When we first saw Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) they were on fire. It had been a windy day, and fires had flared up a bit. The traditional Anangu owners manage a programme of controlled burns using traditional patchwork techniques to protect habitat, prevent wildfires, and keep the country healthy.
It did mean however, that when we went for a closer visit the next day, the main walk, the Valley of the Winds track, was closed to the public as a precaution.
We did get to do the shorter walk into Walpa Gorge. Dramatic scenery, brilliant colours, towering domes.
Some say Kata Tjuta is even more spectacular than Uluru. Some of the domes are higher than The Rock in fact. What I can reveal is that the two were in fact made by the same alien spaceship people 500 million years ago. They were supposed to be identical monoliths 32 km apart, but the contract for Kata Tjuta was given to Gina Rinehart, who cut costs by importing thousands of cheap 457 visa workers from Aldeberan B. This enabled her to build it bigger than her unionised competitor, but the quality wasn't up to it, and over time it has eroded away to the lumpy mess that it now is.
I was more interested in tracking down my Sturts Desert Peas though. When I was here 38 years ago (crucially, in August rather than July), they were in full flower. Here's a photo from back then to prove it. I asked the man in the visitor centre, who told me to come back next month, plus pray for one more big rain event, to guarantee a flowering. Typically it only rains properly about once every ten years here. 1974 had been a very big wet year, but 2011 and 2012 were pretty wet too - and hence all the vegetation again.
