We loved our visit to Uluru and Kata Tjuta, along with the other 350 000 visitors that come here each year. There is only one place to stay to visit the National Park, Ayers Rock Yulara. They have a range of accommodation ranging from camping to 5 Star hotels. There is also a supermarket, cafes, restaurants and shops all there just to service the tourists who visit Uluru.
We watched the sunset over Uluru and took some lovely photos.
The next day we did some of the walks around Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) and Uluru. The geology of the rocks is amazing as they are to look at. Both of the rock formations were created by erosion from the nearby Petermann Ranges to the west of Kata Tjuta. This rock eroded away in two fans, one of rock (Kata Tjuta) and the other as sandstone (Uluru). These fans were then compacted and compressed by the inland seabed and turned them into rock. After the sea had disappeared, central Australia was subjected to massive forces and these rock fans were tilted and folded. The sandstone which is Uluru was tilted to 90 degrees so that it stands on end. What we see today is the tip and the rest of this huge, hard compacted sandstone slab continues 5-6 kilometres underground. Uluru and Kata Tjuta are made even more interesting to look at due to the erosion they show on their surfaces.
We were surprised by the amount of people who still choose to the climb Uluru. Despite the signs and the notices in the brochures asking people to please not climb, there is still hundreds of people climbing the rock. A guide told us that until 80% of people choose not to climb they won’t close the walk.
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