The Olgas. Just a short drive or a long walk from Ayers Rock.
The Olgas were first seen by Whitey in 1874 when Ernest Giles stumbled upon them but somehow didn’t see Ayers Rock right next to it. It turns out that he happened to be standing in such a manner that Ayers Rock was obscured by the Olgas, which he couldn’t reach because Lake Amadeus just happened to be full. A year later, he was in the same area and spotted Uluru. Upon hurrying back to Adelaide to report his findings, he was informed that William Gosse had seen it and reported in a few days earlier, naming it Ayers Rock. Now that’s just bad luck.
Anyway, the Olgas are the same sort of rock as Ayers Rock, but different. Lying maybe 30km from Ayers Rock as the crow flies, this huge rock outcropping is quite impressive in its own right. Needless to say, it was almost completely empty. We walked through one of the canyons and I kept thinking how unbelievable it is that all those people over at Ayers Rock had come all this way and couldn’t be bothered to come check out this other really cool looking wonder of nature. Bah, more space for us.
After walking around at the Olgas, we left the park and meandered the 300ish kilometers to Kings Canyon* based on the recommendation from the nice Austrian couple that lent us their jack along the Lasseter Highway after we got our fifth flat for the trip. Kings Canyon is a huge chasm that you can either walk through or around the top of. The walk was short and easy and rewarded us with a great view from the inside of the canyon.
We congratulated ourselves on going there instead of just trundling back to Alice Springs up the boring road from which we came.
*quick! Do-gooder long hair hippy feel good types! What’s the Aboriginal name for Kings Canyon?
Vom Ayers Rock nach Alice Springs!
Nach dem ganzen Spektakel des Sonnenaufgangs am Uluru (Ayers Rock) haben wir uns auf den Weg zu den Olgas, einer kleinen Bergkette ganz in der Nähe vom Uluru, gemacht. Man muß wirklich bedenken, es gibt da unten mehr als nur den Ayers Rock! Wir hatten wirklich eine superschöne Fahrt zurück vom Uluru nach Alice Springs. Nach einem Spaziergang und nem kleinen Frühstück an den Olgas ging es dann weiter zum Watarrka National Park zum Kings Canyon. Es ist wohl eine der spektakulärsten Sehenswürdigkeiten Zentralaustraliens, denn mit seinen 100 m hohen Steilwänden hat man einen Blick wie im Amphitheater. -mk
Gallery: http://gallery.me.com/the_np_bat_man#100972
The Olgas are here.
Kings Canyon is here.
