Glowing in the dark

Our second day in the Red Centre was spent at Kata Tjuta (formerly known as The Olgas).  When I last visited this knobby formation in 2000 the popular “Valley of the Winds” walking track had been closed due to extreme heat.  This time Garry and I were in luck.  We walked through the sculpted valleys that make up this extraordinary landmark as far as the equally spectacular Karingana Lookout before retracing our steps.

Along the way, nature put on a special show for us.  We stopped at a water station to enjoy a moment of shade. As we stood, one by one, a flock of native Zebra Finches flew in from surrounding trees to drink from puddles at the base of the water tap.  For almost 10 minutes we had the entire experience to ourselves before hikers came into view and scared the birds away. It was awesome!

That evening we booked a dinner tour that saw us enjoy canapes on top of sand dunes as the sun set over Uluru.  This was followed by dinner under the stars before spending almost an hour wandering through the Field of Lights.  Sadly, the food was a bit of a disappointment.  At least, compared to the Sounds of Silence dinner that I’d enjoyed 19 years earlier.

This artwork is impressive.  It was created as a temporary exhibit by British artist, Bruce Munro.  It consists of more than 300,000 individual components, including more than 380kms of optical fibre.  The fibres glow in the dark, progressively changing colour and lighting more 50,000 light stems spread across the desert floor.  The entire installation covers more than 40,000sqm and is powered by 36 solar panels.