Uluru, Australia, July 14-16, 2019

Tony Crocker

Administrator
Staff member
Our first view of Uluru was from theplane arriving at Yulara from Sydney on July 14.
IMG_8063a.JPG


We drove to Kings Canyon and returned to Yulara on the afternoon of July 15. We drove out to the sunset viewing area after first checking out the climbing base at the Mala carpark.
UluruMap.jpg


Here's a closeup view of the western edge of Uluru about half an hour before sunset.
IMG_3400.JPG

The arkose sandstone is hard and relatively smooth on the outside and resists erosion. The solid rock is like an iceberg, supposedly 6km deep underground. If there is weak point on the surface, deeper pits and caves can grow.

We stopped on the road NW of Uluru and fired away with the camera as the color changed. We had the maximum red color about 5 minutes before sunset.
IMG_3409.JPG


Scattered clouds dimmed the view a few minutes later.
IMG_3415.JPG


Just after sunset those clouds lit up.
IMG_3440.JPG


We returned to the sunrise viewing area early the next morning.
IMG_3451.JPG


The optimal light illuminated Kata Tjuda at left distance better than Uluru.
IMG_3470.JPG


From the map above you can see that the sunset viewing area is NW of Uluru, better in winter, while the sunrise viewing area is SE of Uluru, better in summer. This makes some sense in terms of temperature comfort.

We left and drove counterclockwise around Uluru before starting our climb. Here is the eastern extremity about 8AM.
IMG_8202.JPG


Here is the northeast side with a lot of pitting.
IMG_8209.JPG

This is probably the right place to view sunrise in winter.

After the climb we took the Mala Walk on the NW side. Soon we reach the first ground level cave.
IMG_3591.JPG

The vertical black streak is a water channel when it rains.

Some aboriginal art, estimated between 100 and 1,000 years old.
IMG_3596.JPG


The vertical blue/gray lines mark where the arkose sandstone is still actively eroding.
IMG_3607.JPG

IMG_8279.JPG


The erosion can work its way upward.
IMG_3611.JPG

IMG_8283.JPG


As at the far eastern end, there are sometimes fallen boulders.
IMG_3614.JPG


Soon we approach Kantju Gorge, with watermarks visible high above.
IMG_3621.JPG


Closer in, there is the illusion of a waterfall.
IMG_3630.JPG


But at the peak of dry season there's only a little water in that depression beyond the right side of the railing.
IMG_3628.JPG


We next spent an hour in the Cultural Museum. Liz came close to buying a carved Perentie, Australia's longest monitor lizard.

We then drove to the Kuniya trail.
IMG_3638.JPG

The sign describes how certain Uluru rock features are interpreted by the aborigines.

Crooked horizontal ridge here is feature #1.
IMG_3636.JPG


Series of 3 caves is feature #2.
IMG_3641.JPG

The black water channels funnel to the permanent Mutitjulu waterhole.

Cracks are features #3&4 and diagonal ridge is #5.
IMG_8298.JPG


Mutitjulu waterhole:
IMG_8299.JPG

Sun glare made pictures of rock channels above impossible.

Some rock art:
IMG_8305.JPG


On July 15 we signed up for the outdoors Sounds of Silence Dinner, starting with champagne toast at sunset.
IMG_3663.JPG


There was a campfire with didgeridoo player.
IMG_3673.JPG


After dinner an astronomer gave a quick view of the southern sky. Then we walked through Bruce Munro's Field of Light Art installation.
IMG_3684a.JPG

IMG_3685a.JPG

IMG_3698a.JPG

The 58,000 lights gradually change colors.
 
Those sunset and sunrise photos are stunning.
I’m not into photography but did you use a garden variety DSLR?
 
I use a Canon G16. Quality is high for a camera that will fit in a ski jacket pocket. But many of the pics in this TR are from Liz' iPhone8.
 
Back
Top