This was published 7 years ago
The best ways to see Uluru and Kings Canyon, Central Australia
By Andrew Bain
Why not see Uluru on a skydive?Credit: iStock
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There are myriad angles to Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon. You can walk around the base of the former and the rim of the latter, watch sunrise and sunset play with Uluru's colour, and delve into the Garden of Eden and a Lost City at Kings Canyon.
But you can also vary the view, seeing these most celebrated and spectacular of desert features from a helicopter, quad bike, the back of a camel, or as you float down from the sky.
Kata Tjuta.
The following are ways to truly rock the Rock.
ULURU CAMEL TOURS
Set sail for Uluru on a ship of the desert. The multi-award-winning Uluru Camel Tours is the largest camel farm in the southern hemisphere, home to around 60 camels.
It runs a variety of camel treks, from dawn rides watching the sun creep over the horizon, to blazing sunsets from the saddle of a camel. Or make the ultimate entrance to the new Field of Light desert art installation by riding in atop a camel.
As you ride over the dunes there are uninterrupted views of Uluru and Kata Tjuta, with cameleers providing interpretation on the flora, fauna and natural history of Uluru and the area as you trek.
While at the camel farm, browse up on Central Australia's long history with camels and the Afghan cameleers who helped open up the outback, visit the working camel saddlery, or time your visit to coincide with camel race day at the farm's permanent racetrack.
See blazing sunsets from the saddle of a camel.
SKYDIVE ULURU
If you thought that seeing Uluru from altitude meant climbing it, think again. The greatest high you can have here - literally - is taking the plunge on a tandem skydive.
A jump with Skydive Uluru is a scenic flight and an unforgettable adventure in one. As the plane climbs to the jump altitude of 12,000 feet, you'll be looking down at a flat sheet of outback country, with Uluru and Kata Tjuta seeming to rise like bubbles from its surface. At this height you can also see Mt Conner, the flat-topped peak often mistaken for Uluru, and the distant white salt bed of Lake Amadeus.
When you exit the plane with your experienced instructor, you will experience 30 seconds of thrilling freefall before the parachute opens for a blissful, silent ride back to terra firma, with the great red rock of Uluru seemingly splayed out below you.
Few places in the world offer such reliably good conditions, making this the perfect introduction to the adventure of skydiving.
Take the plunge at Uluru.
PROFESSIONAL HELICOPTER SERVICES - KINGS CANYON
Kings Canyon is Uluru's companion piece - a chasm almost as deep as Uluru is high, with sheer sandstone cliffs, ancient cycads and the oasis of a permanent waterhole known as the Garden of Eden.
You can walk around its rim, or hike down to the canyon floor, but the best way to get the full perspective of the canyon is with a scenic helicopter tour.
Professional Helicopter Services offers three flights over Kings Canyon well within the reach of most travel budgets. The eight-minute Canyon Dash gives you an aerial peek into the heart of the canyon, where the red cliffs form a horseshoe around the green canyon floor.
A 15-minute flight widens the experience, taking in the canyon and the Garden of Eden, along with the weathered sandstone domes of the Lost City and the nearby flat-topped peak of Carmichael Crag.
Flights operate daily from 8.30am until sunset, and pilots provide full commentary on the landscape and its formation.
Get the full perspective from a helicopter.
This article brought to you by Tourism Central Australia. Discover more about Australia's adventurous Red Centre at http://www.discovercentralaustralia.com
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