After witnessing the sun rise over Australia’s most moving massif Uluru– and enjoying a lazy breakfast inside Ayers Rock Resort – ramp up your adrenaline levels with a late-morning skydive.
There is probably no more exhilarating place to skydive than Uluru.
This 10,000-foot drop ends with a serene float beneath a parachute and accompanying bird’s eye views of Uluru, Kata-Tjuta, Lake Amadeus and Mount Connor (known to locals as ‘fooluru’ owing to the site’s knack for fooling visitors into believing it is Uluru).
Time: 11:30am
Cost: $403 (minimum two people)
As evening engulfs the Red Centre, cruise the rock’s perimeter on a Harley Davidson tour.
Harleys draw flack for their amplified engine noise and disturbance of the peace, yet surprisingly riding through the park on the back of one of these muscle machines can prove meditative. As you’re unable to talk for most of the tour’s one-hour duration, the only thing left to do is sit back, take in views of the rock and frame up your photos.
Exploring Kata Tjuta aboard a Uluru Motorcycle Tours Harley Davidson. Image Courtesy Tourism NT / Stephen Parry
Riders often describe the experience as ‘flying through the air’.
‘Flying through the air’ on an Uluru Motorcycle Tours ride. Image Courtesy Tourism NT / Nichola Kayo
Time: 6pm
Cost: $229
The name of this formation means ‘many heads’ and a trip to the park isn’t complete without exploring Kata Tjuta’s wondrous collection of domes and its ancient surrounds.
Between the domes of Kata Tjuta on the Valley of the Winds trail. Image Courtesy Tourism NT / Sean Scott
The best walk here is the 7.4-kilometre Valley of the Winds trail. The loop route leads through walls of towering rock into a valley bedded with bright green grass. The hike is challenging but rewarding – pack plenty of water and fly repellent for the journey.
For a shorter stroll, choose the 2.6-kilometre return Walpa Gorge walk. Kata Tjuta is especially stunning in the afternoon when sunlight fills the gorge.
Time: 8am
Cost: park entry only, $25 per adult
Later still, as sunset falls over this site, hues appear in shades such as a gentle yellow, through to a blazing red, kidney-toned purple and smoky shade of charcoal. Look out for the two designated viewing areas – both locations are ideal platforms for taking in this impressive natural show.
The star show after sunset is mesmirising.
Time: 6–7pm in winter; 7–8:30pm in summer
Cost: park entry only, $25
Scenic flights operate from Yulara (Uluru), and if you’re willing to peel your eyes away from Uluru and Kata Tjuta, these tours can jet you as far away as Kings Canyon in Watarrka National Park.
Uluru is even more alluring at sunrise during a helicopter tour. Image Courtesy Tourism NT / Jason Charles Hill
A half-day tour glides you over the great salt lakes of Lake Amadeus and pulls up stumps at the base of Kings Canyon. Here, you can stroll the canyon’s creek bed walk, or take the ‘slow flow’ option and have a coffee break.
There is nothing quite like the perspective of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park from the side of a helicopter, without a door. Image Courtesy Tourism NT / Shaana McNaught
Time: departures from sunrise
Cost: $795
Drive into Kings Canyon (three hours from Uluru) and combine a 30-minute scenic flight – over Carmichaels Crag, George Gill Range and Hidden Valley – with the six-kilometre Kings Canyon Rim Walk.
Views down the 100m-high sandstone walls into palm-filled crevices on the Rim Walk at Kings Canyon.
The latter begins with a sharp ascent over rose-coloured rocks and boulders, then leads to the ‘The Garden of Eden’: a peaceful pool flanked by ferns and cycads. A black cockatoo’s flight from here lies the ‘Lost City’ – a series of domes that resemble giant beehives.
Time: departures from 8:30am
Cost: $295
Leaving Kings Canyon it’s time to hop from waterhole to waterhole in Tjoritja/West MacDonnell National Park.
Two-and-a-half hours north-east of Kings Canyon, Ormiston Gorge is famed for its rugged four-hour Pound Walk and its ravishing waterhole, carpeted in white sand. Among the gorge’s cast of wildlife sits more fluorescent budgies, plus the once-thought-to-be-extinct central rock rat and long-tailed dunnart.
The easily accessible Ellery Creek Big Hole is a refreshing swim in the middle of the desert
If you want more waterhole glory travel 30 minutes up Namatjira Drive to Ellery Creek Big Hole. Wedged between two rocky red cliffs rests a waterhole fringed by ghost gums. Head back toward Ormiston Gorge and recoup your energy with a pub meal at the nearby Glen Helen Lodge.
Time: up to you
Cost: free
Set off early for Alice Springs, which is 90 minutes away, to drink in the beauty of the outback from up high. Your 60-minute early morning balloon ride begins 15 kilometres south of Alice adjacent to the MacDonnell Ranges and over historic Owen Springs Cattle Station.
Soar above the majestic MacDonnell Ranges on a hot-air balloon.
The flight is surprisingly silent and peaceful, allowing ample time to breathe in the vast, art canvas-style landscapes below. Keep your eyes peeled for passing clouds of parrots or for kangaroos leaping through the spinifex and mulga scrub.
Time: approx. 5:45am
Cost: $395
Stretch your legs and amble four kilometres north to the Alice Springs Telegraph Station, the town’s first European settlement.
A mountain bike tour on the bike trails around Alice Springs. Image Courtesy Tourism NT / Shaana McNaught
Built in 1872, this stone collective of buildings later became an Aboriginal school called The Bungalow.
Hire a mountain bike and glide along the series of winding trails that cut through the backcountry here – you’re bound to spot a wallaby or five on your two-wheeled travels.
Time: up to you
Cost: $65 for full-day mountain bike hire
Book an extended stay to save on room rates and soak up more sun.
Book your AAT Kings holiday today & save up to 20%* on selected 2023 tours. This is your chance to roam beyond the ordinary. *T&C’s apply.
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