Kata Tjuta
Alarm at 4AM, breakfast at 4:30, Time to leave 5:15.
We went for the sunrise behind Uluru, on a spot halfway between Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Enjoyd the sunrise, hearing the dessert to awake and seeing Kata Tjuta to become a visible rockformation from just a shadow in the night sky.
Did you ever hear of Kata Tjuta? No? I have to admit, me neither. It’s another sacred rock, about 50km away from Uluru. Geological – according to the guide – it’s a kind of origin of Uluru. Soft erosion parts fromthe Kata Tjuta place were washed down and bekwam the Uluru rock formation, before it got tilted by geological force, about 450 mln years ago. Kata Tjuta is a collection of 36 (granit) hills, the highest about 450m, some 100m more than Uluru.
Uluru is a national sacred place, connected with commonly shared aciant stories throughout Aboriginal communities. Kata Tjuta is more a local sacred place: mostly used as a men’s teaching ground. Boys got to learn about ethics, rules, nature, hunting, reading signs, common and men’s laws.
Our asignment for the morning: The path of the Windy Valley. A 4 grade hike of about 8km. Why not? It won’t be above 30 degrees until 10AM. Some parts were a bit of a challenge. Steep, loose stones, edges along a creek with quite lush bushes. Going up and going down … challenges differt. But the views! Worth every. single. step. Most of the time, you are not allowed to take photos – part of the ethics of the sacred site. Just another type of challenge! Not everybody respected that… a bit of a shame. We were out of the hills not too much after 10. Just on time to be back at the camp for lunch. And, for me, the drop off at the resort. I took the bus back to Alice Spring at 7PM, others flew home, some continued the tour to Kings Grounds. At the resort, I washed the dessert and the hike of at the pool. Until it started to rain and I wanted to bring my stuff, including my sleeping bag, to dry grounds. The resort has a mall: some art galleries, a tourist information, some restaurants, a supermarket, along a fancy hotel and some other camp grounds. The resort is big enough to have a shuttles, doing 15-minutes rounds all day. Before the bus picked me up, I had a bit of an early dinner. Asumed, I wouldn’t have a chance during the 4,5 hour drive back to the town. (Was right about that). We arrived at midnight. Long day. A good one.
