Life Down Under (Part 16): Uluru Sunset and Kata Tjuta (and Uluru travel tips!)

- October 2-3, 2022, Sunday to Monday.

- Australia takes pride in its natural wonders, and part of its pride are the iconic Uluru and Kata Tjuta rock formations! While everyone knows that my bucket list destinations have always been mostly in Asia (particularly India,) I've actually been intrigued by unusual natural wonders such as these red rocks in Australia, as well as in Arizona, USA. As for Australia, I never thought I'd live to see Uluru (or "Ayers Rock"), and Kata Tjuta (also known as "The Olgas")

- Uluru can be conveniently reached via air from most major cities in Australia (Uluru/Ayers Rock airport). Now here are VERY USEFUL TIPS on how to travel and go around Uluru, because information online has been quite scattered.

1. BOOKING HOTELS, TOURS, AND ACTIVITIES: Go to the Ayers Rock Resort website (click here). All information about hotel availability and available activities to book are conveniently found in this website. Hotels do not have individual websites. For activities, book beforehand especially during peak season as slots run out pretty quickly. The resort is located in a town called Yulara, and is quite a distance from the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

2. COST: SAVE FOR THIS TRIP. Everything is expensive. Since this is a resort town, with nothing but the wilderness outside the confines of the town, expect the prices of everything to be jacked up. There are no cheap hostels, all of them are standard hotels. The cheapest hotel is still expensive. (I stayed at the Outback Pioneer Lodge. It was the cheapest option at the time I booked, but 9x the price of what I'd normally cost in hostels in other Australian cities.) - The cheapest option might be to camp in the camping grounds, but unless you are willing to bring camping gear (which can be heavy/bulky), then booking one of the hotels is your only option.

3. GETTING AROUND: Hotels offer free airport pick-up and transfers. A free shuttle bus also takes people around the resort.

4. BOOK YOUR PARK PASS: The resort is outside the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, and one would need to book a park pass online BEFOREHAND (click here).

5. GETTING TO AND FROM THE NATIONAL PARK: One cannot walk from the resort to the park, it's just too far! If you're that much of a walker, it might still be dangerous to do this on foot since it might be easy to get lost, and you're not too sure what creatures of nature (or Mother Nature herself) are planning on that day. - Most people would either bring their own cars or rent one. However, if you're like me without a car, the best thing to do is to hire a hop-on-hop-off buss (click here). 

6. IF AVAILING THE HOP-ON-HOP-OFF (HOHO) BUS: Since there is usually one (or two?) HOHO bus available, those willing to avail of this service should do some planning beforehand. - When do you want to see the sunrise? Which stop in Uluru would you like to get off? Where do you want to be picked up? Etc. - Unlike in other big cities where people can just waltz in and out of HOHO buses, in Uluru, you have to tell the bus driver (or the management, if you correspond with them through e-mail), which stop and which time you wish to be picked up. Since there is only one medium-sized bus, the company needs to make sure that everyone has a place to sit, which explains the need to tell them beforehand about your plans (most especially the sunrise and sunset in Uluru or Kata Tjuta, as these are very popular). Fear not, the HOHO website has a monthly schedule showing when and where the bus stops. The bus goes around the park around 4 times. (Check the website I included above to see more details.)

- Now that I have explained the important things about going to and around the national park, I can now go to the fun parts! After checking in my hotel, at Outback Pioneer Lounge, I went to the town proper to see if there are interesting things to see. The town center was quite small, and nothing much was happening, so I just ate a late lunch at one of the cafes available. The town center has a few restaurants and cafes, and some souvenir shops. There were also Anangu people, natives of Uluru, who make traditional paintings and sell them. Honestly, this was the only special thing one can get from Uluru; rarely can one find other kinds of handicrafts or products made by the Anangu. (I heard that Alice Springs, another popular tourist town in the Northern Territory, has more variety of aboriginal products and these can be bought directly from the locals too.)

Just arrived at Ayers Rock Airport and this was the first thing I saw. It left nothing to the imagination! Uluru, right there, in front of me! You'll notice that it's not its trademark red color, because its color sort of changes (at least, from how our eyes perceive it) based on the sunlight and other forces of nature.

My nice room for three people, although I was a solo traveler. This was the cheapest room so I had no choice.

- Since I missed the afternoon run of the HOHO bus due to my plane's arrival time, I only had a chance to ride the bus when it was time to see the sunset at Uluru. While waiting form y sunset bus, I managed to squeeze in some interesting things to do. I visited the Uluru Camel Farm, which is the base of the camel tours. Camels are obviously not native to Australia, and were brought in by British colonizers from India and Afghanistan in the 1800s. They decided to bring camels because of the desert landscape in North Australia, similar to what India and Afghanistan have. However, the camels were abandoned when mechanical transport became more available through the years. Now, there are many camels roaming free in the deserts of Australia, and some of them are used for tourism.

