We had a family holiday to Central Australia this year. First time in the Red Centre for the kids but my third visit (needless to say I love it, despite the fact that it’s about as far from a beach as you can get).
Now I’ll bore you with my holiday snaps (click on the small, narrow pics – they’re the panos).
On our first night we watched the sun set on Uluru. It’s true what the tourist info promises – the rock does change colour.
The next day we did the 11km base walk around Uluru. It’s hard to appreciate the scale of the rock until you’re standing next to it (it’s massive).
Uluru is a sacred site for Australia’s Indigenous people and yet some people still climb the rock (see those little black specks along the side of the rock in the picture below? They’re people. Gives you a good sense of scale). If you ever visit Uluru, be respectful and don’t climb.
It’s a very textured rock. For some reason, I’m surprised by this each time I see it.
The kids went to a dot-painting workshop. My art-and-craft-obsessed daughter watched the artist-in-residence paint for about eleventy-billion hours. I also acquired something new for my wall…
We went to a brilliant astronomy talk one night. The Milky Way looked just like I remembered it when I was little (and BTW, this photo of the moon was taken on my phone!)
If you’re busting to climb on rocks, Kata Tjuta is the place to do it. Although Uluru is the first place to visit on most people’s lists in Central Australia, Kata Tjuta is the spectacular surprise – it is stunningly beautiful.
We drove a few hours to King’s Canyon. No photo that I took does this place justice.
The walk to the top of the canyon is a bitch (my old knee injury reminded me of that every step of the way up and down) but once you’re at the top, you feel as if you’re in another world.
The creek-bed walk at the bottom of King’s Canyon was new to me. Spent some time identifying eucalypts – thanks to wine casks in the seventies, I can sort my Coolabahs from my River Red Gums.
Sunset at King’s Canyon on our last night. All in all, a top holiday.
Stunning!
One question Kate: what kind of phone do you have? Stunning pics. I went there on a school trip, so gorgeous the area, the colours and the sky. But your photos are amazing. Esp that moon one.
All taken on my iphone (just the standard camera – didn’t use any special apps or filters). The photo of the moon was taken through a telescope but again, I just put the phone lens to the telescope eyepiece! It’s becoming very hard to justify lugging my proper camera around on trips these days.
There is a great website called photojojo – they sell lots of camera gadgets but a while ago I signed up for an online iphone photography course through them. I haven’t done all the tutorials yet (I know, #fail) but from the few that I did complete, I picked up loads of very simple tips.
Gorgeous photos <3 Thanks so much for sharing these, looks like you and your family had a lovely holiday 🙂
Thanks Lianne.
So beautiful!
I was there 4 years ago – thank you so much for reliving such a wonderful holiday for me. Your photos are beautiful.
Thank you! It’s an unforgettable place.
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