Uluru, Australia

Uluru is a very less travelled place in Australia. Its location and cost associated to reach and stay are primary reasons for people to drop Uluru from their itinerary. We had an opportunity to travel to Uluru during our Australia trip and this post tries to explain few basic points about Uluru.

About Uluru

Uluru (also called as Ayers Rock) is a single massive rock formation in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Part of Red centre (Desert region), it is located in Northern Territories. Its location almost at the centre of Australia makes it very far from major cities which are all located in coast.

Reaching Uluru

It is very far from all major cities in Australia. The nearest cities, Darwin and Adelaide are 1900 km and 1600 km respectively. The drive, which is mostly in sparsely populated desert will be very long and tiresome. The railway route between Darwin and Adelaide passes through Alice Spring, a town that is 450km from Uluru. That journey would take about 24 hours + 4 hours of drive to Uluru.

 

We flew to Ayers Rock Airport in Uluru from Melbourne. The flight duration was about 2.5 hours. The airport in Uluru is one of the smallest I have seen. There are only 8 flights that land in Uluru each day. Uluru airport does not have aero bridges. We just walked on the tarmac and entered into the arrival hall which has baggage belts, rental car and check-in counters. As my family waited for luggage, I went to Hertz counter to get the car key. 

At Yulara

Yulara town is 8 km from airport which we reached in 10 minutes. It is basically a resort town consisting of various types of accommodation. The size of the town can be imagined by the fact that there is only one supermarket and fuel station. It is a town out of nowhere in the Australian Desert catering to the travellers to Uluru.

 

Our stay was at Outback Pioneer Lodge. As the room was not yet available (Check-in time: 3PM), we went to community kitchen to prepare our lunch. The room was ready by the time we finished our lunch.

Here we had the first experience of flies. They are numerous in the area and a big nuisance. Many people use head nets to avoid them. They were constant irritant throughout the trip!! Luckily, there are only present during day time.

Uluru cultural centre and sunset view

Uluru is located in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park which is about 24 km from Yulara town. We started our trip with the visit to cultural center. It was a good place to understand the culture of aboriginal people (known as Anangu) who inhabit the area. Post the visit, we headed to the Uluru sunset viewing area. Interestingly, there are separate areas for people coming in cars and buses. 

 

It was interesting to see how the rock and the landscape turned as the sun started going down.

Sunrise at Uluru

It gets very hot in Uluru with summer temperatures reaching to 45℃. April was much better with max temperature at 34℃ but it was still hot to visit places in afternoon. Hence we had decided to venture out early in the day and late afternoon. Our second day started with sunrise view of Uluru. Post sunrise, we had our packed breakfast and went for a short trek around Uluru. There was no point in going back to Yulara which was 24 km for breakfast.

Mala walk

We went for Mala walk, which was an easy route along the Uluru rock. The starting point was also the place to climb Uluru. Though I am a person who likes climbing, reaching the top of Uluru was not in my plan. Primary reason was that the aboriginal people consider it as a sacred place and request the tourists not to climb the mountain. I also saw boards indicating that the climb will be banned from October 2019. Even now, the route can be closed for various reason. It was closed on that day due to 25 knots winds.

 

It was a pleasant day and we liked the Mala walk. There were caves where aboriginal people camped and prepared their meals. The fine examples of rock art was also worth seeing. The walk ended at Kantju Gorge that provides a nice view of the mountain.

Mutitjulu waterhole

This was a short walk to the waterhole formed by a waterfall but we were at the end of summer which meant that the waterhole was dry. But it was still a serene and beautiful place to sit and relax.

Kata Tjuta

We rested in the afternoon at the lodge. The swimming pool provided a nice relief from the heat. In the evening, we went to Kata Tjuta which was about 55 km from Yulara. Kata Tjuta is a group of large, domed rock formations. Unlike Uluru which is a single monolith, Kata Tjuta has 36 domes. 

 

The drive to Kata Tjuta was beautiful which gave a feel of the arid region of Australia. During the 55 km journey, we only came across couple of vehicles. The road continues further to Western Australia where one may not find a single vehicle for entire day. But that is a journey for adventurers who can manage to survive on unsealed roads for thousands of km!!

Valley of winds and sunset

There was two main walks in Kata Tjuta – Valley of winds and Walpa gorge. We chose Valley of winds. The trail is a difficult walk of 7.4 km but we decided to reach only till Karu lookout which was about 2.2 km. The walk was again pleasant though it was a continuous gradual climb. The views from the lookout was beautiful.

 

Post trek, we went to sunset point to see the view of Kata Tjuta. On the way back, I stopped at a place that provided a full view of the domes.

Lookouts in Yulara

There are couple of lookouts in Yulara to view Uluru. I tried to take some photographs in night.

Return journey

We took the flight to Sydney and the flight duration was about 3 hours.

Last points

There are few points to note while travelling to Uluru

• Uluru is expensive and hence plan accordingly. While it is possible to get a decent price for flights, other things like accommodation, fuel, food and rental cars are expensive compared to other parts off Australia.
• It is cheaper to rent car if you are in a small group. Other option is to take tour buses but they are expensive.
• Rental cars usually have a limit on number of km per day. For us, it was 100km per day. 
• Another place of interest is Kings Canyon which is about 400 km from Yuluru.