Uluru is about 450km from Alice Springs. At the turnoff to Uluru - a place called Erldunda - is some aging relics from World Expo 88. There is no sign with an explanation and a few of confused tourists wondering why there is a giant goanna and echidna at a service station on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.
We spent three days in the national park. We arrived just before sunset on the first night and after checking into the camping ground we drove to see Uluru at sunset – the rock changes colours quickly from orange to dark purple/grey while the sun sets..
On Tuesday we went on the 2 hour ranger guided Mala walk which was excellent then set off for a walk around the rock 10.6km - only about 1/3 to 1/2 of the walk is up close and a lot of the base walk is at a distance as it is sensitive/sacred to the Anangu people. We should have hired some bikes! Once you get up close you can see the details of this huge rock: scoops, waterfalls, cracks, caves, cliffs, rock paintings and water holes
On Wednesday we did the Valley of the Winds walk (7.4km) through Kata Tjuta – this was an interesting walk. There was no riding bikes on this walk with steep rock stairs and loose rocky tracks that led to a beautiful view down the valley.The full walk was well worth it and more interesting than walking around Uluru.