Kata Tjuta (The Olgas)

The last day of our stay at Yulara was spent at Kata Tjuta a wonderful collection of massive rocks that stand out on the horizon from 50 Km away. There is good reason for this as Kata Tjuta is bigger than Uluru, 22 Km in circumference (Uluru 9.4Km) and 546 metres high (Uluru 348m). It used to be called the Olgas so named by the explorer Ernest Giles, who spotted the domes in 1872. He named the highest peak Mount Olga, after Queen Olga of Württemberg (a kingdom in Germany). The nickname of ‘the Olgas’ developed when tourists first visited the area in the 1950s. Mt Olga now called Mt Olga/Kata Tjuta is the highest peak in the Olgas at over 500 metres, it is around the centre in the photo below. The trees in the foreground are desert Oaks. This view shows how long the Olgas are and why their perimeter at 22 Km much longer than Uluru at 9.4 Km

The view from the Sunset viewing area is the photo below also taken late morning when the sun had moved to that side of the Olgas.

We decided to walk into Walpa Gorge before a picnic lunch a very uneven rocky gradual climb into the gorge between two parts of Kata Tjuta. The photo below shows the path in detail, and that’s a smooth part. Our destination is in shadow as was part of the walk which had a very welcome coolness.

The photos below were taken at various stages as we walked into and out of the gorge. The water in the spring fed little creek at the top of the gorge had very clear and cold running water.

In this photo you can see how green the floor of the gorge is, any earth between the many rocks has a bush, or a tree or grass growing from it.

There were plenty of flowing plants along Walpa Gorge, here are some photos of a few of them.

After walking out of the gorge it was time for a BBQ lunch so we returned to the Sunset viewing area where there were picnic tables we could use. Deen managed a Selfie with Kata Tjuta in the background.

With that we ended our visit to Uluru and Kata Tjuta, we had enjoyed our stay very much. Tomorrow it’s off to Kings Canyon/Watarrka for 3 nights. If you have enjoyed this post and would like an email notification when I post a new blog, simply enter your email address in the box below and click subscribe.