Valley of the Wind Walk - Kata Tjuta

When visiting the Australian Outback, the Red Centre, everyone goes to Uluru. As did we.

But entry to the National Park of Uluru encompasses more than just Uluru. The other major site is Kata Tjuta, or the Olgas, and since entry is always for 3 consecutive days, we went there as well. 

Driving towards the Olgas

Kata Tjuta has a few different trails, but we opted for the most well known: the Valley of the winds trail. It starts and ends with a short trail to Karu lookout. From this lookout you have a view over the valley, but this is also a checkpoint. If the temperature is over 36'C the trail closes. During summer this happens a lot. 

Since we did this hike in winter, we had no such limitations. 

Trail head

The red rocks at Kata Tjuta are basically the same as Uluru, though their angle is different. The monolith that forms Uluru is set vertically into the ground, while the rock at Kata Tjuta is set horizontally, causing a different erosion pattern. Form a distance they resemble marbles, morphing in to beehives as you come closer and impressive rock as you wander amongst it.

Red skin

We decided to walk counter clockwise, starting with walk in between the rocks. We followed the little triangles on the signpost, until we lost them...  after a few km the triangles were painted on the rock, and not always very visibly so.
The last bit toward the Karingana lookout went up pretty steeply, clambering on all fours for a bit. and then suddenly we were there. What a view!

Karingana lookout: the highest point of the walk

It's amazing how suddenly you cut a corner, walk over a ridge and you see this amazing view over a valley that been completely hidden thus far. Maybe it should have been named the 'Hidden valley walk'.
But  while admiring the view, we understood how aptly named this 'Valley of the Wind' walk is. At Karingana lookout it was a lot colder than at the rest of the track, the wind was ON.

Valley of the wind

When we arrived at the floor of the valley the landscape had changed dramatically.
The red rock had given away to green plants with a purple haze of dessert flowers in bloom. The temperature had increased, and I really don't want to imagine what it would be like doing this hike mid summer when it was this hot mid winter!

Myriad of flowers

After an hour or so we arrived at the only watering point in the valley. That had a dripping tap. Much to the liking of a few local zebra finches.
We sat watching them for 20 minutes or so, amazed that the cute little bird are so common in this part of the world. I
 

Zebra finch at a watering point

We the walked on for the last little bit of the track, back to the Karu lookout. It was a lovely walk, and a lot more diverse than the obligatory Uluru circle walk.

Driving back to our campsite we had a few anxious moments though... We had gotten up early that morning to watch the sunrise over Uluru, and then drove directly to Kata Tjuta. And only when driving back realised that we're running on empty while the sun was setting. The closest petrol station was 50km away, and after sunset the park is of limits, so a very small chance of fellow drivers fining you. we turned off the aircon, folded in both mirrors, drove slowly and thankfully made it back on the last few drops of petrol. 

Looking back