Uluru/Ayers Rock - Paint it Red

Stuck waiting for a letter in Alice Springs, we took the time to visit Ayers Rock/Uluru.

En route we passed the amazing tabletop Mt Conner which lies on private land and is often mistaken at first glance for Uluru.

Red is the colour of the centre, interspersed with golden grass and desert oaks. Up close, Uluru has caves, splits, honeycomb indentations, and stripes where the occasional rains spill down. 

The Mala walk along the base is full of nooks to discover cave hollows, shaded passages and rippling expanses of sinuous rockface. Mala is the name of the rufous hare-wallaby which is being reintroduced to the area. Spanish speaking visitors may be surprised to see the local name for a site is 'mala puta'which literally translates 'Bad Prostitute' :)

Given the mass of tourists visiting each year, the park agency has done a great job integrating car parks, buildings and cultural centre into low rise, indigenous shapes and structures.

A quick 50km trip outside Uluru takes us to the domes of The Olgas/Kata Tjuta. There the Valley of the Winds lived up to its name. Rockfields, rockfaces, domes etched against the blue sky.