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We spent several days at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Uluru, called Ayres Rock by the citizens of the British Empire who "discovered" it in the 1870s, has been a been a site of religious/spiritual significance to the local Anangu people for thousands of years. In 1987, the deed to the land was returned to the Anangu people, who are now jointly managing the park with the Australian government, and Anangu names for the striking geographical features in the park are once again being used. We stayed at Desert Gardens Inn, part of a complex of hotels near the national park and, in addition to sightseeing within the park, spent time at a cultural center designed to educate visitors about the Anangu people and their history.
Some of the other folks in our tour group thought we spent too much time here. It was oven-hot in this semi-arid desert - 108 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for much of each day. Other than viewing Uluru and Kata Tjuta at different times of day, and learning about Anangu culture, there's not much "to do" in the park.
But I found the landscape starkly beautiful, and full of life, when you looked closely. Especially at sunrise and sunset, as the light changes minute by minute, the colors of the rock formations shift, too. One early morning, I hiked around the base of Uluru (about 10.6 km, roughly 6 miles). Although it looks like just a "big rock" from a distance, at close range it reveals numerous gullies, caves, cracks, outcroppings, and other features of endless complexity. Despite taking many (SO many!) photos, I can't fully convey what it was like to experience this place in person. I'll leave it to those interested to seek out more information (and more professional images) about this national park, and the interior of Australia as a whole.
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Moonrise, Earth Sanctuary World Nature Centre, Alice Springs |
Underside of cloud reflects the red
earth on the road to Uluru |
Red sand dunes outside the national park
(that's Mount Connor, a mesa,
not Uluru, in the distance) |
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Sunrise over the outback |
Uluru in early morning light |
View while walking around Uluru |
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Uluru from the base walk path |
Still Uluru, different colors as light changes |
Fractures in the rock face |
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Yet another color, and beautiful texture |
Patterns of erosion |
Red rock, blue sky |
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Mutitjulu waterhole at Uluru |
Kata Tjuta in distance, beyond Uluru |
View from Walpa Gorge, Kata Tjuta |
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Kata Tjuta rock is a conglomerate,
different from Uluru's sandstone |
Inside Walpa Gorge, Kata Tjuta |
Rainbow over Kata Tjuta - Walpa Gorge
is between the two rightmost domes |
Next: photos of More landscapes
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