Visit Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia

In the heart of Australia’s Red Centre the stone formations of Uluru/Ayers Rock and the mystical domes of Kata Tjuta/The Olgas rise up from the dunes with a wholly unexpected beauty.

These icons of Australia rest on the sacred lands of the Anangu people and form the basis of many of their Dreamtime beliefs.

Exploring the park

The park was awarded dual World Heritage status for both ancient culture and its natural attributes, and it is worthwhile for anyone visiting the park to look beyond the rock and learn something of its significance.

Start with a guided walk around the base, which teaches of the ancient story of the Seven Sisters, view caves filled with rock art and see permanent waterholes that feed the thriving flora and fauna and gives a taste of the rock’s sheer size and majesty.

No visit to Uluru is complete without the experience of its sunset, where flamboyant colors are painted over its flank, changing and moving by the second. Rising from the desert, some 30 kilometers from Uluru is Kata Tjuta, named from the Aboriginal word meaning ‘many heads’, its 36 rock domes creating a system of haunting gorges and valleys.

Take the Valley of the Winds trail and wander through the Olga Gorge that leads to an immense cliff face and lovely rock pool. Of equal spiritual significance as Uluru, Kata Tjuta perhaps holds a somewhat more serene and silent charm.