there are over 36 domes that make up the whole rock formation. The European name for the formation is the Olgas, which originates from 1862, when the first European to cross the continent from north to south in order to map it for the eventual telegraph system that would be set in place by 1870. He saw Kata Tjuta from the King's Canyon (about a four hour drive from Uluru), and decided to name it after his benefactor, Ferdinand von Mueller, so he gave it the name Mount Ferdinand. However, Ferdinand did not want it named after him, so they decided to name it after a German queen of the time, named Olga.
On the drive we kept noticing that some of the trees looked burnt, so someone asked why that was. Apparently it's due to burn offs, which the park rangers perform. Every year 10% of the park is burnt, meaning in ten years the cycle starts all over again. Rather than being bad, however, this is very good for the environment, and the Anangu have been doing it for thousands of years. Because of the hot and dry climate, bush fires can be a huge problem if a pile-up of dead leaves are allowed to stay on the ground. Instead, when you burn out sections at a time in a controlled manner, it gets rid of the dead leaves before the park is put in a situation where a bush fire could destroy the whole area. In fact, some of the trees can't even grow without fires happening, as they need it in order to germinate, which is pretty cool. The Anangu often assist the park rangers in performing the burn offs, and use the environment to control it. They either construct natural fire breaks, or use these types of bushes called Desert Hearth Myrtles, which line much of the area, and burn very slowly until it eventually dies out.
Kata Tjuta, while formed within the same time frame as Uluru, is incredibly different from the monolith. When the mountain range formed, and eroded, the mud and sand was washed down the shallow inland to where Uluru stands, but the heavier sediment, such as rocks, pebbles and boulders, came together closer to the actual mountain range, and formed Kata Tjuta. It's made up of about 26 different minerals, and is incredibly rocky, which we discovered immediately upon our arrival. The footpath was rocky and uneven, easy to twist an ankle, and there were many more boulders and rocks, rather than the relatively smooth Uluru. Just like Uluru however, its true color is grey, but as been rusted over. It does have green and black stripes however. The green is from lichen, as in the summer, the southern side doesn't get much sun, allowing lichen to grow. The black is from algae caused by waterfalls when it does rain, which hasn't happened for three months, according to our tour guide. Also like Uluru, it goes very far underground as well, but due to conditions made by the Anangu, no more testing can be done on the soil or anything else in the area, so the last research in the area was performed in 1985.
The four tallest domes were the ones that we were going to be walking around, so he pointed them out and explained a bit about them. The first dome we came across was Mount Liru (meaning venomous snake), which gently slopes upward. This is the dome that until 1995, you were able to climb, but was then closed out of respect to the Anangu men, for which this is a sacred site where many ceremonies are performed. In fact, no Anangu women are allowed in the area at all for this reason. The next one in line was Mount Olga, which is the tallest dome in the formation, reaching about 546 meters, which is over 200 meters taller than Uluru is. Mount Walpa (meaning strong wind) is located next to it, and finally there's Mount Ghee, which looks like three domes, but is actually only one (it's named after a man who was unfortunately later killed by is own camel....ouch).
On our way we also passed this road that apparently runs all the way to the Western Australian border. However, rather than a paved road, it's a little dirt road, bumpy and rocky. You have to have four wheel drive to make it, and it takes a very long time. Someone once lost the trailer that was attached to their truck, because while the truck had four wheel drive, the trailer did not, and it got stuck and couldn't be moved. It looked pretty crazy, there's no way I'd want to drive that tiny little thing all the way over to the border.
On our way we also passed this road that apparently runs all the way to the Western Australian border. However, rather than a paved road, it's a little dirt road, bumpy and rocky. You have to have four wheel drive to make it, and it takes a very long time. Someone once lost the trailer that was attached to their truck, because while the truck had four wheel drive, the trailer did not, and it got stuck and couldn't be moved. It looked pretty crazy, there's no way I'd want to drive that tiny little thing all the way over to the border.
When we finally got there, we began making our way to a really pretty lookout a few kilometers through. It was very uneven, filled with rocks just waiting to trip you up, and the sun was beating down on us. It reached nearly 80 degrees today, but with the sun it felt even hotter! Apparently this trail is closed for most of the summer due to health concerns about attempting to climb it in the heat. The land was this crazy mix of completely barren and rocky, but then there'd be trees and bush all of a sudden. It was bizarre, and reminded me of something, but I can't quite figure out what. A little bit like how I imagine Mars I guess (in terms of the barren red rock). It was a very pretty view from the lookout, and almost looked fake, like a painting you'd see in those Roadrunner cartoons. I think it's because the sky is just so blue without clouds that it doesn't look real. It's very strange to look at. The sun was also perfectly visible and incredibly bright, which I think added to the bizarre quality.
