How can you travel through Australia for months without stopping by the most famous rock in the world you’re asking? Well the answer’s simple: you just can’t…And this is how we decided to go on a bit of adventure in the Australian outback.

Several options were offered to us but we decided to go for Territory Thrifty Car Rental. Hiring a car clearly gave us more flexibility to visit the places we found the most interesting as we went on. We landed in Ayers Rock, picked up our impressive four-wheel drive from the Airport and there we were, ready to embark ourselves on a 6-day trip to Alice Springs.

First Stop: Uluru. Also known as Ayers Rock, Uluru is the world’s biggest monolith, being 3.6 km long and rising 867 metres above the sea level. It took us close to 3 hours and a good 3 litres of water to go around it at a reasonable pace.

Climbing the rock is possible although not recommended as it is considered by the Anangu (the local aborigines) as a sacred site. In any case, make sure you take plenty of water and sunscreen before you go!!

Before heading to the local pub, don’t miss out on the most spectacular attraction of the day: the sunset. As the sun sets, the rock surprisingly changes from its usual ochre-brown colour to a burnishing orange one. Alternatively you can always wait for the sunrise which should give you as much magic.

Aviva, posing for posterity.

Kata Tjuta (The Olgas)

30 km to the west of Uluru is another sacred site called Kata Tjuta (literally “many heads”), an interesting bunch of smaller and more rounded rocks. We strongly recommend the 3-hour walk which will take you to some breathtaking lookouts and unique spots. If you do have enough time, make sure you get up before dawn to see the sun rise on the Olgas.

Kings Canyon

Heading North to Kings Canyon, we take a little break on the way at a look-out at the large table-top mountain Mt Conner (see Aviva below) before driving all the way to our next real stop: Watarrka National Park (Kings Canyon).

Kings Canyon is one of the most spectacular sights in Central Australia, and probably in the World. The 4-hour walk certainly is worth the ride and the swim break in the Garden of Eden is a refreshing as a bath in the middle of the desert. Priceless.

West MacDonnell National Park

Passed Kings Canyon, the 4-wheel drive becomes indispensable. Taking the Mereenie Loop, a dirt uncommonly red track that goes through an aboriginal reserve, can be quite an experience in itself.

The West MacDonnell Range is filled with spectacular gorges and fine walks. We both agree to say that this part of the trip was probably the best of all.

Travelling through the Australian Outback can sometimes lead to a few interesting observations about the way Australians set their priorities. In the most isolated campground you could ever find, where there might not even be drinking water available, you will however unrelentingly find a handful of gas barbeques ready to be used...The ozzy way mate!

On the way, you will come across a heap of waterholes, all worth the stop, such as Ellery Creek Big Hole or Ormiston Gorge waterhole. Those waterholdes allow wildlife to survive within this dry area. The walks to get to the waterholes are awesome and though quite long (between 2 and 4 hours for the shortest ones), we strongly recommend that if you have a bit of time ahead of you you actually do them. Alternatively you can alway go straight for the waterholes to relax, have a swim and admire the landscape.

We had the chance to see a couple of black foot wallabies within this beautiful landscape.