Before going to university back in the UK, I spent an incredible 7 months working and travelling in Australia. I had only just turned 18 and it was my first experience of travelling alone and only the second time I had ever left Europe. I can not recommend travelling Australia enough. It is the most beautiful and diverse country, from the white sandy beaches of the Whitsunday Islands, dense tropical rainforest in Cape Tribulation, kitchy Surrey Hills in the heart of Sydney, to the red sands of the Northern Territory.
One of my all time favourite spots in Australia was the iconic Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Not many of my friends that I met while travelling Australia were able to travel to Uluru but if you have the time, its a worthwhile trip. Friends that we met there had driven from Alice Springs to Uluru, which took a pretty impressive 5 hours. While they said it was exciting to see the Australian landscape, they didn’t recommend the long drive. My partner and I flew straight from Sydney to Ayers Rock Airport which was super convenient. We stayed at the Ayers Rock YHA, which was clean and pretty relaxed. There isn’t much choice of accommodation in the area, so if you’re looking for a budget hostel then the Ayers Rock YHA is your best bet!
We didn’t opt for a guided tour of the National Park, we decided to drive ourselves around the area. This was perfect for us because we were able to take our time and plan our own itinarary. Kata Tjuta, photo above, was very impressive. The sheer size of it takes your breath away. Being able to explore through the crevices in the formation of rocks was a magical experience. We also encountered some wild kangaroo, that experience was both really fun and wildly terrifying.
We decided to visit Uluru at sunset to see for ourselves if the rock does in fact change colour depending on the time of day. Surprise, it does! I couldn’t believe it, I was positive it was an urban myth. However, as the sun sets, the rock transforms from a terracotta orange to a deep burnt red. That in itself was the worth the journey.
My partner and I attended a seminar hosted at the Ayers Rock YHA about the local history and culture surrounding Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The aboriginal land owners of the National Park are the Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara people. It is incredibly important to learn the culture of area so to respectfully visit the National Park
The remainder of our weekend was filled with sunrise walks in the beautiful landscape, eating kangaroo steaks and drinking Australian reds. Just perfect.
Thank you so much for reading! Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park remains one of my all time favourite travel destinations!
