P&A GoGoGo 2: Uluru- Kata Tjuta National Park II

Thursday 9 August 2012

Uluru- Kata Tjuta National Park II

It is winter right now, so the desert feels so cold at night and even during noon due to the wind. Catching the sunrise @ Uluru~~~

Sunrise at Talinguru Nyakunytjaku viewing area

Uluru is made of arkose sandstone while Kata Tjuta is made of conglomerate, a mix of gravel, pebbles and boulders. Weathering of Uluru gives the rock its red colour, a similar effect as iron rusting.

During peak season (which is the dry season from april-sept), there will be free guided walk in the park. So we followed the guided Mala Walk which takes about 1.5 hours which starts 10am each day. It is really worth it because we get to know about how the aboriginals survive this harsh land, the bush fruit they collect and the dreamtime story of this land. There are over 400 tribes of Aboriginals in Australia and all of them seemed to have a dreamtime story on how their ancestral spirits came to this land and created the landscape which is visible till today.

Waiting for the Mala guided walk to start...

Giant wave formed due to water and sand being blown against the base..

Rock art paintings....

After the Mala walk, we spend 3.5 hours doing the Base Walk (10.6kms) around Uluru but did not climb it because the climb was closed when we reach there in the morning. When we finish the walk in the afternoon, the climb is open again! By then we were too tired to do the climb, plus the aboriginals don't like people climbing the Uluru since it is their sacred site. Their views on why they don’t want people to climb it is like when you visit a church, you wouldn't go to the altar because you respect it and it is sacred. And on the safety aspect, 35 people had died from the climb, so the climb will be closed during windy and hot days.