Kata Tjuta
Northern Territory, Australia
By Reece Masters
Location
Kata Tjuta is located in about the middle of Australia and the south west corner of the Northern Territory. It is in a very desert like and dry area also known as the Australian outback
Desciption
Kata Tjuta is located in a very dry area of Australia. The surroundings are very flat and dry, There are few trees in this area but lots of dry bushes and grass patches. These rocks massive rocks are made of a mix of sandstone and granite which makes them have a reddish tint to them. There are 36 domes in all and they cover 12 square miles. The highest point is Mt. Olga which is 3,497 ft above sea level. In Kata Tjuta National Park there are many trails for tourist to visit these rocks. The trails wind in around these giant rocks.
Kata Tjuta sky view
This is a view from the sky of the sun setting on Kata Tjuta
Plains around rocks
Another view from the sky but this picture shows how odd these rocks are because of how flat the surroundings are.
Sun setting down on the rocks
The best time to view these massive rocks is late in the afternoon to see the sunset. That's when most tourist like to view the national park.
History
Kata Tjuta is known to be the home of the Australian Aborigines. For more than 22,000 years the Aboriginal people have been known to live around these giant rocks. Until around the 1950,s they started to get tourist and miners. They push out the Aboriginal people and they scatter away from these rocks into to other places in central Australia. In the 1970's the increasing numbers of tourist and miners started having terrible effects on the surrounding environment. Not until 1979 was it recognized that this was a sacred place to the Aboriginal people and a national park was put in place to keep Kata Tjuta in a good condition.
Sacredness
Kata Tjuta means many heads to the Aboriginal people. The Aborigines identify Mt. Olga the home of the snake Wanambi. In the rainy season they believe the snake stays curled up inside a waterhole at the top of Mt. Olga. In dry season the snake comes down of the mountain to the gorge down below. They believe the dark lines on the eastern side of the mountain are the snakes beard. The wind is his breath and when the snake gets angry it can turn into a hurricane. Every single domed rock has a meaning to them for example on the eastern side they are known to be mice women and on the southwest side they are known as poisonous snake men.