Description: When I went to Australia in what was termed their “rainy” season, I was sure it wouldn’t include the Outback. I mean, really, the Outback is dessert, it’s in the middle of a 30-year drought, etc. etc.
Well, on our tour’s sunset trip to view Kata Tjuta, it rained. And I don’t mean it just drizzled a bit. The sky opened up and poured these big, cold drops down on us. The grass hut shelters are shelters from the sun, not a downpour, so we all basically had one big wet t-shirt contest.
Kata Tjuta is also in the same national park as Uluru, and is also a really big rock formation. Where Uluru is a monolith (one rock), Kata Tjuta is a series of several rocks, the surface of which is like walking on a Martian landscape (or so I would guess.)
When it rains, the rock face obviously can’t absorb the water, so it rushes down the sides of this rock in large waterfalls, complete with the gushing water audio. You can hear it, you can see it, but it’s hard to believe it. I did try to look at the bright side, that I’d witnessed up close what some people (even the ones who live out there) had only heard about.
Being basically wet already, I decided – along with only a few other brave souls – to take the walk along the rocks as planned. I could actually step over (or through, as it turned out) one of these waterfalls. It’s not an easy walk to begin with (you could easily turn an ankle) but add the rain and it makes for a slippery journey. When the lightning started flashing, I decided that it was time to go back to the bus.
We did dutifully wait at the sunset viewing spot to see if we’d get lucky. There was actually a sunset, but with the cloud cover, it was too low in the sky to really see the rocks change colors like they’re supposed too. However, we had a plastic glass of champagne anyway to celebrate not getting struck down by lightening while we waited for the non-event.
If you’re going to visit Uluru, you can see Kata Tjuta from there, so just drive the extra 10 minutes and see the Olgas. They are nearly as impressive as Uluru, with the same color effects (on any day except the one we were there).
Close