Two years ago today we went on a holiday / pilgrimage to a place we’d never been before.
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If you hadn’t worked out yet where we went, it was to a big red rock.
Day one involved pottering around the resort, staring at the rock from a hilltop, looking at the local gallery, booking into a few tours and a night time light show (the drone show was canceled due to upper level winds) with a picnic dinner.
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Lacking a car for the first few days, we didn’t go see any of the geology up close, but instead had other people show us around.
After being convinced by the pilot she would take care to not freak me out too badly I was terrified for a while anyway, but I think the view was worth it.
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Then, finally, we got to the bloody big rock as part of a sunrise tour (including breakfast on a nearby dune top) followed by walks around various parts, and stories about the history, use and meaning of various part of the site.
Sadly no wildlife, the water is still not potable because it still picks up heavy metals and human waste from items discarded and lost by people who climbed the rock in the past.
Other than that, it is absolutely mesmerising and beautiful.
No photos from most of the other sites, because those are sacred and there are signs asking no people to not photograph them.
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The next day we picked up a hire car, so we could go and investigate Kata-Tjuta in the morning, before disappearing up the road to Curtin Springs Station. Tough farming conditions caused the owners to diversify into boutique paper making (and paper making tours, so we did that :-)
As it turns out, there is a third mountain that goes with Uluru and Kara-Tjuta and the lore about those. It’s called Atila and is within the Curtin Springs property boundary. No sealed road though.
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![A painted concrete shower and toilet block at Curtin Springs. On the left is for shielas [sic], the right for blokes.
Paintings of a woman’s and man, an emu and camels decorate the front wall.](https://misanthrope-social.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/media_attachments/files/117/138/094/545/733/481/original/00910caf0043f183.jpeg)
The next day is the reason we decided to get the hire car - a day trip to Kings Canyon, a mere 300km from Yulara.
The drive through the desert landscape was lovely. Rather than being monotonous, the landscape changes all the time. Oh, and we picked up a french hitch hiker in the middle of nowhere. He was so grateful, especially for the USB power ports in the car 😆
Sadly the walk up towards the edge of the canyon was closed because it was (unseasonably) far too hot. Guess we need to come back, huh?
We had a lovely wander along the dry creek that runs along the valley floor though and spotted a lot of wildlife. Including zebra finches!
On the way back, we pulled in at Kathleen Springs. It’s a similar arrangement to Kings Canyon - a valley that cuts into the Gardiner Range. It’s smaller, but still pretty and it actually had water.
As we passed Curtin Springs again, we spotted a group of feral ships.
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After an initial cursory inspection of only Walpa Gorge, we went back to Kata-Tjuta for a picnic and a proper walk/scramble to the Valley of the Winds and Karu Lookout.
It had been warm and sunny for some days, and at this point a lot of wildflowers were up all over the place.
Although Uluru is nice, I think Kata-Tjuṯa is nicer. It’s quieter and more secluded, there was more wildlife, and there is more variety in the actual rock. It varies from smooth sandstone to conglomerates with large rocks in them.
No images from inside the valleys, as there are culturally sensitive sites and views and signs to please respect that.
You’ll have to go and see for yourself. I promise it’s worth it. Just go in winter, not summer :-)
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@cafuego agree Kata-Tjuṯa is better than the big rock. Big rock just felt tired and worn out, Kata-Tjuṯa felt alive.
@cafuego where is this? I guess somewhere in APY lands, but what town?
@emmadavidson Not so much a town as a resort - Yulara.
@cafuego aha! Been there, but in an off-road camper trailer, no hotel rooms for my kids. They still say it was one of the best family holidays ever. I had work to do with Aboriginal women in a town camp nearby during school holidays, so we made a proper trip of it.
