Our first glimpse of Uluru was very exciting and prompted a discussion about distance affecting perception of size. “No, Uluru is not tiny, it's actually huge, but quite far away!” We stayed in a free camp tucked behind some red sand dunes, which had views of Uluru from the top. The first evening we climbed the dunes to watch the sunset and were rewarded with a stunning display of changing colour on the rock.
Next morning we set our alarm and set off up the dunes again to watch the sunrise. The vibrant pinks, reds and orange made the dunes appear to be on fire. After breakfast we excitedly raced to the Kata Tjuta - Uluru National park and purchased a three day family pass for $65. We drove to Uluru and decided to drive around it first, to get an overview. It's sheer size is incredible and difficult to appreciate in photos. It is even more remarkable when you appreciate that Uluru is not a mountain, but one single rock (a monolith), much of which is below the surface of the ground! After driving about two-thirds of the way around, we stopped at the Kuniya walk, an easy one hour return which lead to a waterhole.
There were many interesting and informative signs about the trees and bushes (many of which were edible) and the cultural significance of the area. We enjoyed learning about the training period the young boys would go through and how the grandfathers and older men would teach them hunting skills.
We saw a cave where the women and children sheltered while the men were on their hunting expeditions and had a close look at the cave paintings they left behind.
The waterhole was beautiful, a small oasis, and hugely important to the aboriginal people, as permanent sources of drinking water were rare.
After our walk we visited the Cultural centre to learn more about the history and significance of Uluru. We had the opportunity to watch some artists creating dot paintings and browse the arts and crafts which were for sale.
Following that, we drove to the nearby town of Yulara for some cake to celebrate Stella's 2nd birthday and then a quick visit to the camel farm.
That evening we had the pleasure of sharing our campfire with an extraordinary gentleman named Klaus Menzel. Now 68 years old, Klaus has been travelling the world (including extensive exploration of Australia) by bicycle, foot, and camel-drawn wagon for the past thirty years. He averages 20-25,000km every year. As you may expect, he had many amazing stories and kept us entertained and inspired.
The next morning was raining heavily, so we headed back to Uluru, keen to see the difference. We were incredibly fortunate to see waterfalls cascading down the rock in every crevice. Obviously, in such an arid region, this is a rare sight and we couldn't believe our good luck. We repeated the same walk as the previous day but were now hopping around and over large puddles and the dry creekbeds were full and overflowing.
The biggest difference was the waterhole. Yesterday it had been a tranquil pool, a true oasis in the desert. Now it was a furious churning mass of water, fed by the myriad cascades, all desperately trying to escape through the narrow outlet to a newly formed river.
As well as being a truly awe inspiring experience, this provided fantastic teaching opportunities regarding the water cycle, erosion, seasons and weather.
We returned to our campsite and the children had great fun digging canals, moats and dams to divert the water away from our campsite.
The sun returned the next day and even the deepest puddles had completely disappeared. After charging up the solar panels and washing all the muddy clothes, we drove into the National park again, but this time turned west and drove the 45mins from Uluru to Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). Kata Tjuta means ‘many heads’ in the local Anangu aboriginal language, and looking at the dome shaped rocks, it's easy to see why.
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