OLGAS TO ALICE

First view of Uluru

There is no camping near the Olgas nor near Uluru so after dinner I packed up and headed out of the park. There were an Aboriginal family broken down in the middle of the road, they had unloaded mattresses for the women to sit on, on the roadway. I offered to help but they seemed to have it under control. There was no moon so I snuck past Uluru in the dark without seeing it. Once outside of the park I pulled up at a camping spot beside the road.

In the morning I awoke to see Uluru outside my window, albeit at a distance. I headed down the road a little and found the French couple, Mathilde and Roland, so I cooked breakfast for all three of us. Again the small birds gathered around near the water tap.

I pulled into a roadhouse where Aboriginal community members were selling paintings. I bought three before continuing on my way. The next roadhouse I stopped at for fuel and a drink. I also managed a shower there. By the time I got into Alice Springs it was late afternoon.

Roland and Mathilde enjoying breakfast

........and packing their van

Other travellers on the road

Aboriginal artist

birds gathering under a tap

Young galah pestering 'mum' for a feed

THE OLGAS

I always knew them as the Olgas, but they are now known as Kata Tjuta. They are a group of 36 dome shaped rocks about 365 kilometres southwest of Alice Springs. The highest one of these is Mount Olga, which is 546 metres high (higher than Uluru). In 1872 Mount Olga was named after Queen Olga of Wurttemberg, daughter of Tsar Nicholas I. In 1993 a dual naming policy was adopted and Mount Olga became Kata Tjuta/Mount Olga.

I arrived at The Olgas in the late afternoon. I was immediately impressed, even awed by the rocks. They stand so high in front of the road. I took two of the walks and explored the area and I was still amazed at the size of them. There were a number of tourist buses visiting the area. I also spent some time watching and photographing birds that waited in the trees until someone used the water taps. Then they would fly down for the splashes of water that were spilt.

I stayed at the Olgas to watch the sunset. A number of the resorts in the area ran sunset tours to come and see the sun setting on the rocks. I ended up talking to two couple from the UK. When the tours started packing up the fellow I was talking to said "What, what happened? Is it finished? I missed it." I cooked dinner in the carpark and spoke with a French couple who were travelling around in their camper van.