From there the bus took us to the opposite side of Kata Tjuta where we got to walk through the Walpa Gorge, an opening between two of the domes. It was very pretty, easy to walk, and, most importantly, had lots of shade! This was such a relief, as the sun was really hot, especially since I was wearing jeans. The path was still pretty uneven and rocky, but it was much flatter than the other path. It felt like you were being swallowed up when you entered the shade of the Gorge, which was a little intimidating, but also beautiful. You could definitely tell that Kata Tjuta is taller than Uluru, and the rock was the most gorgeous shade of red. One side of the gorge was all rocks and boulders, and the other was filled with trees, which was pretty surprising. There was even the tiniest little stream at one point. We walked all the way down to the end of the Gorge (which only took about forty minutes), where the trail ends at a little look out point out the other side of the gorge, which is really beautiful.
We walked back to the bus and then made our way back out a couple kilometers to the sunset viewing point, where we could see the sun set by Kata Tjuta. I actually thought it was even more impressive than the Uluru sunset, the lighting seemed much more powerful, and it looked like the rock turned a much deeper, but glowing, shade of red than Uluru had. Kata Tjuta looks very different up close then it does from far away, and I think I prefer the mysterious vibe you get from far away, to the powerful, mighty vibe you get up close. Both are pretty cool though. We had some more sparkling wine and snacks as we took pictures and watched the sun set, it was very lovely.
After that it was time to head back to the town, where they played the song about it raining on Uluru again, as well as one we hadn't heard before called "Waltzing Matilda", which must be some kind of Aussie classic because the whole bus started singing along. At one point I looked pack at Kata Tjuta and there was the most wonderful silhouette of the whole formation, it was incredible to look at, especially since the sky right behind it was this golden yellow with a blue-ish purple behind it. Wowie, was it impressive! Unfortunately it was on the opposite side of the bus, so I couldn't get a good picture, but I wish the bus would have stopped so we could snap some. There were still some awesome silhouetted views of the trees and surrounding bush from my side, so I tired to get some pictures, but a lot of them came out blurry on the moving bus. I got that same feeling that I could just walk off into space again, the sky seemed that close.
After that it was time to head back to the town, where they played the song about it raining on Uluru again, as well as one we hadn't heard before called "Waltzing Matilda", which must be some kind of Aussie classic because the whole bus started singing along. At one point I looked pack at Kata Tjuta and there was the most wonderful silhouette of the whole formation, it was incredible to look at, especially since the sky right behind it was this golden yellow with a blue-ish purple behind it. Wowie, was it impressive! Unfortunately it was on the opposite side of the bus, so I couldn't get a good picture, but I wish the bus would have stopped so we could snap some. There were still some awesome silhouetted views of the trees and surrounding bush from my side, so I tired to get some pictures, but a lot of them came out blurry on the moving bus. I got that same feeling that I could just walk off into space again, the sky seemed that close.
They dropped us off in the town, and we ended up eating at the same place as last night because it's the cheapest place around. Then we headed back to get a little work done since it was getting late. I definitely enjoyed myself today, but very much preferred yesterday to today in terms of experience. While Kata Tjuta was incredibly impressive, and absolutely gorgeous, I learned a lot less today than I did yesterday, especially in terms of Anangu culture. The tour guide said that he wasn't allowed to discuss anything about their culture on this tour because the Anangu asked them not to, but that doesn't make since because Ryan said yesterday that they prefer people learn about their culture so that people can respect it. Maybe he meant that they couldn't talk about the specific ceremonies that go on there, but he just didn't really mention them at all, or answer questions about them, with the exception of the first couple minutes right at the beginning of the tour. I'm definitely going to have to do a bit more research on it myself when I get internet back in Sydney because their whole culture is absolutely fascinating, and I'd love to learn some more about it.
I had an amazing time here at Uluru-Kata Tjuta, but I'm definitely ready to head back to the city tomorrow, and excited to meet up with Melanie tomorrow night as well. Hope all is well at home and the weather isn't too bad for 4th of July weekend!
I had an amazing time here at Uluru-Kata Tjuta, but I'm definitely ready to head back to the city tomorrow, and excited to meet up with Melanie tomorrow night as well. Hope all is well at home and the weather isn't too bad for 4th of July weekend!