Home Our Trip Northern Territory 35-Down to Uluru & KataTjuta
35-Down to Uluru & KataTjuta

21st October 2008.

Now off on the long 1,840 kms down to the south of the Northern Territory to Uluru (formerly Ayers Rock), Kata Tjuta (formerly The Olgas) and King's Canyon. A big change for us as Western Australian attractions have been closer together, but we now have to cover these vast distances that are now days apart rather than just a few hours.

Daly Waters:

First part of the leg was a long uphill haul to Daly Waters with strong head winds which returned our worst diesel consumption figures so far, 26.58 Litres per 100 kms, bugger. Originally built in 1930 to service the drovers and travelers, it also serviced the first international runway in Australia with it's nearby Quantas terminal. Learn something new every day, would have thought the first international runway in Australia would have been in a capital city, not out in the middle of the outback.

It's now a major tourist attraction.

Never seen so many bras, knickers and G strings and all signed by the donors. Money from all round the world, drivers licenses, you name it, it's been pinned up somewhere in the pub. The meals are cheap and the servings are mega so make sure you build up a good appetite so that you can finish it. Don't know how far we'll get tomorrow, we'll just take it as it comes.

Devil's Marbles:

As the trip so far had been hard going due to the strong head winds and the lack of interesting landscapes, the Devil's Marbles were a welcome break. Out in the middle of no where, the Devil's Marbles are a collection of huge, round, red-colored boulders about an hour south of Tennant Creek.


After nine and a half hours on the road, our next stop overnight stop was Ti Tree. Nothing to see or do other than get a good night's sleep ready for tomorrow.

Uluru (formerly Ayers Rock):

Another long day on the road via Alice Springs through to Uluru covering some 640 kms. The drive down from Ti Tree is pretty uneventful, but after leaving Alice Springs, things suddenly becomes a lot more interesting as The West MacDonnell Ranges rise dramatically out of the desert. Then as quickly as they appeared, they disappear and give way to the barren sandy desert. How anything survives out here is beyond me.

About 360kms from Alice Springs approaching Curtin Springs, we get a quick glimpse of this huge mountain in the distance and naturally think it's Uluru. Wrong, as we get closer and can see the shape of it, we know it's not.

We then stop at the lookout and learn that it's Mount Conner and it really is an impressive site rising out of the stark sandy desert. It's three times the size of Uluru.

Continuing on, our anticipation builds as we know Uluru is going to appear on the horizon any minute now and when it does, WOW.... After all the pictures we've seen and stories we've heard, I thought we'd be a little disappointed in seeing it in the flesh, but no, it really is an awesome and inspiring experience and well worth the long haul down here. There's a $25.00 entrance fee each which covers three days entry into the park and our only disappointment was the over cast skies which made video and photography very awkward and didn't give us the opportunities we had hoped for, but overall, an awesome experience.. We had been told that you can't climb Uluru anymore. Wrong,  The traditional owners, the Anangu people, ask that you don't climb Uluru coz it is dangerous and so far, "35 people have died attempting to climb it and we are very sad when people are hurt or die attempting the climb". But you can climb it if you're prepared to take the risk. We saw dozens of people doing the climb and their slow progress highlighted the degree of difficulty. The peak shown in the last two images is only approximately a third of the way up. If the winds are high or there's adverse weather conditions, they do close the walk as it's just too dangerous.

Kata Tjuta (formerly The Olgas):

Wow. another awesome sight. Again the overcast skies didn't do us any favours photographically,

but Kata Tjuta certainly is an impressive and inspiring experience

Kings Canyon:

Heading back up the Lasseter Highway then turning north, the 340 kms return detour to Watarrku National Park and Kings Canyon makes a pleasant break from the desolate, bland landscape of the dessert.

The sheer red rock face of Kings Canyon soars over 100 metres above the cycad gardens. Amazingly, we saw Uluru and Kata Tjuta on the horizon, some 300 kms to the south west from the helicopter trip over the Canyon and George Gill Ranges.

Life On The Road:

Anyone else doing this trip, make sure you stock up with fuel at Alice Springs as diesel was only $1.64 a litre. Next few stops were $2.23 and you ain't got no option coz that's all there is. The Red Centre was probably the most desolate landscape we've come across so far on the trip and the heat and flies were particularly bad.

Starting to get sore bums now as the distances travelled each day have been huge compared to the earlier part of the trip.

Off to Alice Springs in the morning.
 
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