Kata Tjuta and eating outside

Kata Tjuta

Having seen Kata Tjuta - or The Olgas - from the air, now it was time to see them a bit closer up. Of course, Kata Tjuta is much bigger, and we didn't feel like doing another long walk, especially as we were going later in the day when it would be somewhat hotter.

Kata Tjuta

So we opted for the nice easy stroll into the Walpa Gorge; for those who want a more strenuous walk, you could go on to the Valley of the Winds, which is said to be well worth doing. These are the only walks available, as the rest of the site is protected.

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta means many heads, which is a fitting name for the cluster of 36 dome shaped rocks that make it up.

Kata Tjuta

The tallest is Mount Olga, standing at 546m tall. It is named after Queen Olga of Württemberg in 1872, and is where the name 'The Olgas' comes from.

Many visitors find Kata Tjuta more impressive than Uluru. It is nice because you can walk between the two biggest domes, and feel their height, towering above you on either side.

Kata Tjuta

But this close to, you don't really get the full effect of the site, whereas from the air, you can see the size and multitude of the rocks, and you can really get a view of the way the rock has been shaped by being first thrust up out of the ground, and then by gradual erosion.

Kata Tjuta

We enjoyed our little walk along the creek bed nonetheless, and it is fascinating that the two places, only around 25 miles apart, are so very different.

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Uluru

 During our stay, we also decided to go along to a couple of the meals that are offered. We chose one on the basis that it was the only one that takes place inside the National Park, and therefore closer to Uluru.

They start with taking you to the sunset viewing area so that you can see the colours change as the sun goes down. Then they move to a different area for the meal, which was a barbecue, where you all sat at long trestle tables. Honestly, I wasn't all that impressed with this - it all felt a bit too rushed and uninspiring to me.

Uluru

Uluru

Uluru

The other one we booked onto thought, the 'Sounds of Silence' dinner, was excellent. It is outside the park, but only just. They take you to one of the sand dunes, so that you have a decent view of Uluru for the sunset, during which they give you champagne and canapes.

Then once the sun has gone down, they take you down to an area that is set with tables of about ten, where you have a very good three course meal. The meal includes plenty of options, including some indigenous elements.

There is also a didgeridoo player to entertain us briefly, and they bring along an astronomer, with a large telescope, so that you can take a closer look at the stars above. You get an excellent view of the Milky Way, just with the naked eye, and we could also see the planets Saturn and Venus. With the telescope, we were able to see the rings around Saturn.

Uluru

Uluru and Kata Tjuta - A bird's eye view

Uluru

One of the things that we decided to do here was to take a helicopter flight over the National Park. Unusually, we opted for another early morning, to do the sunrise flight.

When we arrived, there were six people, and we got allocated the little helicopter, while the other four shared the big one. We had chosen the flight that went around Uluru, and then on towards, but not around Kata Tjuta (also known as The Olgas); we would have quite liked to have gone around that too, but it was somewhat more expensive.

Uluru and the Ayers Rock Resort

Safely buckled in, and with our headphones one, we watched the other helicopter take off and waited to do the same. And waited. And waited. Despite repeated tries, the pilot couldn't get the helicopter started, and eventually, the number of attempts was draining the battery too low. Oh dear.

Uluru

They were very apologetic, but of course, with the other helicopter already in use, there wasn't much they could do. And as the sun rose, our sunrise flight was no longer possible today. They did offer us various options: we could cancel and have a refund; reschedule for another day - which luckily was still a possibility for us; or we could wait for the other one to come back, and go up in that, without the sunrise.

Uluru

Having seen the sunrise on Uluru before, we opted to wait, and still go up this day. When the other group got back, they had enjoyed their trip, but hadn't felt that the sunrise added that much to it, so we were happy that this was a good decision.

Uluru

In fact, it all worked out quite nicely because, as the sunrise flight was a bit more expensive, and we'd had to wait to go up, they upgraded our flight to the one that went right around Kata Tjuta. This was great, because having done it, we think that including the full Kata Tjuta flight is well worth it, as you get a very different perspective on the rocks.

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta