Uluru-Kata Tjuta (Ayers Rock) National Park

This huge rock rising to a height of 348m above the surrounding plain, with a circumference of almost 9 km, consists of sandstone and conglomerate strata steeply tilted by earth movements. Weathering as a result of extreme variations in temperature and by water and wind erosion produced the gullies and scars, and the oxidation ('rusting') of iron in the rock gave it its red coloring.

The play of color on Ayers Rock is fascinating, varying according to the position of the sun. It is at its most striking at sunset and sunrise (Sunset Viewing Point). Occasionally it may be shrouded in rain clouds or may take on a black metallic sheen under rain, when it is almost equally impressive.

Ayers Rock plays an important part in Aboriginal myth and ritual. The Aborigines call it Uluru which means the 'shadowy place'. After the area was returned to the Aborigines in 1985 they at once leased back to the government the National Park which had been established in 1958 round Ayers Rock and the Olgas. It is now administered jointly by the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service (ANPWS) and the Aborigines.

Climbing Ayers Rock

The distance to the top is 1.6 km, but it is a steep ascent at some points; the climb takes about 2 hours there and back. A chain to the top helps climbers and shows the way. You should attempt the climb only if you are sufficiently fit: there are occasional deaths on the rock, from a heart attack or a fall. And you should be sure to take enough water with you.

Circuit of Ayers Rock

A walk round the rock is less strenuous, but is still a memorable experience (3-4 hours). Designated Aboriginal sacred sites must be respected.

A good way of seeing the park is on one of the guided tours led by Aboriginal guides and rangers.

The Ayers Rock tourist center was designed by Philip Cox. It is laid out on an S-shaped plan, with a luxury hotel at each end and shops, a visitor center, restaurants, an amphitheater, a motel and a large caravan/camping park between them. The long, low buildings, ochre-colored, fit well into the surrounding landscape.

Ayers Rock Resort was opened in 1984, replacing the miscellaneous tourist facilities that had grown up immediately at the foot of Ayers Rock (called Yulara officially, until 1992). The resort can accommodate up to 5000 visitors a day. The water supply is drawn from underground rivers, with a desalination plant to make it drinkable.

The visitor center has displays and audiovisual presentations on the culture and mythology of the Aborigines and the wild life, landscape and geology of Uluru National Park. It also organizes tours of the resort and various tours led by rangers of the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service (ANPWS). There are also bus trips and helicopter flights to Ayers Rock.

The 36 rock domes of the Olgas (Kata Tjuta, 'many heads') cover a much larger area and the highest of them is considerably higher than Ayers Rock (546m above the surrounding plain and 1069m above sea level). The Olgas are thought to have been originally a single huge rock, larger than Ayers Rock, which as a result of its coarser grain was split up by erosion. The first white man to see them was again Ernest Giles, who named them Mount Olga after a Russian princess.

Walking trails

There are three parking places, each the start of a walking trail. From the western parking lot the trail runs east into the narrowest part of Mount Olga Gorge, returning by the same route (about 1 hour); from the one on the south side the trail leads to the Kata Tjuta Lookout (1 1/2 hours there and back); and from the one on the north the trail leads to the Valley of the Winds (2 hours for the circuit). It is also possible to walk between the Olgas, but at some points it is a stiff climb and the paths are not marked.

Uluru National Park, 126,132ha and established in 1958, is one of Australia's most widely famed tourist attractions and in 1987 was included in UNESCO's World Heritage List. The park was returned to the local Aborigines in 1985 and is managed jointly by them and the ANPWS in Canberra.

The climate is continental, with hot summers and cold winters. The average annual rainfall is only 200 mm, only a tenth of the rate of evaporation.

The great desert-like sandy plain bears only a scanty vegetation of spinifex grass with occasional bushes and trees (desert oaks), but in the sheltered areas at the foot of the rocks, where rainwater gathers, there are trees, river gums and bloodwood trees. When, usually in summer, there is an unexpected shower of rain the desert is covered with a carpet of flowers, including Sturt's desert rose, the heraldic flower of the Northern Territory. Most of the animals, particularly birds, are seen early in the morning or in the late afternoon. The play of color on Ayers Rock and the Olgas is seen at its finest at sunset, and sunset viewing areas are signposted to the west of the rocks.