Day 22: Sunrise in the desert and Kata Tjuta

Belinda woke us up at 4:30am while the stars were still out and the moon was shining brightly. We had a quick breakfast and packed up camp before walking up to the nearby lookout to watch the 6am sunrise. It must be winter in the rest of the world because the sun only left Australia for about 9 hours!

In the morning we took a 3 hour walk through the Valley of the Winds. The 7.5km walk meanders through another nearby set of rock formations known as Kata Tjuta, which means ‘many heads’, each head being a large dome shaped rock. These are of just as much importance to the Anangu people as Uluru, and the walk is carefully planned to avoid areas where the aborigines would prefer visitors not to go. They say the strong winds that pass through the valley are their ancestors speaking to us. The temperature did not go below 28°c overnight and it was already well above 30°c. The walk is closed for safety reasons at 11am when the temperature exceeds 36°c. Despite the temperature though it was well worth doing and the rounded rock formations are fascinating. Halfway around we stopped for refreshments while Belinda explained some of the geology behind the rock formations. Next stop was the picnic area in the Ayers Rock resort for some lunch and a much needed swim in the nearby pool.

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In the afternoon we had a long 3 hour drive to the Kings Creek Cattle Station where we would be camping for the night. On the way we stopped to collect firewood and to look across the desert at Atilla – a rock similar to Uluru but even larger (despite being two metres shorter). It has just as much significance as Uluru, but the latter was chosen for the tourism drive and Atilla is still within private land. Although there is a large campsite at the cattle station, Wayoutback have a special arrangement with the landowners which allowed us to camp a few kilometres down a dirt track – literally in the middle of nowhere. We had a small shelter with running water and near-traditional bush toilet and shower – two small huts down a footpath. The shower has lovely hot water (as the pipes run through the ground) but was covered with ants so most of us went without. The toilet has a family of frogs living inside it – for some reason they seem to like that environment!

We did the initial preparations for dinner and started the campfire – my job was to make the bread from scratch! While dinner cooked on the fire we walked to a slightly higher point so that we could have a good view of the sunset. As the sun went down Belinda provided champagne and canapés, and we also came across some wild camels! We had dinner around the campfire while Belinda told a few stories and then had another night under the stars in a swag.

Yet another early start tomorrow so we can do all our walking before the sun is viagra cheap canada too hot.

4 thoughts on “Day 22: Sunrise in the desert and Kata Tjuta

  1. Mary Vaughan

    Hi Howie,
    These photos are amazing! I like the hat, and the bread looks good, also the swimming pool! I think that I will also give the shower a miss though, and as for the toilet………… What a great experience all of this is; sleeping under the stars must be really great – well it wouldn’t be here. We have been to the theatre this evening and it was SO cold walking back from the station.
    Love Mum xx