Kata Tjuta

From Kata Tjuta

Most people have heard of Ayer’s Rock/Uluru, but it neighbouring site in the National Park, Kata Tjuta, is less well known. In fact it is almost as impressive as Uluru, being another massive outcrop of rock in the desert. The main difference is that it has been broken into a string of hills rather than being one giant mass. This is due to its geology, being composed of hard volcanic rocks in a matrix of mudstone, as opposed to being a solid mass of sandstone as is the case for Ayer’s Rock. This means that Kata Tjuta has weathered much more rapidly than Uluru, and hence is now broken down into a number of smaller outcrops.

We again set out before dawn to see the sun rise on Kata Tjuta, and again we were thwarted by a bank of cloud obscuring the sun. We settled for a 7.5 km walk though the ‘Valley of the Winds’, which winds between some of the peaks in the Kata Tjuta formation, and involves a little more climbing than the flat path around Uluru. Spotted three kangaroos along the way (as well as a camel on the drive to the site). Back to the resort in time for a last laze by the pool before catching our flight on to Cairns.