May 20 2017

The heart of Australia – Kata Tjuta

Tobias Stricker Travel Log Australia, Ayers Rock, Kata Tjuta, Northern Territory, Olga's

Hiking through remarkable rocks – Olgas – Travel log no. 72

We made it to Kata Tjuta around lunch time. After a good lunch we did the famous Valley of the Winds hike.

The Olga’s are remarkable in itself. It looks like a collection of stone sculptures the size of mountains in the middle of the desert.

In addition to that the stone looks artificial. Red sand is fixing bigger boulders together like concrete. It nearly feels more convincing that the Olga’s are made by somebody rather than by nature.

Kata Tjuta, Australia — The drive into the Olga’s or Kata Tjuta.

Valley of the Winds, Australia — Johan and Matteo hiking up to the lookout of the valley of the winds.

After an hour of hiking straight up into the hills we finally got up on a lookout. The view into the Valley of the Winds was really impressive. Especially after coming here with no expectations looking out from atop felt even better than looking at Ayers Rock.

Lookout, Valley of the Winds — View from the lookout into the Valley of the Winds.

Valley of the Winds, Olga's — The view on the way up to the lookout. Suddenly you get a good feeling for the dimensions. What first looked small from far away happened to be gigantic.

While walking down into the valley we enjoyed the scent of herbs in the air of a little Oasis in the middle of the desert.

Valley of the Winds, Kata Tjuta — The view on the lookout from the valley of the wind. What felt like being high up was actually just an outlook at 1/4 of the mountains height.

Mountain Range, Olga's — Another view on this special Mountain Range. While hiking we enjoyed it more and more as our favorite part of the park.

While we walked back to the parking something remarkable happened. The sunset and tainted the mountains in a deep red color. Even darker than the color of Ayers Rock during the same time.