Weekend getaway discoveries..

Someone who had a chance to live in a place surrounded by nature overwhelming with its beauty, where the endless mass of water runs along never ending shore line and all the people are so close to the nature that they nearly become a unity...

... taken back to the civilized jungle, where the streets are narrow, people are all angry at each other and you cannot really see that horizon separates sky from earth anymore... suddenly feels like a captured animal trapped in a zoo and keeps living bearing in mind, that something out there is not completely right and that he keeps missing something.

Grabbing every single opportunity arisen, that person runs away to the stolen, so scarce nowadays, beauty of nature. To feel freedom once again.

F I J I [6-12 August 2010]

ALICE SPRINGS & ULURU ---- JULY 2010

You cannot leave Australia without seeing the Aboriginal Red Centre in the Northern Territory, so they say.

Uluru, Kata Tjuta and King's Canyon (famous Australian rock formations in Northern Territory, in the very centre of the country), my destinations during the trip (which I did with my friends: Mariona, Lukasz and Karina), are a fare drive away (about 450 km) from Alice Springs, where you get by plane from most cities in Australia.

On the first night we weren't lucky enough to reach the first stop before 10 pm and the Roadhouse we were planning to stay at, was already shut. First night was tough then, spent in the car without taking a shower and stretching legs. But that seemed to be unimportant - on the next day we were about to see the magnificent red rocks.


Uluru [Ayers Rock] - World Heritage Site listed monolith sandstone rock formation, being a sacred place for Anangu traditional owners. It is 348 m high and 9.4 km in circumference. It is most popular for it's changing colours at different times of the day and seasonally.

You can choose few walking tracks to see the rock. You might also climb the rock, although it is regarded as a violation of the Anangu's culture. For them, the rock has a great spiritual significance.

Uluru is well-designed for visitors, in the special sunset viewing area you can park the car and have a picnic, while snaping nice shots of the changing formation.

Kata Tjuta ["many heads"] - located 25 km away from Uluru in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. It is a much more diversified rock formation, consisting of 36 sedimentary domes, resembling the shape of 'many heads', and that is the exact translation of its Pitjantjajara name. Kata Tjuta's highest peak is called Mount Olga and reaches 546 m.

Alike Uluru, Kata Tjuta is a sacred place.