Red hot: Central Australia’s highlights

Day One

A buzz ripples through the plane on the approach to Connellan Airport in Central Australia as the hulking sandstone formation that we are all here to see—Uluru—rears up from the flat landscape.

A monolith that pre-exists any lifeform, Uluru makes a statement at 348 metres tall. Slice it through the middle and you’d see grey rock; it’s only when the iron-rich sand makes contact with air that it turns a rusty red. But Uluru is undoubtedly more than an oversized rusty rock.

An Australian icon and the cultural heart of the Anangu—the people of the Western Desert—Uluru is a holder of stories, evidence of the creators, a place of shelter and sustenance, a church, a classroom, and a place to grieve. It’s no wonder that the air around it crackles with a spirituality that seeps into even the most ardent of atheists.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Yulara. Credit: Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia.

Palya / Welcome

A short shuttle bus ride from the airport brings us to Voyages Ayers Rock Resort, owned by The Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation, on the outskirts of Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park. The resort offers accommodation ranging from camping through to the deluxe Sails in the Desert, all arranged around a sand dune lookout with views of both Uluru and Kata Tjuta.

After checking in, we make our way to the Town Square. It’s the hub of the resort with shops, a movie theatre, meeting spots for the daily free activities that range from didgeridoo lessons to bush tucker tours, and the Gallery of Central Australia (GoCA). It’s also where you can book an incredible range of experiences, such as Wintjiri Wiru.

Wintjiri Wiru is the world’s largest ongoing drone display, using 1,200 drones plus laser lights to tell the ancient Mala Creation story.*

Drone show

The sun is still high when we reach the viewing platform via a winding wooden walkway. Wait staff greet us with delicious Spiced Apple Tonic Cocktails and Indigenous-inspired canapés think gin-infused cucumber with green ants and celery salt.

The platform is perfectly positioned to enjoy clear views of Uluru. The beehive domes of Kata Tjuta are at the rear. As the light begins to fail, we are led to our seats, where individual gourmet hampers await. The food is divine, and the wine flows as we watch the glow of spinifex against the red sand slowly fade.

When the special silence of the desert is broken, it is by the sound of people speaking in Pitjantjatjara. The land seems to vibrate as the sounds of clapsticks and singing swell. We are delighted to see projections of mala (rufous hare-wallaby) poke their heads out from behind desert ash trees. The dramatic music rises, the earth flashes red and the sky starts to light up as colourful drones float upward. We are transfixed.

Wintjiri Wiru - drone show. Credit: Tourism Australia.

Day Two

Valley of the Winds

It's just after 5am when our bus stops at a platform with views of The Rock and Kata Tjuta. The stars are bright, even as the sky lightens, and both formations put on a stunning sunrise show, turning a kaleidoscope of colours from shades of black to red.

The sunrise viewing was a bonus. We are on our way to Valley of the Winds, a 3.5-hour walk that takes you into the heart of Kata Tjuta. The first lookout into the valley takes our breath away. For Anangu, this is a sacred place and there is a church-like hush as we walk, flanked by the sheer canyon walls, down into the valley.

It’s cool and sheltered. We don't see any mammals but the birds are chirping and the landscape is lusher than expected, filled with river red gums, desert oaks, acacias and spring flowers whose palette of mauves, yellows and whites pop against the red domes.

Day Three

Rocky ride

Close up, Uluru is even more fascinating. Millions of years of geology has layered sandstone upon itself, forming lines, folds and honeycomb-like sections where birds nest in the shade. Tenacious plants cling to crevices, and algae form black lines, like tears, where water seeps down the rock after rains.

It’s humbling to realise what we are seeing is the mere tip of a monolith that reaches kilometres below ground level.

You can walk the 10.5 kilometre track around Uluru, or hire a Segway or bike to ride around it. Fitted with fat tyres, the bikes make light work of the flat, red path. You can learn more about The Rock’s rich cultural heritage during a tour of the cave art, guided by artists from Maruku Arts, during a free daily ranger walk, or at the Cultural Centre.

Anangu

The snaking curves of the Cultural Centre reference a significant Anangu Creation story of a battle between two powerful ancestral beings at Uluru, and the exhibition explains how Tjukurpa (traditional law) has been passed down through generations via stories, song, art and ceremony.

But in an oral culture, where knowledge must be earned, the stories are, like The Rock itself, the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the cultural importance of this area to Anangu.

Glow

Artist Bruce Munro had a vision to install 50,000 lights, powered by 36 solar panels, to dance across the land in front of Uluru.

