The last thing to cross off my Aussie bucket list and the last Australian state / territory to cross off my list, this trip to the red centre was a long time coming. I originally booked back in January 2020 to visit in May 2020.. but covid had other ideas. After cancelling, re-booking, cancelling again (thanks covid), then re-booking for the third time, I finally got to go in June 2022!
Things to know before you go
- Ayers Rock is also referred to as Uluru
- The Olgas, which are about a 45 minute drive from Ayers Rock, are also referred to as Kata-Juta or Mount Olga
- Time of my visit: June 6th – 9th, 2022 (winter)
- Peak season: Winter (it’d be way too hot in the summer, some of the walks are closed by mid-morning if the temperature is likely to exceed 36 degrees Celsius. Since all the attractions are outdoor activities, there’s not much to do other than lay around your hotel room until it cools down)
- For sunrise and sunset times, I always use a website called ‘time and date’ to check. The insurance for most hire car companies will be void if you drive the car on dusk or at night
- Hire car pickup is from airport, the kiosk in town was not operational (likely due to cut backs in staff due to covid)
- You’ll need a national parks pass (entry fee is per person) if you want to visit Ayers Rock and The Olgas using your own car or a hire car. If you join an organized bus tour you probably will not need this but you’ll have no independence
- The national parks are not open 24 hours a day, check the National Parks website as opening and closing times vary throughout the year
- Wear sunscreen and a hat, even in winter
- It can be very windy around Ayers Rock and The Olgas, wear multiple layers, even during the day
- There is no phone reception 5 minutes north of Yulara, so if you go to Kings Canyon just be aware of this (Spotify didn’t work for me offline either)
- Drones are not allowed in the national park
- Yulara resort is set up with the hotels (3, 4, 5 star, campground) in a circuit along with the town centre that has an IGA and cafes. Each hotel has their own restaurant but you can eat at any restaurant, even if you’re not a guest staying at that hotel
- There is a free hotel shuttle bus for all hotels that also loops around Yulara. This bus does not go to the field of light, Ayers Rock and The Olgas (you’ll need to book separate tour buses)
- There were almost no flies in winter.. there will be many flies if you go during summer
How to get to the red centre
The closest airport to the most well-known attractions is Ayers Rock Airport (AYR). There are limited flights to and from the airport and most flights are on one of Australia’s budget airlines, Jetstar. As is the case with most regional airports in Australia, You walk off the plane and straight onto the tarmac. The terminal building is basically just a big shed.
For the best views, sit on the left side coming into land at Uluru, sit on the right side when taking off.
Jetstar have really cut down on the number of flights going to Ayers Rock since Covid so Brisbane only had 1 flight (and not every day either). That flight left at the ridiculously early time of 6:45am which meant a 4am wakeup for me. The first day I was so tired it felt like a bit of a write off. If you can, try and plan your itinerary from either Melbourne or Sydney as they had more frequent (and better timed) flights.
If you’re wondering where Alice Springs is in relation to Uluru. Despite often being mentioned together often, they’re actually a 5 hour drive apart (‘just up the road’ for Australian’s but probably quite a distance if you’re from the northern hemisphere). Alice Springs has it’s own airport but again, due to Covid, at the time of my trip there weren’t any (or only a handful) or flights going to Alice Springs. Some of the hire car companies required the car to be returned to the starting location, you couldn’t collect the hire car in Alice Springs airport and drop off at Ayers Rock airport.
My original itinerary involved flying from Brisbane to Alice Springs, visiting the McDonnell ranges, then flying to Ayers Rock. The flights between Alice Springs and Ayers Rock have since been cancelled due to covid.
4 day red centre itinerary
I like to travel at a fast pace and pack as much into my days as I can. I usually plan things from 8am to 8pm each day. If you prefer to travel at a slower pace, you may want to extend this to 5 days.
Be sure to check sunrise and sunset times when you are visiting as you may be able to squeeze more into your day.
Note: I visited during peak season (Australian winter) in June. If you visit during Summer you’ll want to do the walks early in the morning (finish before 11am), head back to the hotel for a nap then resume activities in the afternoon. A lot of the walks close if the temperature is likely to exceed 35 degrees Celsius.
Day 1
Arrive from one of Australia’s capital cities (Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne), collect your hire car upon arrival at the airport and head to Yulara Resort. Depending on your flight arrival time, you might need to add an extra day. Once you land at Ayers Rock airport it’s about 20 minutes to Yulara which is basically just a resort town. Here are some of the activities you can do in the area:
- Visit the bus sunset viewing area (entry before 4pm) for the best view of Ayers Rock
- Camel farm for a ride on a camel
- Helicopter ride over Ayers rock
- Dot painting class
- Part of the Ayers Rock base walk (or the entire base walk which will take about 3 hours)
- Some of the Ayers Rock sunrise and sunset viewing platforms within the national park
Day 2
- Day trip to the Olgas
- Visit one of the sunrise or sunset viewing platforms for Ayers Rock on your way back
- Walk up to the Imalung lookout in the middle of Yulara resort in the afternoon
- Field of light star pass
Day 3
Leave early and drive to Kings Canyon early in the morning, do the Rim walk in the afternoon. If you’re feeling extra motivated, do the base walk as well.
Stay overnight at Kings Canyon Resort.
Day 4
Drive back from Kings Canyon. If you have time, stop and get lunch and one of the restaurants at Yulara resort, otherwise, head straight to the airport for your flight out.
Things to see and do
Uluru base walk
You will need a national parks pass which can be pre-purchased before you depart for your trip via the Parks Australia website. Otherwise you can purchase it at the entry station on your way into the park (but much quicker to buy online beforehand).
Despite the map from the guide saying the road around the perimeter of the rock is ‘no entry’ (which I thought meant only park ranger vehicles would have access), there are no barricades. It just looks like a normal road and anyone can drive along this road. If you choose to take the hop on hop off bus, it uses the same road as well.
I found this map and ‘Visitor essentials’ guide from the Parks Australia website very helpful
The base walk is mostly flat. If it has rained recently there may be some wet patches on the path. You could push a pram to the main parts (Mutitjulu waterhole to Kanju gorge) without too much hassle. There is no shelter on any part of the base walk so make sure you have sunscreen and a hat.
If you’re hoping to climb the rock, you’re a few years too late. They permanently closed the climb on 26 October 2019. My mum had visited Ayers Rock back in the 80’s and attempted to climb it but said she got partway up, vomited them came back down. The rock is really steep, even the access point where they had the rope to hold onto at the start of the climb is super steep. Even if the climb had been open I wouldn’t have attempted it, you could easily lose your footing, roll off the rock and die (which has happened to a few tourists in the past).
Sunrise & sunset viewing platforms
All viewpoints are accessible via road / vehicle. There is a short walk on foot to some of them, others the viewing area is a path beside the carpark.
The national park and Ayers Rock are actually a 25 minute drive from Yulara resort. The only viewpoint within the resort (which is only a 10 – 15 minute walk from most hotels) is the Imalung lookout which had a surprisingly good view.
There are sunset and sunrise viewing platforms but I didn’t think the view from them wasn’t as good as the other lookouts.
Bus Dune Viewing Area – this is where to get the best iconic photos with the red dirt in the foreground and the red rock in the background. Closes after 4pm as reserved for tour buses to get prime spot for sunset. That sign must throw a lot of people off as when I went mid afternoon we were the only people there. This is the viewpoint where famous people like Will & Kate get their photo taken in front of the fence with the rock in the background.
Field of light
The light installation was only meant to be temporary (and was what prompted me to finally book this entire holiday before it disappeared) but the tour operators admitted it was their most popular attraction and at this stage has been extended until 2027.
I found the Field of Light disappointing and over-rated. The tourist websites show the same photos from 2016 when the field of light first opened. Since then, the field hasn’t been maintained very well. There’s supposed to be 50,000 bulbs but at least a third of the bulbs were dead and many were broken. There doesn’t seem to be any maintenance and yet the price increases every year. Based on how many people are on the tours, and how many times the tour operates per day, I did a rough calculation that Field of Light is probably making at least $16 million before deducting expenses and taxes. So the fact that the bulbs haven’t even been maintained or replaced really made me feel ripped off.
