It is about a five hour drive from Alice Springs. However, what you will be able to see is only a part of this rock as most of it is hidden underground, a bit like a red and gigantic iceberg sinking in the ground.
The Uluru area is also formed by Kata Tjuta, another rock formation which has several domes that look like heads. The two rock formations together create the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
The grandeur of Uluru - Ayers Rock will leave you breathless; it is magical to see how its color changes from red to gold to purple to bronze depending on the position of the sun, the time of day and the seasons. This is the great beating heart of Aboriginal Australia and it is standing on sacred land.
I have decided to visit it since I had a few days off after a long project I had to follow in central Australia and I think the winter is the best time to visit this scorching hot area (Winter runs from June to the end of August in Australia.)
The Australian Outback is an extremely charming territory, but it is not suitable for everyone. Called by the locals ‘Red Centre’ because of its incredibly bright red earth, the Outback is a hostile and desert environment in which different animal species live, some of which among the most dangerous in the continent.
Visiting Uluru and the Kata Tjuta National Park on your own is highly discouraged but, with the help of local aboriginal guides, a trip to the Outback becomes an achievable dream for anyone.
All around Uluru there is a pedestrian path, the Uluru Base Walk: it is a path that is worth taking at dawn or dusk to admire the colours of the monolith that change according to the hours of the day, mostly orange and red at dusk and pinkish and purple at dawn.
Not far from the Uluru Base Walk, there is the cultural center where you can see (and buy) works of art designed by Australian aborigines and you can talk to them and ask questions about their culture. Kata Tjuta is made up of smaller mountains, the highest of which is precisely Mount Olga which gives its name to the whole chain.
The Australian Outback extends from north to south, crosses several climatic areas and occupies 70% of the Australian continent.
Yulara is a small town just outside the Kata Tjuta National Park, this is where most visitors to Ayers Rock stay when they visit and that’s where I stayed too. In Yulara you can find everything: hotels, hostels, campsites and shops for all tastes and budgets. The most beautiful experience to do is certainly camping in the desert and eating barbie (barbecue) in the company of other hikers. For those who don't feel like spending the night in a tent, they can opt for hotels equipped with all comforts.
The accommodation facilities usually organize various excursions, including the Field Of Light: it is a light installation located in the middle of the desert. The work was created by the British artist Bruce Munro and, although it has no meaning during the day, during the night it acquires a magical charm. In fact, the path is illuminated by about fifty thousand colored lights and it almost seems like walking in a vacuum, surrounded by phosphorescent flowers.
