Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

 

The following information is taken from https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/uluru-handback-anangu
"Located in the heart of the nation, Uluru is one of Australia’s most recognisable landmarks. It is a red sandstone monolith that rises 348 metres above ground.

For the local Anangu people, Uluru has been there forever and is a deeply sacred place. Both Uluru and the nearby rock feature of Kata Tjuta show physical evidence of feats performed during the creation period that are told in the Tjukurpa stories.

Tjukurpa is the belief system that guides every aspect of the lives of the Anangu. The Anangu believe the landscape was created by ancient beings, and that they are direct descendants of those beings.

The protection and management of the lands around Uluru and Kata Tjuta are considered to be intrinsic Anangu responsibilities."

Continue reading on the above website to learn the history of the land, how it was taken from the aboriginals and how it was eventually restored to them.

This day we rented a car to drive to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.  There are buses that go but they are more expensive and you had to travel on their schedule.  
Uluru is pronounced Ool-or-roo.  Kata Tjuta with a soft K and you drop the T from Tjuta. So Ka ta Ju ta.  Kata Tjuta was formerly called The Olgas.  

We arrived at the Hertz rental counter and no one was there.  We placed a call to them and was told a message had been left at our lodging the previous day telling us they would be 1/2 hour late getting in due to staff shortages.   Once someone came, they gave us an extra 100 kilometers.  I didn't know we were going to be limited to 100 kilometres and that it wouldn't be enough to get us to both Uluru and Kata Tjuta.  Anyway we got this Hyundai Kona.  Of course, since Australia was colonized by England, it was a right-hand drive car but it was an automatic.  

You must buy your national park pass before you get to the gate because it wasn't manned.  We had our park passes but we only needed one to enter the park.  But, upon reading the pass, it says you must have a printed or digital copy of your pass while in the park, and to show it upon request.

We decided to do the Mala Walk before going to the Cultural Centre so we wouldn't be out when it was hotter. This walk goes from the Mala carpark to Kantju Gorge and is where there are daily ranger-guided walks.  We could have joined the walk that was just starting but decided to do the walk ourselves. 

The Mala people are the Anangu’s ancestors, and their story is one of the most important stories of Tjukurpa.  The Mala (rufous hare-wallaby) people camped in the caves along this trail when they first arrived at Uluru. 

The National Park website has some very interesting information on how and why Uluru and Kata Tjuta formed. 
https://parksaustralia.gov.au/uluru/discover/nature/geology/

Sap from the tree was used by the Anangu as a cement and for medicinal purposes.

Water running down the face of the cliff has left a black line.

There was a short area where this sign indicated we couldn't take photos so we didn't. 

Compare this photo with the next one.  This one was taken by my sister with here cell phone and the next was taken with my cell phone. 

These photos in the gorge have not been modified in any way.  The light and colors are just very interesting. 

What an interesting texture to the bark of this tree.

After finishing the walk we found this shelter on the way to the restrooms. 

Anangu roast and grind mulga seeds into an edible paste similar to peanut butter. They also eat the gum of the tree and its ‘apples’, which are actually galls caused by wasp larvae in the branch. The mulga’s roots are home to another important bush food – maku, or witchetty grubs.  The hard wood of the mulga tree is used to make tools such as boomerangs and digging sticks.

Next we traveled around the rock formation via car.  We saw these interesting formations but I couldn't find any information on how they were made.

We weren't allowed to take any photos within the Cultural Centre but there was a lot of information on the significance of Uluru to the Anangu people. The cafe at the Cultural Centre was closed so we had to drive back to Ayers Rock Resort for lunch before heading off to Kata Tjuta.

The drive to Kata TJuta is 50 kms long and ends up on the far side of the formation.  

The view of the formation changes as you see it from different angles. 

Our rental car had its lane change feature set to chime any time you approached the road lines.  The roads between Ayers Rock Resort and Uluru were especially narrow and the beeper went off a lot.  The road to Kata Tjuta was a little wider and I was able to avoid setting off the chime except for when I passed a car and ran the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal.  Yep they are in the opposite positions from cars in the U.S.  This happened a lot during our travels in Australia and New Zealand and, upon arrival back in the U.S., I had to relearn which side of the road to drive on and how to operate the turn signal.

We saw a lot of pickups with various configurations of flat beds during our travels in Australia and New Zealand.  I'd say a third of them had snorkel exhaust also.

We kept seeing vehicles with this emblem but with General Motors names, like Colorado, which is a Chevy brand name.  Turns out this is a Holden.  Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia.  The 164-year-old company ceased trading at the end of 2020.  On 17 February 2020, General Motors announced that the Holden brand would be retired by 2021, after GM stated it would no longer make right-hand drive vehicles globally, leaving the Australia and New Zealand market altogether

You won't see this sign in any other country!