Our first outing today was to the 'town' in the Ayers Rock resort for some supplies, which was a little odd in itself to find a shopping centre with a post office and cafe's in the middle of the desert! Once we were all stocked up it was time to head back into the national park and take ourselves off to the second major attraction in the area - Kata Tjuta or The Olgas; a collection of massive rock formations, the tallest of which is two hundred metres taller than Ayers Rock.

When we arrived we immediately set off along the "Valley of the Winds" walk as we had read that we should allow several hours for the six kilometre loop trek and unlike yesterday's walk that skirted around the edge of Ayers Rock, this one took us right into the heart of some of the rock formations. The initial climb was on fairly smooth ground and after the brief ascent we soon came to the first lookout point, before the walkway descended deep into the valley. Not only was the drop quite steep in places but the pathway become nothing more than a bed of rocks so we had to be very careful with our footing until we reached the bottom and allowed ourselves a look back over where we had just come.

From here the pathway forked out to either side and we headed around to the right as the water station was nearer and we soon found ourselves not knowing which way we were supposed to go next. The small arrows that we had been following had suddenly disappeared and we were faced with what looked like a dried up waterfall to our left and a giant wall of rock to our right. It was only after climbing up the waterfall (literally climbing on hands and knees up a near vertical rock face trying not to fall backwards) that we could see another sign telling us that indeed we had made the right choice. We had been told that the track was steep in places but we hadn't imagined we would be carrying out a vertical climb at any stage!

We continued on as the path snaked around the rock while the sides of the walls towered above us until we were standing at the bottom of a large staircase of jagged rocks and overgrown scrub. When we made it to the top we could see were right in the middle of the valley now and there were spectacular views out in front of us towards more rock stacks as they rose out of the desert floor like gigantic mole hills. Even though it was only just after midday we could still see the moon in the sky above the domes, which is something that has taken us a long time to get used to out here. We also found out exactly why it was called the 'Valley of the Winds' walk as every now and then the wind picked up and we could almost lean completely into it without falling over!

We stayed at the top of the lookout area while we had our picnic lunch of lemon curd sandwiches and water before heading down between the rocks again and out onto the desert floor, where we could see even more of these giant domes. The walk continued through more low lying scrub and the little vegetation that exists out here before rising again as we made our way back around the edge of the rock once more. By the time we got back to the fork in the path we decided that we needed a rest in the sun for a while before tackling the rocky climb back up to the car park.

As the walk hadn't taken us as long as we had expected we headed around to the Olga Gorge walking trail, which was a much shorter return track passed Mount Olga - the tallest of the rocky structures. The mid afternoon sun was flooding the gorge and casting huge shadows along one side of the ravine as we headed off along the rocky pathway and we really got a sense of scale as the rock seemed to stretch on forever above our heads. It made the mass of Ayers Rock yesterday seem like little more than a pebble!

When we got towards the end of the path there was a sudden burst of green as the floor was taken over by some small shrubs which had obviously found a water source and some shelter from the sun. There were even some flowers sprouting up here and there to provide further contrast to the red of the desert floor and the rock walls. The path continued a little further and then led up to a wooden viewing platform that looked out through the 'V' of the valley, but after the first walk we had done it seemed a little tame.

On the way back to the start of the track there were a few people sitting up against the side of the gorge and they looked like small specks against the mass of the rock, and out back over the car park we could see for miles and miles over flat featureless terrain. The whole area around here is a land of contrast as the rock monoliths sprout out of nowhere and all around is as flat as if somebody levelled the area with a bloody huge steam roller or something.

Our next stop was the sunset viewing platform that was just off the main road in as we decided to watch the sunset behind the rocks rather than having it setting behind us as it had done at Ayers Rock. However, when we arrived at the viewing area we were immediately set upon by hundreds of flies (and they were the really small, fast ones that you can't swat away) s we turned around and headed back to the other viewing area instead. On the way we saw a herd of camels (herd/flock/group...whatever) in the bush and ticked off another on our 'animals we've seen in the wild' list.

As the sun set behind us the rocks began to turn a dark red but for some reason it seemed much more powerful than it had done a couple of nights ago at Ayers Rock. Maybe it was because we were close to the rocks this time, or maybe the sky was clearer and the sun appeared stronger, or maybe it was just the angle that the rocks were at, but either way it was spectacular to see the changes in the rock.

Once the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon we packed up and headed back to camp were we are now resting up ready to move on tomorrow to Kings Canyon for yet more trekking.