The Australian outback is on every adventurer´s and traveller’s list. So it was on ours. Most people think, that there’s nothing in the middle of Australia. Oh, they’re so wrong. And don’t be fooled by the impression, there’s only Uluru – its sooo much more!
1. Watarrka (Kings Canyon)
Although the name says it’s a canyon, it’s actually a gorge. We climbed to the rim and walked all around – the stunning views of the gorge are breath taking. And the massive sandstone walls are protecting a secret and sacred place – the beautiful Garden of Eden: a waterhole with a waterfall and refreshing greenery as contrast to the red stones. This is a sacred place to the Aboriginies, as it provides shade, water and food for them. They respect these waters so much, they never touch it! No swimming, washing, even drinking was done by bowls.
2. Kata Tjuta
Another rock formation you didn’t know about? Well, it’s very near to Uluru and about the same age. So why is it not that popular? One possibility is because it has more peaks and consists of more rocks, but the other, more probable reason, because Uluru was discovered first, it became more popular.
Kata Tjuta is different from Uluru – much more quiet and intimate. We did the walk through the Valley of the winds – yes, it was windy. ☺ The views were again amazing, the high red iron filled walls absorb the sun heat and make the valley to a cooking pot – when the sun is shining – not in our case.
3. Uluru
Oh, Uluru … seeing so many picture of this rock before, it was still enchanting and mind-blowing to see it for real. The first day our fabulous guide Niki took us to different walks and told us some beautiful Aboriginal stories. We could see the initiation place, the nursery, the kitchen and some sacred Aboriginal places. We also visited the Cultural centre, where all the stories can be read again and you can see a video about the Aborigines. In the evening we were armed with beer, wine, crackers and dips, waiting for the sunset. It was cloudy the whole day, so we didn’t get to see the sun set beside (or behind) Uluru.
The next day the sky cleared up and it wasn’t too hot – perfect for the base walk around Uluru. It takes around 2,5 hours for the 10 km, but it’s so worth the effort as this magical rock has so many different faces from each side – to your knowledge: Uluru is actually a triangular monolith (the biggest in the world). We were lucky and got to see a perentie – a 1-2 metres long lizard, popular on Aborigines tables. We really enjoyed Uluru in the sunshine and with a gentle blue background filled with white cotton like clouds it was like being in a dream. And it got even better at night. We watched the sunset from our camp, from where we could see Kata Tjuta and Uluru. The night turned out to be spectacular – we never saw such an amazing night sky full of winkling stars.
We don’t know exactly why, but the Australian Outback got under our skin. Although Jure is extremely afraid of snakes, he managed to sleep under the amazing star sky. We are determined to come back and to learn more about this magical places and the aboriginal people.
sLOVEnians travel 