YULARA - ULURU KATA TJUTA NATIONAL PARK TRIP 2023

I have just returned from a trip to Yulara. I know that Yulara is part of "the island" and not "beyond" it, however my trip was so amazing and the place so special that I felt it deserved a blog post so here it is. Yulara and Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park is owned by the Anangu, the traditional custodians of the land.

DAY ONE

The trip started at Sydney Domestic Airport where I flew from Sydney to Yulara via Jetstar. The flight to Yulara was 3 hours, I would like to give a shoutout to the manager Pat and the crew my flight, all of them were super friendly and lovely to talk to and made the flight a really lovely experience.

Just like Singapore, the minute the plane landed and I stepped off the plane I immediately noticed the heat. Unlike Singapore which is a very humid heat, the heat in Yulara is extremely dry. Apart from the heat, the other thing I noticed was the bright red sand and dust, letting me know that I was indeed in the Red Centre. I got my luggage and then got on the Hop On Hop Off bus to my hotel in the Ayer's Rock Resort complex, I was staying at Sails In The Desert. I want to take a moment here to say that the rock is NOT!!! called Ayer's Rock, it's called Uluru, it used to be called Ayer's Rock however that name was changed to Uluru in 2002, I'll explain why at the bottom of this post but just remember to call it Uluru and not Ayer's Rock as the local Anangu do not appreciate people referring to the rock by it's old name. The resort complex however is called "Ayer's Rock Resort".

Arriving At Yulara

I decided to check into my hotel and by that point I was starving so I decided to have lunch by the pool, I had Mushroom Gnocchi which was delicious.

Mushroom Gnocchi

After lunch I had a nice long dip in the pool, which was so refreshing as it was incredibly hot outside.

Ready For A Dip In The Pool

That night I went down to Gecko's Cafe which is located in the town square for dinner and had a chicken schnitzel. I forgot to take photos of my dinner as I was so tired by that point, sorry about that.

Going Out For Dinner

DAY TWO

Day two was all about what I had travelled all the way to Yulara for, seeing Uluru. I started my day nice and early, so that I could do the 10 kilometre base walk around Uluru. If you are planning on doing the base walk, it is important that you go either early morning at sunrise or at sunset, it is not safe to do it in the middle of the day as it gets extremely hot and there is no shade. Also make sure you pack plenty of water and Gatorade as well as wear appropriate clothing such as a hat, a lightweight shirt with sleeves that cover your arms, sunscreen and comfortable walking shoes, avoid black clothing as this will absorb heat, to avoid dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

I got on the Hop On Hop Off bus at 7:00AM and arrived at Uluru in 25 minutes, note that Uluru is inside Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park and you need a ticket to enter the park. You can buy a ticket online or you can do what I did which is go to the Town Square and buy a ticket at the tourist office. When I arrived at Uluru, I was at a loss for words, the rock is huge and just feels so magical. They say the rock changes colour throughout the day and I can confirm that is 100% true, I could see Uluru as I entered the park by the bus and it looked purple but by the time I actually arrived at the rock it was bright orange.

Uluru

As I embarked on my walk, admiring monolith, I came across some signs which told a story about an event that took place here thousands of years ago.

There are certain parts of Uluru that you cannot photograph, these places are clearly marked with signs asking that you not take photographs, this is around the North - East face of Uluru. The reason for this is that the rock details and features at these sits are equivalent to sacred scripture for the Anangu - they describe culturally important information that should only be viewed in their original location and by specific people.

The Start Of The Walk

Half Way Through The Walk

Throughout the walk, there are emergency phones and seats with wooden shelters over them should you become ill or injured and require help. About 9 km's into the walk, I began to suffer from heat exhaustion, luckily for me it was only very mild and I recovered quickly and was able to finish the walk but do be mindful that heat exhaustion is a possibility on this walk.

Me Towards The End Of The Walk

Once I had completed the walk, I got the bus back to my hotel and had a much needed swim before lunch, I ate by the pool and had the mushroom gnocchi again.

That night, I was booked to go and see the Field Of Lights, however a huge wind storm picked up and all of the outdoot night tours including the Fields Of Lights got cancelled. I decided to instead have a buffet dinner at the hotel restaurant, Sails in The Desert has a buffet dinner every night, it costs $89.00 per person. It was the best buffet I have ever seen!!! such a great variety and everything was delicious, I had hokkien noodles, arrabiata, truffled cauliflower and garlic and rosemary focaccia. They also had a dessert station with a huge chocolate fountain!!! I had ice cream and chocolate and two small slice of chocolate cake.

Dressed And Ready For The Field Of Lights

The Amazing Buffet Dinner

DAY THREE

The next day I decided to go into the Town Square and attend the 10:00AM Bush Yarn where an Anagnu man explained the use and production of tools used by Anangu men. The tools we were introduced to were:

Kali - The Kali is what the Anangu call a boomerang, unlike other bommerangs, the Kali does not return when thrown. It is used for hunting.

Miru (Spear Thrower) - The Miru is a multipurpose tool, it is used for hunting, making fires, spear sharpening, mixing ocher and digging.

