• Kata Tjuta

    This is another formation similar to Uluru but made with different sediment.

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    Long ago there was a river flowing through this area that carried sediment from mountains upstream.

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    This formation is closer to the mountains so it has larger rocks embedded and it looks a bit like red concrete.

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    You can see some of the rocks were pretty big.

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    It is much larger than Uluru and used to be a single large mount like Uluru.

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    Now there are several mounds spread all around.

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    We did the long loop to see more of them.

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    Sometimes Matt needs to pay more attention to the ground when Kerri yells “turn around and smile”.

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    It is tricky to get a picture of the whole area from the ground as it is huge.

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    It was beautiful out and even cool enough to need a jacket.

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  • Gathering Firewood

    We were going to be rouging it the next two nights so it was important to get enough firewood to cook our food.

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    We ended up gathering enough for two groups. While wandering into the bush we also saw these really big spiders hanging out.

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  • Kings Canyon

    Going out to Kings Canyon requires 3 L of water per person. This is because it gets really hot and is very dry.

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    There are fill stations that the birds take advantage off.

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    The birds weren’t the only ones having a drink.

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    We found some other animals like this really scary dragon.

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    He turned right at me. If he’d blown fire it would have hit me.

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    It’s really hot in the Outback in the summer. So his breath is probably pretty hot. Maybe almost fire.

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    The view was amazing. We could see where there is some water with the snaking trees through the desert.

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    The rock formations were interesting.

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    The rock isn’t completely stable so we stayed well away from the edge.

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    Some of the rocks eroded into little round mounds.

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  • Pinnacles

    The Pinnacles are interesting stone formations that have a disputed origin.

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    They are deemed uninteresting by many geologists because they are too young.

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    One theory is that the area used to be a forest and collected material around it and fossilized which made the surrounding rock more resistant to erosion. Some of the pinnacles seem to have organic material embedded which makes us think this may be more likely.

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    The area was really cool, especially as the sun was setting giving everything a more golden colour.

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    The area seemed to go on and on.

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    Most looked quite sharp and jagged like these ones.

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    Some where quite a bit wider.

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    We were able to drive around the site as it was quite large. Not too many people around so we go to enjoy it mostly to ourselves.

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  • Coral Bay Snorkelling

    Before and after the whale shark snorkelling we got to check out Ningaloo reef. There were many types of coral we hadn’t seen before.

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    This example of brain coral was impressive.

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    Even though it isn’t jellyfish season this area traps the jellies and there aren’t enough predators to cut down the population.

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    They do sting but you can swim around pretty easily. They are very relaxing to watch swim by.

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    A few people did get stung but it only lasts for about an hour or so.

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    Their tops don’t sting so the guides were pushing them around by the top towards each other. This one got lifted out of the water further showing why they have the name jellyfish.

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