Though Uluru is the more famous of the two there is also another monolith just a half hour away from Uluru. The Olgas (or Kata Tjuta, the aboriginal name) are a group of 36 monoliths all clumped together. They are equally as impressive in their size and have the added bonus of being able to walk amongst and through them. And just like Uluru they are well known for their sunrise and sunset spectacularness, so at 4:30am I was dragged kicking and screaming out to the Olgas for a sunrise view and a very very early 3 hour hike.
I'm not a morning person at the best of times and especially not a morning person when it's too early for coffee because all the cafes (all 2 of them in the resort) are not open until 6am.
So, with no coffee and nothing but nuts to power me through, off we went.
5am...I'm shoving nuts into my mouth if you're wondering what I'm doing.
The Olgas
Moon still visible.
Sun finally rising at 5:38am
After the sunrise at 5:38 AM we headed off for our Valley of the Winds walk. The walk is supposed to take 3 hours and we did it in about 2.5 hours. In all honesty as much as I hate mornings it was good to get up and going before the heat of the day. I was actually even a bit chilly when we started out.
To me this sign says follow the path and you will fall and die. Unfortunately you have to follow the path...very confusing sign.
So, we followed the path. Luckily we did not fall down and die.
The landscape looks like Mars here...or what I imagine Mars to look like.
Sun flares are pretty.
This is me shooing away flies.
Oh the flies! The flies were miserable. They come at you as soon as you step out of your car and THEY WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ALONE! We bought bugspray which helped to some extend...but not really.
And to round off the excursion, some critters well adapted to the red environment.
Red lizard.
Red grasshopper.
To be continued with our road trip...
Wow, great pictures!
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