Daniel's Big Australian Holiday!

Kata Tjuta Day 19 - Sunday - 7/6/2026 Today we drove 45 minutes to Kata Tjuta where we did a 7.4km walk called the Valley of the Winds. The walk went through some of the 36 domes of Kata Tjuta and looked pretty cool. The colossal domes were super high and there were a lot of holes in them, unlike Uluru which is made out of sandstone Kata Tjuta is mate out of a rock called conglomerate which is basically sandstone with a bunch of river stones embedded into it. Domes of Kata Tjuta Compared to the surroundings of Kata Tjuta when we were walking through the shade of the huge domes there was a lot more plant life and a bit of water around. The walk took us about 4 hours so by the end we were all pretty tired.  Walking through Kata Tjuta Then we drove another 2km to another walk through Waḻpa Gorge.  This walk was much shorter than the other being only 2.6km plus it was only me, Susie, Mum and Dad so we went through a lot quicker. The walk was through a gap between two of the domes ...

Day 18 - Saturday - 6/6/2026   Today we went back to Uluru, and we went for a walk to a waterhole there while my 9 year old cousin Charlie went for a run around Uluru with her dad. Us boys had already been to the waterhole but none of the girls had which is why we did that. The waterhole was on the edge of Uluru, pretty small and probably really cold because it was almost always in the shade. Waterhole at Uluru The walk was only 1km so Charlie and Mat would still be running for a bit longer and so we decided that we would walk up to a car park a few kilometres away from us while my dad and grandpa drove there to pick us up. When we had about 1km left we ran into my dad and a few hundred metres later my grandpa. Once we got back to the cars we drove back to the original carpark that we were at, where we met Charlie and Mat, they were pretty tired after running 10km and sadly Charlie got a cramp in her foot. They told us that it took them 1 hour and 30 minutes which to me sounds...

 Day 16 - Thursday - 4/6/2026 Today we drove from Alice Springs to Uluru except we had one problem, our cousin's car wouldn't start so we had to call roadside assist to come. Before they got there some people helped us and we were able to jump start the car but then the car wouldn't go into gear, so we had to wait for roadside assist to come and fix the car. When they got there, they tried to fix it but didn't have the right tools so they had to go and get them, that's when we left and drove to Uluru and about 1 hour later our cousins left. We stopped at Erldunda for lunch where there were a bunch of Emus, then we left Erldunda and drove the remaining hours to Uluru.  Day 17 - Friday - 5/6/2026 Today at about 8:15 we drove to a carpark very close to Uluru where all the boys went on a bike ride around Uluru. Once we got there, we grabbed our hire bikes and set off. The ride was pretty long, it was 15km and took about 2.5 hours. If you don't know what Uluru is it...

Day 13 - Monday - 1/6/2026 Today we packed up our things and went back to Alice Springs, in the afternoon we did schoolwork and had a swim. The caravan park was jam packed with people for the Finke Desert Race and the first time we went to the pool there was no one there except us but this time there was way more people. Bugge for the Finke Desert Race Day 14 - Tuesday - 2/6/2026 Today we didn't do much, we just did schoolwork and washed the car and finally fixed my watch. Day 15 - Wednesday - 3/6/2026 Today we drove to the Alice Springs Desert Park which had lots of big and small animals that live in the desert. We got there at about 9AM just intime for the nocturnal house talk so we rushed in through the gate to the Nocturnal House. When we got there, we met one of the guides at the park who brought us through the Nocturnal House and told us some facts about the animals like how the Thorny Devil shakes it's body when its walking to make birds of prey think it's a leaf blo...

 Day 12 - Sunday - 31/5/2026 Today we went to Redbank Gorge. When we got to the car park, we pumped up our lilos and headed down the walking track into the gorge. The start of the walk was pretty easy but as we started walking on the sandy riverbed there was a lot of rocks and it took us a while to get across especially since we were carrying lilos and wetsuits with us. Waiting at the water  When we got there, we put all of our things down and put things in our dry bags. Then we launched on our lilos into the freezing water where we paddled through the narrow gorge. At a few spots we had to get out of the water which was pretty hard to do because the rocks were so slippery. Once about three of us got out of the water for the first time grandma decided to bail and we launched of the rock because there was not much space on it. Swimming on the lilo We paddled for a little while longer but then we had to get out of the water again. This time there was a lot more space, so we wait...

Day 10 - Friday - 29/5/2026 Today we drove from Alice Springs to Ormiston Gorge and on the way there we stopped at a few places. The first place we stopped at was called Ellery Creek Big Hole. It was a very short walk into a rock hole with lots of water and rocks. A few people had recently been swimming but sadly we couldn't. Next, we stopped at the Ochre Pits where the aboriginals collected the ochre, ground it up and added water to make it like paint for ceremonies. Then we reached Ormiston Gorge where we went on a ranger guided walk to a lookout where we could see a lot of trees and the riverbed with lots of rocks and people swimming. The walk took about an hour except we didn't do the whole thing, we just went up to the lookout and back instead of through the gorge.  Day 11 - Saturday - 30/5/2026 Today I finally got to sleep in, so I was glad about that. At about ten we went on the same walk as yesterday but this time we did the whole thing where we ended up going in the bi...

Day 8 - Wednesday - 27/5/2026 Today we did another walk at Trephina Gorge this time in the gorge, in my opinion this walk was way better than the ridge top walk because it was shorter and more interesting. The start of the walk was the same as the start of the ridge top walk but the two eventually split off. As we started heading down into the gorge, we noticed some water and thought we might have to cross it and our predictions were correct. We ended up getting a piggyback on our dad to cross it. Near the end of the walk, we got to the aboriginal rock art which was pretty cool. Then we left Trephina Gorge and headed back to Alice Springs where we did schoolwork and then had a swim meanwhile my dad and auntie went shopping. Day 9 - Thursday - 28/5/2026 Today we got up super early and drove about 3 hours to Palm Valley, at the start the road was fine but then it became the worst one I had ever been on because of how bumpy it was. When we got there, we went on a walk around the big valle...