Dingoes, Kings Canyon, another sunset and more Dingoes

29th May 2013

Today was pack-up day as our three nights at Yulara were up. The van was made ready to roll in no time as we're getting well practised by now. We said seeya to the fellow Victorians that were camped next to us and we hit the road again, saying goodbye to the rock in our mirrors.

It was a source of amusement to us as we drove down the Lassiter Highway towards Yulara four days ago to see the constant procession of vans, campers and motorhomes leaving the Uluru & Kata Tjuta National Park area. Today, that's us as we joined  several others leaving at the same time.

A little way down the road we caught sight of a Dingo sitting atop a red sand dune next to the road, just casually watching the passing traffic. Unfortunately, between the animal blending pretty well into it's surrounds and us whizzing along at 100km/h, we weren't quick enough to take a photo.

There was a couple from Harcourt that we'd been bumping into since Lake Hart, just west of Woomera. During our last encounter out at Kata Tjuta, Colin told us about the excellent free camp area 28kms out from Yulara that they were staying at. On our way out we decided to stop and have a look at this campsite for ourselves, with a thought to perhaps visiting it on our next trip up this way. The campgrounds were over a small sandhill and down into a hollow at the back of what otherwise looked like a typical wayside stop. So, I decided to drive in through the dune to take a closer look, but, who should be driving out at the same time but our friends from Harcourt. After I backed out of his way and we parked the rigs, we stopped and had a final chat. They were heading directly for Alice Springs and on further north where we were stopping tonight at Kings Canyon, so we said our last goodbyes and proceeded on our way.

We arrived at Kings Canyon Resort campground and were pleasantly surprised by the surroundings. The sites were large and shady and all had mains water and sullage.

After setting up camp, we drove the short distance down the road to Kings Canyon. The decision here is to walk the floor of the canyon, which was rated as "Easy", or do the rim walk which was a lot longer and much harder. We decided that we weren't up for the rim trek so we took off into the Canyon. This turned out to be a very pleasant walk, with the walls towering on either side and magnificent ghost gums providing shade.

Variations of colour in the rock was  amazing

Our site at the Resort/Campground was handily just across the road from one of the many ablutions blocks, which curiously had waist high wooden doors at every opening. Later, we came to the realisation that these doors were meant to keep the Dingoes out as there were signs warning that they do enter the campgrounds and visitors were advised not to approach or feed them.

The Resort has provided a sunset viewing area with a boardwalk across the dunes to access it. By the time we got there, a group had already set themselves up with beers and bubbly, and plenty of others as well were ther with their cameras ready.

That evening we went to bed hearing packs of Dingoes howling at each other, some sounding pretty close to us.

One for Davo....203 spotted in the carpark at Kings Canyon. There was another one back at the resort.

Exploring Kata Tjuta, Yulara Town Centre and yet another sunset

28th May 2013

Today we made the trip back out to Kata Tjuta armed with the fly nets we'd picked up the day before. There's a couple of walks we wanted to do. The first one was up and into the gap between two of the large domes. The climb up was steady and at times it was a bit hard to find a firm footing. Unlike Uluru, the whole complex is not made of solid rock, but from what appears to be a conglomerate of various sized rocks, glued together by a softer material. The whole area around the base of the domes is littered with chunks of this conglomerate.

 The gap closes in and is not passable so at the end there's a raised viewing area where we sat and rested in the shade and relative cool. The view looking back out of the gap was worth the effort. 

The next walk was a short drive around to the northern end where we parked and set out on foot again. This walk started off much easier than the first, and only got a bit more difficult as we got up and in between some of the domes. We only made it to the end of the first section of this walk as it continued on down the other side and became quite difficult.

We needed to stock up at the supermarket at Yulara, but first we sampled the coffee from the cafe in the Town Centre.









That evening it was yet again back out to watch the sunset on Uluru, but this time we wanted to see the spectacle from the far side of the rock so that the formation was in silhouette. This was far more impressive than the sunrise from the same location yesterday. From this vantage point you can see both Uluru and Kata Tjuta.

Desert Oaks and Uluru

Tomorrow we leave this special place and head to King's Canyon.

Sunrise at Uluru, sunset at Kata Tjuta

27th May 2013.

This morning we rose early to drive out to the far side of Uluru to watch the sunrise. Just as they've created a designated area for observing the sunset, so too have they built an excellent series of platforms to watch the sunrise.

As there was little cloud in the sky to  reflect the sun's rays, it wasn't that much of a spectacle but still an impressive sight just the same.

