Day 7 The Olgas

Much less well known than its famous neighbor, Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) strikes me as a much more interesting formation. The aboriginal term means ‘many heads’ and it doesn’t take much imagination to see why. Several individual rocks jutting out of the ground join to form the heads and extend several hundred metres above the surface. Multiple striations, which are generally uniform on Uluru, turn in multiple directions and are even circular in places. The one thing it shares with Uluru, is the beautiful, deep red colour that appears iridescent when the sun shines on it directly.

We made the drive out from camp fairly early to get a start on the walk. It is a 7.4km walk around, through and over the numerous formations. The kids were excited by the prospect of the walk, blissfully unaware of how long 7.4km really is. Lucky for them, the walk was only rated difficult in one area at the start. We climbed up a valley formed by two of the heads and were rewarded with a breathtaking vista across another valley to the rest of the rocks. A quick descent followed and we stopped for a well earned break and lunch. We finished the walk in just under three hours and the kids were especially pleased with themselves. From there we returned to Uluru. For a reason known only to her, Sarah had a long-held ambition to ride around the rock. She had convinced the kids that this would be a good idea and so off they went. We only have one adult bike so I amused myself taking photos and watching the lone Aborigine we had seen at the rock begin the much denigrated climb! About an hour after they left, Jake returned from the same direction they had set off, breathless. ‘Mum has a flat’ he reported. ‘Where is she?’ I asked. ‘I don’t know. Near some sacred site’ was the useful reply. And so, we set off in the general direction they travelled. Because the rock is circular, we were always going to find them eventually but a bit more direction would have helped. Safely rescued, we began packing for the trip to Kings Canyon tomorrow.