Bang in the middle of the Australian continent, this big red rock is
the most famous landmark of the outback Australia.
It is so popular it
has even got its own airport, making it easy for people to get here
without having to spend weeks driving through the endless Australian
outback. You can watch the world's largest monolith changing colours in
sunrise and sunset, drive or walk around it, and even climb it.
Ayers Rock Australia Walking Tours. Poster by AllPosters. Click on
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Kata Tjuta - The Olgas
Not far from it, in the same national park, is Kata Tjuta (also called
The Olgas), which in local Aboriginal
language means “many heads”. It is
somewhat less famous than Uluru but not less impressive, and Kata Tjuta
also changes colours depending on the time of the day.
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Both Uluru and
Kata
Tjuta are located in the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park south-west of
Alice
Springs in Northern
Territory.
Kata Tjuta. Poster by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Geology of Uluru and Kata Tjuta
Uluru and Kata Tjuta have different geological backgrounds. Both are
sedimentary
rocks but Uluru is composed of a kind of sandstone
called
arkose, while Kata Tjuta’s rock is conglomerate
– a sedimentary rock
with large pebbles. The area was at times covered by inland sea which
is when the sediments were deposited between 900 and 300 million years
ago. About 550 million years ago these sediments were uplifted and then
gradually eroded. About 300 million years ago the layers of Uluru were
turned almost vertical, while the layers of Kata Tjuta were only turned
about 15-20 degrees. As the erosion continued, a valley was formed
between the two about 65 million years ago. The erosion continues
of course but at a much slower rate since the climate became much drier
only 500,000 years ago, and it
is believed that the look of Uluru and Kata Tjuta han’t changed since
the first Aboriginal
People came here.
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Australian Animals and Desert Plants
Today the climate is very dry around Uluru and Kata Tjuta, and the area
is mostly covered by sand dunes, Spinifex grasslands and open woodlands
with typical Australian
desert plants such as mulga, umbrella brush and desert oak.
It also
has the typical Australian
desert animals, including a lot of reptiles (one of the most
special ones is Thorny Devil – if you don’t see
it in the Uluru
Kata Tjuta National Park, don’t miss the Alice Springs Reptile Centre
while in Alice
Springs, where you can hold it on your hand,
it’s a really funny creature), as well as red kangaroos,
euros, dingos,
dunnarts and Spinifex hopping mice. There
are about 180 species of birds in the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park
including cockatoos
and parrots,
honeyeaters, kingfishers,
finches and falcons.
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How to Get to Ayers Rock Australia
Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park is in the end of Lasseter
Highway which turns west from Stuart
Highway
south of Alice
Springs. No long distance coaches or trains go to Uluru Kata
Tjuta
National
Park, so
your options are your own or rented transport, flying, or shuttle
buses from Alice Springs. There are also two,
three
and four
day tours from Alice Springs that include Uluru, Kata Tjuta,
and
some of the other parks and places such as Kings Canyon, West
Macdonnells etc.
The road
in. Poster by
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Getting there and Scenic Flights
As you drive along the Lasseter Highway, before Uluru Kata Tjuta on
your left hand side is Mount Connor – which some eager travellers
immediately mistake for Uluru, but keep driving until you come to a
short turnoff to Yulara, which is where the national park’s only
accommodation is (see more about it lower down on this page). South of
Yulara on your left-hand side is the turnoff to Kata Tjuta, and if you
keep driving past it on Lasseter Hwy, it finally takes you to Uluru.
Once you are at Uluru, one way to get a good picture of it all is to
take a scenic
flight - they are fantastic.
Lasseter Highway. Poster by
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Drive around Ayers Rock Australia
There is a road around the 3.6km long and 348m high Uluru so you can
drive around it, and there is a car park next to the Uluru where
travellers gather at the sunset with a cold beer to sit down and watch
the rock changing colours as the sun sets.
Ayers Rock Australia Walking Tours. Poster by
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Ayers Rock Australia Walks
But a much better way to discover Uluru is to bushwalk around it and
take your time to see it close-by. There are several bushwalks at
Uluru: two popular shorter walks are the 2km, cultural Mala
Walk, and the 1km Mutitjulu Walk
that takes
you to a waterhole. But the best one is the 10km Base
Walk
which takes you all the way around the rock.
Uluru bushwalk. Poster by
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the Olgas Walks
You can also walk around Kata Tjuta. The 2km Tatintjawiya
Walk
takes you to the beautiful Olga Gorge, and the longer, 7km Valley
of the Winds takes you though different gorges of Kata
Tjuta.
And as Kata Tjuta also changes colours in the sunset, there is a
viewing area with toilets and picnic facilities off the access road
west of Kata Tjuta.
Ayers Rock Australia. Poster
by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Yulara - Ayers Rock Accommodation
There used to be accommodation in the Uluru Kata Tjuta national park,
but nowadays all the accommodation is in Yulara and you are not allowed
to camp in the National Park. The cheapest way to stay at
Yulara is to camp on the Ayers Rock campground
which
is affordable even though it is more expensive than camping in many
other places
in Australia.
Other accommodation is found at
the Sails in the Desert,
Desert Gardens Hotel,
Emu Walk Apartments,
Lost Camel Hotel,
Ayers Rock Outback
Pioneer Hotel, Longitude 131 Hotel.
You can also
stay at Curtin
Springs Station.
Yulara is really like a small tourist town with different hotels,
restaurants, a shop, a post office, an ATM, internet access and a
swimming pool. You can watch the “Predators of the Red Centre” in the
Amphitheatre and during the night there is the Night Sky Show about
Anangu legends and outback skies where you can study the clear outback
sky through a telescope. At Yulara Visitors Centre there are good
displays of the area’s history, nature and geography, maps and
information about the bushwalking tracks, tours and guides and
management of the national park, as well as desks of tour operators and
car rental companies. There is a well-stocked supermarket, and a few
different bars and restaurants.
Poster
by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to buy
Here's a map
of Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, where I have tagged
the
places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on the tags to
see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom
it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if
you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat"
in the top right hand corner.
Note:
This site uses
British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will
find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all
correct in the language used in Australia.
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best efforts have been made to ensure
that all the information on this site is correct,
gondwananet.com is not to be blamed should there be a mistake.
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