Ayers Rock (Uluru), Australia

Ayers Rock (Uluru) is the red heart of Australia.

The climate in the Ayers Rock area is typical of continental deserts. The air is dry and hot. Precipitation is very rare. High temperature amplitudes lead to the fact that during the day the air near the surface warms up so much that it seems that it melts, and in the morning it becomes just cold and the temperature drops to 0 C. Winter is very short, but pronounced, usually temperatures do not fall below zero, but in 1997 there was a completely unique phenomenon – it was snowing in Ayers Rock. Rains here are very rare, but if it happens, then nature simply transforms and becomes irresistible: dry channels are filled with water, water revives plants and animals, many of which are in a hurry to arrange mating games during this short fertile period for them.

The best time to visit is all year round. The Australian summer is much hotter, but what more could you want from a desert. There are four distinct seasons in the Ayers Rock and Alice Springs region, each with features of interest to the observant traveler.

Summer (December to February) is the driest and hottest season, attracting more and more people to see the desert at its most extreme. Even at night, the air cools a little, it gets colder only in the morning.

Autumn (March to May) is characterized by warm days and nights, which become cooler as summer ends. This is a great time to explore the hinterland either by car or on foot.

Winter (June to August) is a fantastic time to travel to central Australia in every way. Sunny days, cloudless skies, invigorating night air, especially pleasant when sitting by a night fire under a tropical star-studded sky.

In the spring (September to November), the daytime air is warm, the evenings are pleasant, and the sky is especially suitable for stargazing, which is so popular in Ayers Rock. This time can be called the most beautiful, as nature comes to life and withered spinifex, desert succulents and other nondescript vegetation, gain life and bloom magnificently.

Attractions

The heart of Australia has long been warmed by the sun – it is red and fire-breathing. Strange rock formations arose in prehistoric times. A mysterious monolith, the holy mountain of Ayers Rock rises regally in the middle of the Australian continent, 400 km from Alice Springs. A huge red rock at sunset changes its color from carmine to purple. Its height is 348 m, circumference is 9 km. She is over 6 million years old. Like an iceberg, only an eighth of the mass protrudes to the surface. Ayers Rock is the most sacred place for Aboriginals, is also revered by whites and is a national monument of Australians. In ancient times, the natives called it Uluru. It is currently under their control.

In 1872, the first European, explorer Ernest Giles, saw this rock through the haze of the salt lake Amadeus. Even a European will not remain indifferent at the sight of this sacred place, he will try to penetrate the mysterious secret of the mighty monolith, one of the sources of Aboriginal mythology.

Aborigines never climb Ayers Rock, this is not mentioned in their Dreamtime. The old rock seems completely smooth, but its base is cut by hidden caves that have long served the natives for ritual and cult ceremonies dedicated to the Rainbow Serpent. Their walls have been covered with rock art since time immemorial. To this day, mothers draw pictures in the sand to tell their children the legends from Dreamtime, explaining how the echidna got its spines and why the emu can’t fly.

In some places photography is prohibited. The rock is incredibly beautiful at sunset. First, dusk falls on the desert plateau, and the sun’s rays illuminate only the blood-red monolith, it burns in the rays of this extraordinary searchlight and only then plunges into the purple velvet of the night.

Most tourists get up early in the morning to climb the monolith before sunrise. To some natives, this seems sacrilegious. However, the view from above is magnificent. Having traveled by bus around the rock, you will discover many sacred places where there is Aboriginal rock art.

Skala is located 18 km from the tourist village, surrounded by a park. Entrance to the village costs $10A. The climb is pretty scary. Count on 2 hours round trip with rest to cover 1 mile from base to summit. From 10.00 to 16.00, when the temperature in the shade exceeds 38 C, climbing is prohibited. Be sure to stock up on drinking water and a hat.

Approximately fifty kilometers from Ayers Rock, which by Australian standards is very close, there is another equally unique natural creation – Mount Olga – or Kata-Tyuta, which means “many heads” in the Pityantyatya language spoken by local Aborigines. Part of the Uluru-Kata-Tjuta National Park included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Olga is an accumulation of massive rounded rocks, even more mysterious and mysterious. And although from a geological point of view, their origin seems understandable and explainable, for the natives, these ancient rocks, towering over the endless desert plains, are still a mysterious legacy of the mysterious past of their ancient ancestors.

Aborigines keep many legends and legends about the Red Heart of Australia, which came to them from the distant times of Dreams. If you show interest, you can spend the day talking to Aboriginal guides who will tell you their legends, show you the sacred places around Ayers Rock, talk about traditional life, how they hunt, collect food that you will find inedible how they search for water and how their tribesmen survive in the desert.

Ayers Rock (Uluru), Australia

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