Rock of ages, mighty Uluru
Uluru is ever changing.
The Uluru-Ayers Rock you see as you drive towards it early in the morning seems to have a completely different character to the great, red body of rock that you see even a few minutes later, as you turn the bend by the Uluru Cultural Centre.
Not only does it change colour - from mauve to red, from dark to light, with clouds shading it in ever- changing patterns - but it seems to change in spirit, in energy, in essence.
I have seen Uluru a number of times before and always expected to be underwhelmed (we've all seen the photographs and postcards, haven't we) and it has always taken me by surprise.
It is somewhere fundamental - somewhere for every Australian to come.
And it is completely remarkable - not only on every visit but every day during that visit, every hour within those days.
Even after walking for 3 1/2 hours around the 10km base, when I catch a glimpse of it in the vehicle's rear-view mirror as I drive away, it's like seeing something new.
There is no sense of being done with it.
Geologically, Uluru is a sedimentary sandstone formation which, at 348m, is as tall as a 95-storey building.
Over millions of years the land around this harder formation has eroded, leaving it rising out of the flat central desert - what we see today started to appear about 100 million years ago.
Technically speaking, Uluru is an inselberg, or island mountain, and a mix of mostly feldspar, with up to 35 per cent quartz and then some rock fragments.
Spiritually, for the Anangu traditional owners of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, it is the centre of the universe and the home of the Earth Mother.
Tjukurpa - the ancestral period when the world was being formed - is central to Anangu life and the tjukurpa story at Uluru involves Mala (the hare wallaby), Kuniya (woma python) and Liru (poisonous snake).
In terms of tourism, it is of course one of Australia's three big must-do icons.
More than 400,000 people a year visit Uluru-Ayers Rock and more than 60 per cent of them from overseas - ticking off one corner of the triangle . . . "the rock, the reef and the Opera House".
Anangu people ask that visitors don't climb this World Heritage Site, out of respect as a sacred place and also for safety reasons. At least 35 people have died doing so.
In 1985, the Hawke government granted the Anangu freehold title of Uluru and Kata Tjuta - the Olgas - and the Anangu people leased the land back to the Commonwealth Government for 99 years to be jointly run as Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
In 1993, the agreed joint name became "Ayers Rock/Uluru", the former coming from surveyor William Gosse naming it for the then chief secretary for South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers in 1873.
In 2002, the official name was reversed to "Uluru/Ayers Rock".
The Olgas are also known as Kata Tjuta. Within sight of Uluru-Ayers Rock, their 36 domes always remind me of a pile of soft, rounded babies.
The Olgas - Kata Tjuta are like a pile of soft, rounded babies / Pictures: Stephen Scourfield
Formed perhaps 850 million years ago, these granulite forms were thrust northwards over metamorphic rocks some 550 million years ago.
Although both Uluru and the Kata Tjuta are made of sediment, both have a chemical composition similar to granite.
Scientists date them at 600 million years old.
At the Olgas, there's a 2.6km return walk into Walpa Gorge, the quite demanding 7.4km full circuit walk, or just a 2.2km stroll up the Valley of the Winds to the Karu Lookout.
And I am at that lookout now, looking over these baby bumps and back towards Uluru. And from here, it looks quite different again.
Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia has a number of events in 2014.
The inaugural Tjungu Festival is from April 24-27. Tjungu means meeting or coming together in local Anangu language and the three-day festival will celebrate indigenous culture.
There will be indigenous musicians and bands, a fashion parade, a movie montage of indigenous film, and food.
The Outback Fest is from May 3-4, with the Uluru Camel Cup Race day and its Fashions on the Field.
It ends with an Outback Ball under the night sky.
The fifth Australian Outback Marathon is on July 26, with entrants from every continent running the red dirt near Uluru and Kata Tjuta.
Low humidity and minimal light pollution gives great night skies and the Astronomy Weekend from August 22-24 will be led by world experts and include discussions on the structure of the cosmos and more.
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There is a range of accommodation at Ayers Rock Resort, at Yulara.
Sails in the Desert is at the five-star, luxury end, with very comfortable and well-appointed refurbished rooms, lovely gardens, a big swimming pool area and both the Ilkari Restaurant and Mayu A-La-Carte Dining.
The 4½-star Voyages Desert Gardens Hotel is set in gardens with ghost gums and flowering shrubs, with poolside and deluxe rooms which look out over the desert. There are private balconies and courtyard, bars and the Arnguli Grill, specialising in flame-grilled fare.
Emu Walk Apartments are self-contained, with separate kitchen, living and bedroom areas, and can take up to six people.
Outback Pioneer Hotel and Lodge has 3½-star hotel or two-star lodge accommodation - comfortable, affordable rooms, cabins and dormitories.
There is also the grassed and pleasant campground, with all amenities. There are cabins, powered and unpowered sites and family rates. ayersrockresort.com.au.