The photos at dusk were alright, but the canapes that are included (no option to remove them) in the Field of Light Star Pass didn’t taste good. It also said the tour duration is supposed to be 2.5 hours. But by the time you factor in all the hotel pickups, travel to and from the location, you get about 1.5 hours at the raised viewing area and amongst the field of light. It felt very rushed, we only got half an hour to walk through the actual field of lights (rest of time was spent on the viewing platform) – it’s not much time if you’re stopping to take photos.
There’s multiple tour departure timeslots each night (I had the 5:30pm departure, there were 2 more departures after that). The field of light tour operates 7 days a week.
Sunset before the field of light turns on
To enter the field of light only (when it’s already dark) i.e. skip the sunset viewing platform part that I did, is $44 AUD per adult. I chose the field of light star pass ($100 per adult) as I wanted to see the sunset behind the rock with the field of light in the foreground. Well the best sunset view was actually in the opposite direction, not behind the rock.
You can also pay extra to arrive to the field of light by camel and visit the field at sunrise.
Interestingly, night time photos turned out better on my iPhone 12 mini, than my new Canon G7X camera.
Yulara Camel Farm
It’s free to walk around and see the camels and other baby animals they have there (cows, chickens etc.).It’s open daily 9am and 3pm (April to October), 9am to 1pm (November to March).
The resort shuttle bus stops at the camel farm or you can drive yourself there if you have a hire car.
Helicopter tours
The helicopters lift off from base near the Desert Gardens hotel. I was staying in a room at the very back of the resort so could see the helicopters taking off from the courtyard. And my those helicopters were busy. I think there were about 4 of them and they were constantly coming and going, circling Ayers Rock and the Olgas. Expect to pay a few hundred dollars (at the time of writing this in 2022), for a helicopter ride.
I’m sure the view from the helicopter is good… but if you do your research and sit on the correct side of the plane coming and going, you’ll get a great view out the plane window as well.
Yulara Resort facilities
If you stay at Yulara (the resort town near Uluru), the town is set up in a circuit with each of the resorts (3 start, 4, star, 5 star and the camping ground) accessible via roads leading off of the circuit. There is a restaurant (or two) at each resort, as well as a small IGA supermarket, some tourist shops and a petrol station.
Yulara fuel station. It actually wasn’t as expensive as I thought! was $2.61 AUD per litre (June 2022).
Where to stay
The Lost Camel didn’t have doors on the bathrooms, Sails in the Desert is 5 star (ridiculously expensive), Pioneer Hotel (3 star) was closed for refurbishment, Emu Walk Apartments were more for families and there is no way I’d ever want to camp so the Desert Gardens hotel (4 star) it was.
The hotel was very nice.. but it was $450 AUD per night for one room with 2 double beds.
Where to eat
With limited options for dinner, everywhere will be busy so get to restaurants early (e.g. 5:30 or 6pm), or reserve a table. The best value meal was at Grecko’s in the town square. You can walk to the town centre from Sails in the Dessert, Emu Walk apartments and Desert Gardens (where I stayed). You can go to any restaurant in the resort, you don’t have to be a guest to eat there.
The Pioneer hotel’s outback kitchen had good pizza. You can take it back to your hotel room rather than eat there (as it’s outdoor seating only and very noisy).
Mangata Bistro and Bar didn’t have very nice food, it was small portions and expensive. I do not recommend.
Day Trip to The Olgas
The Olgas are a 45 minute drive from Yulara resort.
You’ll need your national parks pass to access the road that leads to the Olgas. Along the way is a viewing platform where you can start to understand the scale of The Olgas. This photo was taken about 9am in the morning (not the best time of day for lighting but it did mean that all of my photos when we got to the Olgas timed the sun well).
I found this map and ‘Visitor essentials’ guide from the Parks Australia website very helpful
There are a few walks you can do at The Olgas:
- Valley of the Winds
- Only to the Karu lookout then turn around and walk back to the carpark
- The entire loop which takes 3 – 4 hours and includes Karingana lookout
- Walpa Gorge
There are public toilets at the start of the Valley of the Winds walk.
