[Traveler's Journal] - Flashback - 09/2003 - Australia - Uluru - - More pictures of Uluru or Ayers Rcok

I could not seem to stop taking pictures of the rock so here are more. What I was trying to do was take a picture of it at different times of the day to see how its shades changes depending on the time. I must have taken about a hundred pictures of the rock.

If you want to see the larger and individual images of the above, click here.

[Traveler's Journal] - Flashback - 09/2003 - Australia - Uluru - Sunset in Uluru or Ayers Rock in Northern Territory

This is where I spent my birthday in 2003. Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is a massive sandstone monolith in the heart of the Northern Territory’s arid "Red Centre". The nearest large town is Alice Springs, 450km away.  Uluru is sacred to indigenous Australians and is thought to have started forming around 550 million years ago. It’s within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which also includes the 36 red-rock domes of the Kata Tjuta (colloquially “The Olgas”) formation. 

Uluru is notable for appearing to change colour as the different light strikes it at different times of the day and year, with sunset a particularly remarkable sight. These are some pictures I took of the sunset as we celebrated my birthday with a three-course "Sound of Silence" dinner atop a red desert dune as the setting sun changes Uluru's colours. After dinner an astronomer decoded the Australian night sky, located the  southern Cross, the signs of the zodiac, the Milky Way, as well as planets and galaxies that are visible due to the exceptional clarity of the atmosphere.

 Bonfire at the 'Sound of Silence' Dinner

[Traveler's Journal] - Flashback - 09/2003 - Australia] - Uluru - Valley of the Wind Walk - Kata Tjuta Park (The Olgas)

We went to Uluru in 2003 so things were quite different then. In fact, coming back to Sydney there were only about 20 of us on the flight. One of the best things we did was the Valley of the Wind Walk. There were only 5 of us in the tour that we joined. We left early to witness the sunset and then our tour guide took us to the main entrance of the Kata Tjuta park where the walk started and said to us that he will be back in 2-1/2-3 hours and if we were not there at the entrance he will call for help because that means we were lost. I thought that was funny but really if you are not careful you could easily get lost and we were not guided. We did it on our own.

Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) is a massive pole of 36 weathered domes, estimated to be around 500 million years old. Walking along the valley you see domes and other formations or bornhardts, sceneries that you will not see unless you go for the walk. I think anyone visiting Uluru should not miss this walk. It goes hand in hand with the Ayers Rock. Being there physically to admire the environment is so much different from just looking at pictures but even just the pictures are unbelievably awesome. 

To see larger and individual images of the above, click here.

[Traveler's Journal] - Flashback - 09/2003 - Australia - Uluru - Sunrise in Uluru or Ayers Rock in Northern Territory

As I have written previously, Uluru is notable for appearing to change colour as the different light strikes it at different times of the day and year, with sunset a particularly remarkable sight. We woke up early to witness sunrise this time on our way to a Valley of the Wind walk.

It was such an awesome sight for the eyes.