Valley of the WInds

So, we went out last night to look at the stars. Pretty impressive.

I wish I could give you a better shot, but having to hold the shutter open manually means I have introduced a little bit of shake into the camera, which is why the stars are a backward tick......its my hand shaking. We are looking south and the large and small Magellanic clouds are visible, the Southern Cross is under the horizon and there are a few light clouds about.

In the morning I slpt in....till 5am. It was going to be a little cooler, so I headed off for the second walk in Kata Tutja, The Valley of The Winds. This one actually goes in over the initial gulley to the middle/inside of the domes.

It was a little after 6 and the light was beautiful.

There are all sorts of dire warnings about this walk and the need for care and water...lots of water. I had 4.5 litres.....

Anyway, it was truly lovely....quite rocky, but once over the first ridge it was another world

. The spinifex pigeons and zebra finches abounded around the water stations....

now to walk into that valley....

I was expecting some difficulty....this section was rated 'hard/difficult' , but I think things had been overstated. It was a bit of a climb and again, the path was rocky, but nothing untowards.

Inside it was silent, apart from the call of a bird or two, a truly magical place.

down the other side

and into an open area behind all the domes.....

The wildflowers and river reds were a feature

but the place is still really a desert..................

and so, as I had been a good boy and following the advice of the national park folk and drinking copious amounts of water............ I assisted with increasing the average moisture content of the park......at several strategic locations.........

I suspect they have to overplay their hand on heat and hydration to get the message through to tourists. I was one heading in as I was heading out.........lovely gold slip on sandals, short shorts, halter top, no hat, no sunglasses, one 600ml bottle of water and her iphone. On one of the hot days she would have been really struggling. Today it was just getting to 30C as I finished at 9:30am so hopefully she should be OK. They actually have several water stations and emergency radio points scattered around. I suspect that a proportion of the market that comes here does not do the bushg walk thing and certainly not in arid places.

Anyway it was a magic spot and the photos do not do it justice. Kata Tjuta just seem to shrink in photos, even though several are higher than Uluru and in fact the tallest, Mt Olga is over 200m taller. Still I loved it!

A break by the pool and some sustenance, and Marjan and I headed back to Uluru to check out the two waterholes for the last time. Marjan had missed the cave painting. Nothing spectacular, but worth a look, and the waterholes are lovely.

So we pack up tonight. It has been a pleasant interlude to have an extended stay. Probably longer than needed, but it has allowed us to catch up on home news and to do a little of the lazy holiday thing. Off to King's Canyon tomorrow. I hope not to wake till after 6am.