Yulara

Yulara is the resort that services the national park containing Uluru and Kata Tjuta. It’s very tastefully done, with low-rise buildings blending into the desert landscape. It’s a town in its own right with hotels, a supermarket and an excellent campsite.

There are various activities you can sign up to. We went to the Anangu dancing demonstration. There are prizes if you can guess the animal that Liz is imitating in the dance!

In the evening we went to an astronomy tour. We’ve spent many nights under the stars which are particularly bright with no cloud cover and no light pollution, and wanted to become more familiar with what we’re looking at in the southern skies. The astronomer pointed out the key features including the Southern Cross and two galaxies only visible in the the southern hemisphere. We were also able to look through his powerful telescopes. Most impressive was Jupiter with its rings and four moons visible.

Kata Tjuta

To the Anangu, Kata Tjuta means many heads, a very apt name. It’s about 45 km from Uluru, so another early start to watch the sun rising on the rocks. Once the light show was over, we were nice and early to do a couple of walks in and around the rocks before the heat really got going. These took us through some spectacular scenery and are a highlight of the area.

Uluru

We made the long journey across the red desert to Uluru and it’s a really impressive sight when you first see it rising alone above the red sand and scrub.

First we went on a ranger guided walk around part of the base of the rock. The emphasis now is very much on the spiritual importance of the site to the indigenous (Anangu) people and climbing is definitely discouraged. The ranger told us about the significance of the rock to the Anangu and explained some of the stories behind the rock art in the caves. He also told us about the geology and the flora and fauna. So, overall and excellent way of orienting ourselves and understanding the area.

We followed this by a visit to the excellent cultural centre and a drive around the base of the rock (too hot to walk it by now). At sunset we went back to watch the rock change colour as the sun sank below the horizon.

Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon is at the end of a mountain range with a flat plateau but with canyons, crevices and strange bee-hive shapes all formed by erosion.

We started out on a 4-hour walk at first-light, aiming to complete the walk up to the rim of the canyon, around it and down before the main heat of the day. Surprisingly, the rim of the canyon was more interesting than the canyon itself, with the curious rock formations and hidden water holes.

West MacDonnell Ranges

The MacDonnell mountain ranges run east and west of Alice Springs. We did a trip into the western part of the range, visiting various chasms, gorges and water holes along the way. The water holes gave welcome relief from the intense heat and we ended up camping at one. The scenery is truly spectacular, the red colour being enhanced in the low sun at the beginning and end of each day.

We went as far as the sealed road would allow, but not having a 4WD we had to come back to Alice Springs, ready to go the long way round the Kings Canyon and Uluru. (More stocking up on provisions, water, fuel and internet).

Alice Springs

Alice Springs is a wonderful Oasis after days travelling in the outback. We stocked up on provisions, water, fuel and internet to ready ourselves for our next adventure into the wilderness. We also prepared our van for Australia Day, but on the day no-one else was entering into the spirit of things – they must either be foreigners or miserable locals.

Devil’s Marbles

At last we reach something of interest on the Stuart Highway just north of Alice Springs. The Devil’s Marbles are granite boulders formed by volcanic activity and now exposed on the surface by weathering. We were fortunate to be able to camp amongst them and enjoy them by the light of the setting sun and again in the rising sun.

Heat, Dust and Flies

We’re now heading south and west through the great Australian emptiness through Cloncurry, Mount Isa and Tennant Creek towards the Red Centre. We stop to camp at roadside pull-ins towards dusk and depart shortly after dawn to avoid the worst of the heat, dust and flies.

One distraction on our long journey is to admire the various architectural designs of the termite mounds. Designs include cathedral spires, columnar towers, dumplings and multi-spired. Some even wear T-shirts and look like friendly gnomes wishing you well on on your journey.

The Gulf of Carpentaria

We passed through a couple of outback towns and eventually reached Normanton, which is a surprisingly interesting town that we took a look around. In prominent position is a life-size model of the largest crocodile ever captured.

Then we headed across the salt pans to Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria. This is the only sealed-road access to the Gulf, so it’s even more remote, particularly as we seem to be the only mad tourists around. Apparently this is the off-season as people are put off by the threat of cyclones and extreme heat. If heavy rain falls, you can get cut off here for months. However, it seems the wet season is failing here for the third year and the rest of Australia is suffering a heat wave.

Along the salt pans we spotted numerous cranes and other wetland birds. Karumba is famous for prawns and barramundi. So we bought both from the fishery and sat and watched the sunset while we ate them.

Undara Lava Tubes

We’re now heading west across the Queensland outback. We camped in a region of dry rainforest. In contrast to the lush rainforest on the coast, a dry rainforest (or vine thicket) only gets rain during the wet season, rather than all year. The trees are much smaller but the complete canopy cover is there.

Moving on, the landscape has changed to grass savannah with a thin scattering of low trees with grass growing underneath and numerous pointy termite mounds. It feels very remote and we hardly meet any vehicles apart from the occasional road train. In places, the road is singe-track, so we basically chicken out and stop in the ditch if one comes the other way.

This was as a volcanic region as evidenced by the pink granite and the low pointy hills.We stopped for a tour of the Undara lava tubes. These tubes were formed by slow moving lava, cooling on the outside first. The tubes have roof falls along them and these allow pockets of rainforest to grow. The longest tube here is 160km and is thought to be the longest in the world.

Atherton Table Lands

Heading inland from Port Douglas, we climbed into the Great Dividing Range again into an area called the Atherton Table Lands. It’s a beautiful area with wide open vistas and many waterfalls.

The Great Barrier Reef

At last the day for our trip out to the Agincourt reef arrived and it was worth waiting as the weather was much calmer.

We were whisked out to the reef on a catamaran and visited three places on the reef; David dived them and Liz snorkelled.

We very much enjoyed the day, but it was difficult to avoid making comparisons with the reefs in the Red Sea off Jeddah. The coral on the Great Barrier reef seems less colourful and damaged and as a consequence there were less fish, although we did see a huge variety of marine life, including a white-tipped reef shark.

The Daintree

Moving on further north still, we crossed the river Daintree by cable ferry and entered the humid world of the Daintree rainforest. This is another of those rare places where the rainforest comes right down to the sea and in places changes rapidly to mangroves which actually grow partially in the ocean.

We went as far as Cape Tribulation, passing an unexpected tea plantation which grows and produces its own unblended tea. We were able to buy a packet and a very nice cuppa it is too.

The walks around Cape Tribulation were very interesting as you start off in the rainforest, walk along the beach for a while and then head back through swampy mangroves.