The outback lewk. If you're wondering why I'm not standing closer to the wagon, it's because of....(see next photo.)

....this!! Thankfully I saw before posing that the wheel closest to me had a hole, and the hole had a giant spider inside!

 

I also tried not to stand too close to the camels because they might spit or kick me.

Camel wagon.

Camel saddle from way back.

Saw this little critter, staring angrily at me.

- I also go to visit the Gallery of Central Australia (GOCA). It is a small gallery that also acts as an art store. The gallery often has resident artists making art in the museum for people to see. They usually (always?) have indigenous artists.

Saw this sign at the town centre, outside the Desert Gardens Hotel, says "palya." It means "hello," "good/fine," "thank you," or "goodbye" in the Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara language. 

Inside the Gallery of Central Australia.

All these paintings are for sale!

- Finally, I got to hop on my HOHO bus to see the sunset at Uluru! I'll talk about Uluru more in the next blog entry, but for now, just appreciate that this big thing is one big rock!

- I could not believe that I was seeing Uluru right before my very eyes. Uluru "changes its color" depending on the position of the sun, just like India's Taj Mahal (another place in the world known for its color changes in relation to the sun's rays). However, the color changes of Uluru are more dramatically colorful than the Taj Mahal. In one afternoon, I've seen Uluru grey, purple, red, gold, and orange.

Bluish / Purplish.

Reddish.

Reddish-purplish on a cloudy afternoon.

Then the sun suddenly shone its brightest near sunset. Uluru immediately turned golden yellow!!!!

Sunset over Kata Tjuta (lower right.)

Anangu people running. I was setting up for my shot when they suddenly passed by. This was actually candid haha.

Not sure if related to dung beetles.

OK THIS IS GOOD HAHA. So the white car is a tourist car. They stopped in the middle of the road probably to take photos. Unfortunately the tourists and their white car were blocking everyone's perfect view from the sunset viewing area. Just as the angry tourists were cursing in all languages known to man, the park rangers sped to the white car to shoo them away! Everyone in the sunset viewing area cheered hahahaha. 

This is Chriselda Farmer. She is one of the registered Anangu artists in Uluru. She and her fellow artists sell hand-made paintings! I got this small one from her (because that's the only one I could afford haha.) 

Chriselda and her companions. These big paintings can cost up to several hundred Australian dollars. They are all wonderfully made though!

- That night I had a buffet dinner at my hotel just to have some air conditioning. Uluru's weather was too hot, coming from frigid Melbourne. The hotel chefs on duty that night were Filipinos, who made me feel more welcome. It was a good end to my first day in Uluru!

A lovely lovely dinner, especially for an exhausted me.

- The following morning I got to see the sunrise at Kata Tjuta. The HOHO bus only goes there during sunrise, so there is only one chance to see it if going on the HOHO bus. I had to wake up around 4 in the morning, and wait for the bus to pick me up at my hotel. 

So many stars!!

This is my hotel by the way. Trust me it's not as sketchy as it looks.

Uluru from far away. Just before sunrise.

- The sunrise gave Kata Tjuta a Martian appearance due to its dramatic slopes and red color. It was unlike anything I've seen before. After seeing the sunrise, we headed towards Kata Tjuta itself. "Kata Tjuta" is in the Pitjantjatjara language that means "many heads." It was called this way because it does look like it has many heads. It was also called "The Olgas" to honor Queen Olga of Wurttemberg (the daughter of Russia's Czar Nicholas.)

Look. at. that.

Is this real? - A painting? A different planet? No. That's Kata Tjuta.

I mean....

Of course I had to dress the part.

See all the grooves and holes.

- There are two main hikes that one can do in Kata Tjuta: Walpa Gorge Walk (shorter) and the Valley of the Winds Walk (longer, slightly more difficult). I initially felt lazy and though of doing the short walk, but I knew that for me to see the real beauty of Kata Tjuta, I had to go do the Valley of the Winds Walk, while my knees would allow me. It was a long walk under the hot sun, but true enough, it was worth it!

- By the way, these rock formations are sacred to the Anangu, as Kata Tjuta is related to a number of legends, such as one involving a giant snake believed to be living on top of the rocks. Don't worry, I didn't see any snakes, just wonderful rock formations!! 

All the rocks there were beautiful.

On Mars?

The valley.

Flowers on the rock mountain.

The beauty of Kata Tjuta is unlike anything, really. Can't stop saying that.

- The 2-hour hike around Kata Tjuta was tiring, but I had no regrets. Each turn and each path along the hike was a breathtaking view! (Or breathtaking because of the hike AND the view?) I feel blessed to have been able to walk through Kata Tjuta, because I really didn't know much about it before. Although Kata Tjuta was a marvel, my main mission was to see and go around the big rock itself - Uluru!