It’s 4 am in the morning. Still dark outside. Dingoes’ howling disrupts the quiet of the night. I wake up frightened and immediately feel relief we are not sleeping in a tent. I think this is a sign for me to stop reading so many books about werewolves. Lesson learned. But what now? Time to start a day or not? The sounds coming from outside make this a rather quick decision. Another hour of sleep won’t hurt anybody : )
We are waking up before dawn, just enough time to have a brekkie, morning shower and then head outside to admire sunrise. Desert mornings are truly magical and have unique atmosphere. Seeing all colours of battle between dark and light is truly marvellous. We could stand there and watch it for hours. Unfortunately, sunrises and sunsets in Australia are much shorter than in Poland. Sometimes it’s just a couple of photos and before you know it, the Sun is already high up.
We say farewells to Kings Canyon, hoping one day we will come back here again. Today we have to drive back to Ayers Rock. This time we give ourselves more time for travel. We just cannot say no to stopping by some camels for a proper photo-shoot. Furthermore we had a little break near Mount Connor, also called Atilla or Artilla. Locals call it “Fool-uru” because heaps of tourists driving from Alice Springs think this is Uluru.
We arrive in Ayers Rock around 3 pm. But before we can enjoy our cabin we decide to see a famous rock formation called Kata Tjuta. Time is running out as we have only 3 hours before the sunset, and our goal is a trail called Valley of the Winds Walk, which is 7.4 km long. Different guides suggest it takes somewhere between 3 to 4 hours to finish it. Well can we make it before it gets dark outside? Time will show, let’s go!
Kata Tjuta, called also The Olgas, lies around 50 km from Uluru. In Pitjantjatjara language, used by Anangu people, it means “many heads”. This name really suits it because from the distance it does look like heads sticking out of the ground indeed. There are 36 rock formations in total, highest one Mount Olga is 546 meters high.
When going for Valley of the Winds Walk you should prepare yourself for a small climb, steep descent, moving rocks and roots which I swear appear out of nowhere right before your foot. The trail is exhausting, especially during hot days. But the sights make it all worth it, especially ones from Karingana Lookout, the most popular lookout in there. There’s nothing surprising about that, when we got there our breaths are taken away. Both figuratively and literally : ) The view is so magical. Out of this world. We decide to forget about running time and have a break to drink some water and admire this beautiful landscape.
Wandering through this place feels like you are in a land of contrasts. Brick red rocks, rich green trees and bushes, burned yellow grass and clear blue sky. This view really sticks in your mind and we could admire it for hours.
We pushed the tempo and completed the trek in 2 and a half hours. We made it before the sunset! On our way back, we quickly stop near Uluru to admire another beautiful sunset. The sacred Aboriginal rock formation coloured with setting Sun’s rays is a foretaste of what awaits us tomorrow. That’s right, the very next day will finally bring us face to face with the most famous rock in Australia, found in every guide and thousands of postcards. Uluru! The time has come : )
Check previous posts about our outback adventures:
