Otherwise known as Ayers Rock, The Olgas and Kings Canyon.
It's hard to know what to write about these three well-known icons because the photos speak volumes. ( Haven't posted any of K.C. yet )
The first surprise was on the way to Uluru when we saw Mt Connor looming out of the distance.Like Uluru, it is also a huge monolith but is flat-topped as opposed to Uluru's roughly dome shape. It is also on someone's private property which might account for why no-one hears about it and why it's not a tourist attraction. It is in fact said to be larger than Uluru.
Our first look at Uluru is as the books say...More impressive in real life than can be appreciated from looking at photos. I hadn't realized what a multitude of different nooks and crannies and waterholes and caves and gardens and...and...and... The list goes on.... It really is quite something worth exploring; just make sure you allow plenty of time to visit all there is to see.
Apart from Uluru, the other awesome spectacle was Kata Tjuta. In fact many people say they prefer The Olgas to Uluru; maybe because it's immense size catches them unawares as it did us!
In other words, we were expecting Uluru to be awesome whereas Kata Tjuta is a bit like the quiet sister who hides in the background but is actually beautiful in her own right! We loved our Valley of the Winds walk and were lucky to have the lookout at the top to ourselves for quite some time because as we neared the end, we passed 4 busloads of tourists all charging off to begin the walk.
Plenty of people have also told us that they loved Kings Canyon scenic rim walk and that was the highlight for them...Yes, it was fantastic but it took alot of driving to get there and was quite a big detour off the Lasseter Hwy. You also need nerves of steel to get close to the edge to fully appreciate the view. I was a nervous wreck by the end keeping an eye on 2 children who show no fear of heights and not much respect for gravity... I will try and post some photos which do justice to Watarrka but it's difficult to capture the magnitude and scale of the canyon, all weathered sandstone. Did I mention that the walk starts with a climb of 500 steps called Heart Attack Hill??
The unprecedented rainfall that the " red centre " has experienced over the last 3 years has meant a bonus revival for much of the flora as well as the wildflowers. Despite the long kilometres between attractions, the road has been quite interesting and more beautiful than in years gone by when it truly was an arid landscape.The orangey red sand-dunes beside the hwy were covered with all manner of plants in an array of different colours. Common mulgas were transformed by the sun and a gentle breeze into silvery dancers bowing to their partners of golden grevilleas and watched by pockets of daisies. ( that's enough of the flowery similes...but it was quite stunning...)
Even where the land had been scorched by the recent bushfires, the contrast of blackened tree skeletons against the backdrop of the red earth was quite beautiful. Along the Luritja Hwy to Watarrka it was blackened on one side of the road and green and vibrant just a few feet away on the other!!
This is nearly the end of our stay in the Northern Territory. As Daryl Somers was famous for saying...
Northern territory...You'll never never know, if you never never go.
We went....and we're glad we did!!
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