My mum and I chose to do the entire Valley of the Winds walk. The times on the sign (3 – 4 hours) is accurate. Including a few rest stops, stopping to take photos it took us about 3.5 hours.
There were sections of the walk where, despite being in the middle of nowhere, I actually had phone reception. We chose to the walk anti-clockwise which I think was the best option – get the hard part over and done with first. You can walk anti-clockwise to Karingaga lookout then turn back the same way you came, or you can continue on the entire loop. The next part is not sheltered, you walk through / on / climb over the Olgas then around the Olgas (the views are not as good).
A lot of the walk is exposed so make sure you wear sunscreen (and re-apply), hat etc… yes even in winter. There is a drinking water refill station on the walk. The walking trail is a mix of flat red dirt / rock path, rocks (that reminded me of a creek bed), rock stairs and scrambling over the Olgas themselves in a few places. You don’t need hiking shoes, mum and I did fine in enclosed jogger type Sketchers.
The Valley of the Winds walk (the full circuit) takes you around part of the Olgas and through them…
Including this view
I couldn’t get all of the rock’s height in the camera frame but hopefully this group of teenage school kids gives you a sense of scale!
You can choose to join a bus tour to the Olgas but if you’re travelling with 1 or more other people it’s probably going to be better value to just hire a car. Those bus tours don’t always allow you enough time to do everything at the attraction e.g. you might only be able to do part of one of the walks at The Olgas to make sure you back to the bus in time. A lot of those tours also left Yulara resort ridiculously early and I am not a morning person!
Walpa Gorge isn’t much of a Gorge, it’s basically just 2 rocks close together. If you’re short on time, I would skip it.
Kings Canyon
Drive approx. 3 hours north to Kings Canyon (it could be 3.5 hours if you’re stopping to switch drivers).
There are toilets at the start of the rim walk which is 6km, 3hrs, 500 steps up, a walk around the top of the Canyon, down through gorge, around the top of the other side of the Canyon and another 500 steps down.
I preferred the Kings Canyon Rim Walk to the Uluru base walk and the walks at the Olgas.
There are coloured triangles to guide your walk around the rim with plenty of different views along the way. Being a bit of a long drive from Ayers Rock, most people skip this part when visiting the Red Centre so it wasn’t too busy.
If you’re motivated, there is also a creek walk (1hr return).
Hire car versus using the resort shuttle bus
Australians drive on the left and there are plenty of signs to remind you. The drive from the airport to the resort takes only about 15 minutes. There is a free shuttle bus that goes in the loop around the resort if you want to have lunch or dinner at another hotel but it only comes approx. every 20 minutes.
Since my Mum and I were doing day trips, not only visiting Ayers Rock, we chose a hire car. When I calculated the cost of the day trips it ended up being a bit more expensive to get a hire car (for the 2 of us), but the extra freedom to be on our own schedule was worth it to me.
I wouldn’t recommend visiting Ayers Rock solo, the drive between Yulara resort and the Olgas, and the drive to and from Kings Canyon is quite dull. We frequently switched drivers so as not to fall asleep behind the wheel. We also lost phone reception shortly after leaving Yulara resort and I couldn’t get Spotify to work. I paid for emergency roadside assist with the hire car, but since there was no phone reception if something were to happen I wouldn’t have been able to call for help anyway…
Unless you want to attempt the Mereenie Loop from Alice Springs to Kings Canyon (Google it and you’ll probably be quickly deterred), then the roads around Yulara to the Olgas, Ayers Rock and Kings Canyon are all sealed roads. Most hire car companies won’t let you take the vehicles off sealed roads or you’ll void the insurance. We had a Toyota Corolla hatchback for our hire car. This was enough space for 2 people but if you have a bigger family with 1 suitcase per person, you’re going to need a bigger car.
The hire car cost about $1,350 AUD including insurance and emergency roadside assist. The lady at the service counter must’ve been having a good day as we waived the 2nd driver fee for us 🙂 Fuel was an additional $72 for the 4 days (you must return the car with a full tank of fuel).
Would I go back?
No. I’m glad I went but I think the red centre is a case of seen it once, don’t need to come back and see it again.
I hope you found this post helpful for planning your trip to the red centre!
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