You can see his Field of Light as part of the exclusive Sounds of Silence dinner, but we take advantage of the Star Pass, which includes outback canapés and drinks. Smiling waitstaff hand out glasses of Australian sparkling wine as we stroll up the boardwalk in the soft late afternoon light. As the sky darkens, the lights come alive, with the colours changing across a spectrum of ochre, deep violet, blue and white.

When it’s fully dark, we are invited to follow the path that meanders through the field for a closer look at the magical show.

Day Four

Beautiful country We’re excited to be among the first to experience the interactive art installation Sunrise Journeys, which brings to life the dot painting, Ngura nganampa Wiru mulapa—Our Country is truly beautiful, a collaboration by three Anangu artists.

With the sun yet to rise, the air is crisp as we are greeted with a hot chocolate and warm muffin. Wrapping ourselves in the blankets supplied to ward against the chill, we take a seat as the ground begins to thrum. Anangu musician and composer, Jeremy Whiskey has created the haunting soundtrack and the artists narrate the story in a combination of Pitjantjatjara and English.

We are absorbed by the performance. There is drama and beauty as the lasers create life, fire and water. Desert oaks provide a screen for the projections and the audience sits in appreciative silence when it ends, the final symbols still glowing on the trees as the sunrise begins its own light show across The Rock.

On Country

This afternoon, we are heading out on a SEIT Tour of the Uluru family’s homelands in the company of a member of the Uluru family, Michael Wilson.

A great-grandson of land rights campaigner Paddy Uluru, Michael leads us to Patji, the waterhole that gave the homelands their name. The rockhole is surrounded by patches of rock worn smooth over hundreds of years by Anangu women who use it as a giant mortar, grinding grass seeds with large round stones to create a flour.

Our journey ends at a rocky outcrop called Jupiwa. Scrambling up to the top, we’re faced with the now-familiar faces of Kata Tjuta and Uluru. But to the left is an L-shaped ridge of mountains that, we are told, signals the borders of Western Australia and South Australia. Toasting the sun setting over two states and a territory, in sight of two of the country’s most significant natural phenomena, is surely a highlight.

'Patji' tour led by Uluru family guide Sammy Wilson. Credit: Tourism Australia.

Day Five

Karrke

Three hours from Ayers Rock Resort, we arrive at the traditional lands of the Wanmarra family—population 10. Karrke Aboriginal Cultural Experience co-founder Peter Abbott spies us and shoots us a welcoming smile.

After a Welcome to Country, Peter and his sister Natasha begin an engaging double-header tour, often slipping into language and finishing each other’s sentences as they share their passion for their culture.

Natasha decodes a dot painting that shows where to find witchetty grubs. Her captivated audience gasps as she taps an Acacia kempeana root and a fat witchety grub falls out. Two more quickly follow.

The rapid-fire tour continues, ending with a session on bush medicines where we are all encouraged to breathe in the cleansing and healing smoke of three species of Emu Bush.

It’s a whirlwind of information provided in the practical see-and-do style of Aboriginal learning. We leave feeling privileged to have been given such a generous introduction to the culture of the local Lurit­ja and Per­tame people.

Soak it up

Next stop is Discovery Resorts Kings Canyon, which offers unpowered sites through to gorgeous deluxe rooms.

Bruce Munro has created a sound and light installation here too but, after a delicious pizza and thirst-quenching beer at Kings Canyon Bar and Grill, the luxury bathtub overlooking the escarpment beckons. What better way to end a day than a soak with views of the incredible desert night sky.

Kings Canyon Resort. Credit: Tourism Australia.

Day Six

Kings canyon rim walk

There are three signature tracks at Watarrka National Park but the six-kilometre Kings Canyon Rim Walk is the ultimate. We race the rising sun and a coach load of tourists to tackle the first 500 vertical steps to the top, earning panoramic views of the canyon’s sheer walls. The rising sun warms the rocks and spotlights spectral ghost gums and ancient cycads that date back to the time of the dinosaurs.

The aptly named Garden of Eden is a showstopper. The temperature drops in this lush, shaded oasis, complete with waterhole. It’s a magnet for birds, including the striking crested pigeon and tiny fairy wrens.

It’s peaceful here. Yet another Central Australian spot with a hint of the spiritual. If we didn’t have a plane to catch, we’d definitely linger longer but we must head back to Connellan Airport, where we discover the buzz of views of Uluru never fades.

Ayers RockResort. Credit: Tourism Australia.

  *ACKNOWLEDGEMENT STATEMENT: As custodians of the land, Anangu hold the Mala story from Kaltukatjara to Uluru. To share their story, RAMUS designed and produced an artistic platform using drones, light and sound to create an immersive storytelling experience.

Note: The NRMA is in partnership with Tourism Australia’s Discover Aboriginal Experiences. We are committed to promoting First Nations culture and experiences. The original text has been modified for clarity and style.