Around Kata Tjuta

Our walk into Walpa Gorge - those rocks are huge - compare to the fully grown trees!
We came across some funny looking bugs too.

Kata Tjuta - The Olgas

Kata Tjuta, (or colloquially as The Olgas), are a group of large domed rock formations or bornhardts located about 365 km (227 mi) southwest of Alice Springs, in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. Uluru, 25 km (16 mi) to the east, and Kata Tjuta form the two major landmarks within the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The 36 domes, covering an area of 21.68 km2 (8.37 sq mi), are composed of conglomerate, a sedimentary rock consisting of cobbles and boulders of varying rock types including granite and basalt, cemented by a matrix of sandstone. The highest point, Mount Olga, is 1,066 m (3,497 ft) above sea level. The Pitjantjajara name Kata Tjuta means 'many heads'. The site is as sacred to the Indigenous people as Uluru.

I had to show you this panoramic photo from wiki - mine just don't do it justice.

Sand dunes, Fooluru and more

Up and at 'em. Day 2.
We had a new guide, his name was Tik. And we were off to see the big rock. But first we stopped for a sund dune "hike" (hardly a mole hill in comparison to Namibia, but beautiful none the less), had some photo ops of Fooluru (a smaller version of Uluru - Ayres Rock) and look we saw camels too!

A rush to dinner and bed

We were running fairly late - we had a lovely lady on our hike who had sprained her ankle recently and was lagging very far behind - our hike was meant to be 3 1/2 hours and it turned in almost 5 for her.
As we drove we watched the sun go down - it was a beautiful desert sunset. We spent the night at the equivalent of a "truck stop" motel, ate dinner and went to bed.

Along the ridge and slowly down

The ridge was pretty flat walking and was nice. Jason showing us one of the plants that the aboriginals used to "burn" eyes and cause blindness. Chris on the edge. The waterfall still running from the rain days ago. We let Addison get out and walk around abit (far away form the edge!) Then down and a little more water relief and then down down down. We let Addison walk down about the last 1/2 km - he loved getting his hands into that red dirt! Just before the carpark there was another little stream so Addison just had to put his feet in with Dad. To top off the hike there was a thorny devil by one of the buses - another guide picked it up so we could take photos (also another rare find!)

... and down again into the Canyon

We didn't know how lucky we were that it had rained only a few days ago - we got to swim in the canyon!!! A very rare thing as the water is only there for a couple of weeks. Believe me after the hike up in the heat the cool water was a delight. Addison thought is was fantastic too. We were happy to cool him down - we were always on hydration watch (and actually discovered that a little juice mixed with water via a straw is a great hydration tool) We hiked down those stairs into the bottom of the canyon where it was lush and green - a sweet little oasis. However in order to get out of the canyon we had to go back up another set of very steep stairs.