 

Once we'd watched the rock until the colours stopped changing, we drove the short distance around to the carpark area at the waterhole. This is where we began our 11km walk around the base of Uluru. The track has many information posts that describe the significance of, or story surrounding, each area to the local indigenous people. A number of those requested that visitors refrain from taking photos and video footage of specific features. They go on to explain that these were the subject of specific stories and teachings that are significant to Uluru only and were not to be talked about or mentioned away from the rock. So we did as they asked so there may be some gaps in our photo coverage. Still, that didn't stop the SLR and video cameras working overtime in the areas we were free to shoot.

Sharon and I both agree that the highlight came at the welcome end of our circumnavigation when we walked into the permanent waterhole, tucked in to a deep cleft in the rock. There's a small observation platform built out over a crystal clear pool of water which was still being fed buy a steady trickle after heavy rains the previous week. We sat down on the bench seat for a while and just took in the atmosphere. Whilst sitting there, those immortal words of Darryl Kerrigan came to mind "How's the serenity"? Sorry, but Bonnie Doon doesn't hold a candle to this place.

The 11kms took a bit of a toll on our legs, so we dragged ourselves to the car and back to Yulara to recuperate.

Later that afternoon it was back out to Kata Tjuta to watch the sunset. The area designated for this activity is around the back of the formations, which is not as attractive as the other side. But again, this didn't stop us clicking away and taking a ton of shots. What did cause us significant frustration were the sticky little flies that were in plague proportions. Whilst Sharon covered every inch of herself, except for her eyes, with her jacket, I battled on, periodically taking shots as the shadows lengthened whilst trying not to inhale any of the little mongrels. We decided then and there we were going to seek out the shop that was selling the fly nets we'd seen others wearing and get ourselves a couple, no matter how daggy they looked.

"Is that it?" "No, that's Mt Connor"

26th May 2013

The day's finally arrived when I'm going to get to see Uluru in the flesh. Leaving from our overnight stop at Kulgera, it was a leisurely 310km drive to the Campground at Yulara.

As we got closer to our destination I caught a glimpse over the tops of the trees and sand hills of a large geological feature in the distance. I asked Sharon "Is that it?"

Not Uluru

......to which she replied  "No" and explained that what I was seeing is Mount Connor, not Uluru. None-the-less, it was a pretty impressive sight anyway.

Mount Connor





It was a further 50 or 60kms down the road before we got a teaser of the real thing, then a short time later, our first sighting of Kata Tjuta.



After plonking the van on our primo site right next to the loos, we drove to the Ranger's gate where we purchased our 3 day pass to Uluru and Kata Tjuta, then on to the Rock. All the pictures and footage of Uluru I've seen in the past have shown the differing colours and moods of the rock, but none have really done justice. The sheer size and presence of the structure is awe inspiring. It's something that has to be experienced first hand. There was also a bit of time spent looking around the Heritage Centre where a lot of the local Aboriginal history and Dreamtime stories surrounding the area are related.

Later we drove back into the park to the purpose built Viewing Area to witness the sun set on the rock. As the sun and temperature dropped, we witnessed the famous colour change act.

 

 Tomorrow, we'll go back and walk the base of Uluru and get up real close and personal.

Over the border into the N.T.

25th May 2013

We said hooroo to Coober Pedy and continued heading north. The landscape continued to change character every so many kilometres with any number of spectacular features visible in the distance.

We just had to stop and get a snap of us at the border, but made it quick as the pesky little flies were everywhere and annoyingly sticky.

Our stop for the night was at a very basic caravan park behind the roadhouse at Kulgera. $20 per night for a powered sight, plenty of hot water in the showers, and a vista like this... what more could you ask for?

Tomorrow, on to the Rock.

A bit more of Coober Pedy

24th May 2013

Another morning waking to the sounds of the "Grey Nomads" packing up their rigs and hitting the road at sparrow's fart.

It was a brilliant sunny morning, but the temperature was still fresh with a light breeze. So what did we do? We headed underground on a self guided tour of The Old Timer Mine just back from the main drag. Shafts and drives have been dug everywhere around town. You can literally step off the street and into a mine.

Demonstrates how a miner climbed the shaft which was "custom fitted" to his size.

 We were told they dug out $50,000 worth of Opal just excavating the entrance to the old diggings when they opened it up as a tourist atraction.

Late that day we drove back out to The Breakaways to watch the sun set. A small group of people with cameras had gathered at one of the vantage spots, all with the same intention of capturing something special.

Here's a sample of our efforts.