Kulata (Spear) - Used for hunting

Kali & Two Miru

Kulata

After listening to the Bush Yarn, I got on the Hop On Hoff bus and went and checked out all of the other hotels, there are 5 hotels within Ayer's Rock Resort and a campground.
- Desert Gardens
- Emu Walk Apartments
- The Lost Camel Hotel
- Sails In The Desert
- Outback Hotel & Lodge

When I got to the Desert Gardens Hotel, I discovered the Gallery Of Central Australia (GOCA), a small art gallery which showcases absolutely beautiful works of art by local Indigenous artists. In the middle of the gallery, were two indigenous women working on beautiful paintings. You can buy some of the artworks and there is also a little gift shop selling paintings, cards, bags and more. I desperately wanted to buy one of the artworks, I bought a card instead and put it in a frame.

A Card I Bought & Framed From GOCA

After a tour of the complex, I went back to my hotel for lunch and a swim, of course I had Mushroom Gnocchi!!!

That night, I was booked in to the Field Of Lights which had been cancelled the previous night. The bus picked me up at 8:00PM, so I went and had an early dinner beforehand. I went to the Desert Gardens Hotel and ate in their restaurant Mangata. I had spaghetii bolognaise which was delicious.

Dinner At Mangata

In The Town Square

After dinner, the AAT King bus picked me up from my hotel and took me out to the Field Of Lights. The Field Of Lights is a solar powered light installation created by Bruce Monro with more than 300,000 lights covering a vast space of more than seven football fields. This phenomenal installation took over 2,000 hours to design and build in the United Kingdom and then another 3,900 hours to assemble on the site near Uluru. The exhibition first exhibited on the 1st of April 2016 and was scheduled to finish on the 31st of March 2018, however the installation is now permanent thanks to its immense popularity.

Field Of Lights

DAY FOUR

I didn't really do much on my fourth day, I mostly spent the day by the pool just relaxing as I hadn't had much of a chance to do that since arriving at Yulara.

At 11:00AM I went to the Akari theatre outside GOCA and the Didgeridoo workshop. While many people call this instrument a Didgeridoo, Didgeridoo is actually the rhythm produced by playing the instrument, the instrument's actual name is Udarki. The man who played the Udarki explained the skilled and proper way to play a Udarki, it is not something you can just pick up and blow into anymore than you can just pick up a guitar and start strumming away, it takes practice and skill to be able to correctly play it. During the demo, Udarkis were handed out to the audience to have a go, however only men were given one as women do not play the Udarki and it is culturally insensitive for women to do so.

DAY FIVE

Like the previous day, I didn't really do much throughout the day besides swim in the hotel pool, although I did take part in a Paint Your Own Australian Animal workshop in my hotel in which you get a wooden animal that you paint as well as a guide on Indigenous markings and what they mean. I had also booked to do the Desert Awakenings tour that evening.

A Chart Of What The Marking Means

My Paintings

In the late afternoon, The AAT King bus came and picked me up from my hotel and took us out to Kata Tjuta, the ride there took 37 minutes. Along the way, we stopped off at the Kata Tjuta Sunset Viewing Platform, where you are able to see both Uluru and Kata Tjuta and get some photos. We then got back on the bus and headed to Kata Tjuta.

Kata Tjuta Sunset Viewing Platform

We arrived at Kata Tjuta and had drinks and canopies whilst sitting and watching the sun set over Kata Tjuta, it was a truly spectacular site. We stayed for an hour, watching Kata Tjuta change from orange to brown to purple, before getting back onto the bus. On the bus ride home, I was sitting at the front of the bus and I was lucky enough to see two King Brown Snakes slithering across the road, I was absolutely stoked as I'm a snake lover.

Kata Tjuta Changing Colours As The Sun Sets

I got back to my hotel and had dinner in the restaurant, I got my final bowl of Mushroom Gnocchi and then I went back to my room and began the depressing task of packing up my stuff, ready to leave the next day.

HISTORY OF ULURU KATA TJUTA NATIONAL PARK

The mesmerising monolith known as Uluru was created over 600 million years ago. While Indigenous Australians date back 60,000 years, the Anangu have lived in the area and used Uluru and Kata Tjuta for sacred ceremonies and rites of passage for the last 10,000 years. The caves and crevices of the monolith may contain sacred areas and ancient rock paintings. Before European invasion which took place in 1770, Indigenous Australians spoke an estimated 700 dialects. Today only 20 - 50 languages remain and are spoken by children. Anangu mainly speak Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara, although some speak up to six of the Aboriginal languages. In 1873, William Gosse went on a three month journey from Alice Springs through the desert, which brought him to Uluru, he was the first non Indigenous person to see Uluru and so he named it "Ayer's Rock" after Sir Henry Ayer's, the Chief Secretary of South Australia at the time. On October 26th, 1985, Kata Tjuta was discovered by a non Indigenous person for the first time in 1872 by Ernest Giles. Upon his discovered, Ernest named the collection of mountains "Mount Olga" after Queen Olga of Wurttemberg. In the 1930's more explorers began arriving and by the 1940's the first graded road was laid. Tourism to the area officially began in the 1950's and over the next few decades, tourism operators started tours, roads were built as well as a small airport. The Australian Government finally returned ownership of the area and the national park back to its rightful owners the Anangu on the 26th of October 1985. In 2002, a few name changes were enacted in order to show respect to and acknowledge the Anangu as the traditional owners of the land, Ayer's Rock was changed to Uluru, the Olgas was changed to Kata Tjuta and Ayer's Rock Mount Olga National Park was changed to Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park. The Anangu people do not appreciate people calling Uluru "Ayer's Rock" or Kata Tjuta "The Olgas" as these names were a result of European colonisation and were imposed on a section of Aboriginal country. For this reason, you should always refer to the rock as Uluru and the mountains as Kata Tjuta.

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