Northern Territory Day 3

The third day of my trip, I visited Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). A number of friends had recommended it as being as good as, or better than, Ularu. I didn't feel that it was better than Ularu, but I agree that it was just as good, but a completely different experience.

I started out in the morning with the Valley of the Winds walk. The walk starts as a single section of track heading in between the rock mounds of Kata Tjuta, until you reach the first lookout. From here there is an amazing view of the Valley of the winds.

After the first lookout the walk becomes a loop walk, down into the floor of the valley, through a steep section between two mounds, to the second lookout, then back down and around to the valley floor, then back up to the first lookout. The path is rocky, uneven footing, and often quite steep, but I still found it easer to walk on than the sand of the Ularu basewalk. I had a walking stick with me, which was invaluable both for reducing the stress on my bad knee, and for helping me to keep my balance in some of the trickier parts.

The valley floor was probably the easiest part of the walk, until the steep scramble up to the second lookout.

The view from the second lookout was the highlight of the whole walk.

And here is a view from the track, looking back up to the second lookout. There are some other walkers, coming down the track.

The continuation of the loop walk after the second lookout gave me some great views of the some of the other mounds of Kata Tjuta.

Finally, the loop section of the walk was finished, and I returned up to the first lookout, then down to the carpark. Then it was time to eat lunch, and put an ice pack on my knee and ankle. After lunch, I did the much shorter and easier Wulpa Gorge walk, through another area of Kata Tjuta. As this walk was much easier, it was also a lot more crowded, with a lot of tour groups. Wulpa gorge is greener than the Valley of the Winds walk, with relatively more dense vegitation.

After all of this I drove back to Yulara and collapsed for a while!