Yulara - December 2015

How about a post about Yulara, with a population including the local Mutitjulu community of just over 2000 people, this service town is quite a substantial town for Central Australia. Yulara grew out of the need to move the, then basic facilities, away from the base of Uluru. Somewhat unusually for our politicians there must have been someone with some foresight pulling the strings, as they decided to situate the new town around 20 kilometres from Uluru, with the low rise town built into the dunes it means that its virtually undetectable from Uluru, the rock though can still easily be seen from one of the many lookouts on the surrounding dunes.

The foyer of Sails in the Desert.

The hotel.

There is the odd Ghost Gum at Yulara.

Yulara has plenty of options for accommodation and eating, and while all of them are expensive you have to keep it in perspective, you are in the middle of the desert 450 kilometres from Alice Springs, the nearest town with any facilities. When I first visited Yulara years ago it was a very sterile and sanitised place where the tourists were more or less separated from the surrounding country and its people. The good thing is that now days the environment is a feature of the stay and also that there are plenty of the local Anangu working in town.

The pool by day.

And the pool by night.

A humpy at Yulara.

When at Yulara the feral traveller chooses to dine at....

We stayed at Sails in the Desert on this trip, like I've mentioned before we stayed here almost exactly 25 years ago on our honeymoon. Sail's has the best pool at the resort (although we've never stayed at Longitude 131 which is pretty flash) the new pool fence detracts from the ambience a bit though I reckon. With a price north of $300 a night its not a cheap place to stay but even if you're not staying there its worth checking out the foyer with its indigenous art. Apart from the hotel we also ate at the Kuluta Academy Cafe, a cafe that provides training to the local Anangu kids to help them find employment and most importantly has great service, food and coffee.

Storms in the desert.

About 2 kilometres from Uluru is the excellent cultural centre, it's a great place to visit before you check out the rock or Kata Tjuta. They have a great display tracing the story of Uluru from the dreamtime to current times, if you're more interested in the Western story then National Parks have an office there as well, you can also check out a nice gallery or have a feed at the cafe, it's an easy place to lose a few hours. Due to cultural reasons I didn't take any photos at the cultural centre.

Part of the impressive board walk at the new sunrise viewing area at Uluru.

A different view of the rock.

The traditional sunset shot.

Like I mentioned before Uluru is around 20 kilometres from Yulara, Kata Tjuta is about 53 kilometres from Yulara as well so you definitely need some transport. All the main roads in the park are sealed so a normal car is fine for getting around. The other advantage of organising your own car is that you can get away from the crowds a bit, its my idea of hell being stuck on a tour bus and herded around like sheep, I reckon you'd miss the essence of the place if you see it like that.

There were plenty of these White Plumed Honeyeaters in the grounds of the hotel.

The Dirt.

Like I mentioned we stayed at Sails in the Desert, the hotel still scrubs up fairly well although I suppose it could use a bit of an injection of money and love as it is fraying around the edges a little, I'm being really picky though. It's not cheap staying at Yulara, we paid over $300 a night for our king room, but you could easily pay more for a flasher room. There is a camp ground, back packers and a couple of cheaper accommodation options in town but they are all relatively pricey. There is also a very swish place called Longitude 131, it looks great but at well over a grand per night per person with a two night minimum its a little out of my league, it's nice to dream though. It costs $25 for a three day pass to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, a $25 well spent in my opinion.

Our room at Sails.

Part of the extensive gardens at Sails, this is taken from our balcony.

And we'll finish with some more Ghost Gums.