Kata Tjuta - Valley of the Winds — Attraction in Petermann

📍Kata Tjuṯa - Valley of the Winds walk

🥾 7.4km grade 4 hike

On a gloomy morning we headed to the Kata Tjuṯa Dunes Viewing Area to watch a non-existent sunrise with about 200 other people 😂

We then popped in to the sunset viewing area to use the toilet facilities 🚽 as there are none once you arrive to start the hike. We luckily arrived right before two tour buses so we beat the rush 🫣

When we started the hike the weather was pretty ordinary - drizzling rain but nothing too bad - so we soldiered on and soon found out why it was called the Valley of the Winds 🌪️😂

It was very windy walking to the first lookout - Karu lookout - which is 1.1km (2.2km return) into the walk. If mobility is an issue this part of the walk is grade 3 and very easy and you can still appreciate the amazing views and rock formations.

From here we decided to keep going and continue to Karingana lookout. This was our fave part of the hike. You will truly experience some of the most amazing views on this hike and once you reach the lookout it is next level amazing. Just wow!! It’s also a lot less windy on this part of the hike.

We had a lot of company at the lookout as the two tour buses of people had caught up to us (blame Mel and her photography addiction 📷🤦🏼‍♀️).

After taking our time appreciating the epic views we continued on the rest of the circuit. Tip 💡: from this point It is much easier to do the whole circuit than retracing your steps.

The rest of the walk is mostly downhill and flat (until the approach back to Karu lookout) and just a nice walk. ☝🏼 Just remember to stop and turn around because that is where the amazing views...

After we viewed the sunrise at the Kata Tjuta dunes viewing point we did this walk.

We had a hire vehicle (Thrifty via RACQ) and it's easy enough to purchase permits into the national park online.

We did the full loop however went the opposite way to the suggested route. Thought process was to get the sunniest part done first and finish with the more shaded areas.

There are some steep/rocky areas. Doing it as early as possible made it more enjoyable due to the temperature. It gets far too hot some days and closes if the temperature gets too high.

A few things to consider packing: water (we had 2litres per person) electrolytes hat fly veil sunscreen bandana for the neck/face sunnies long sleeve shirt pants that cover the full leg phone with full battery and memory space 😉

The chance of browning or turning into a lobster is up there if you choose not to be sun smart. 🦞

In short, it is a nice walk however the sun bites and only some areas are shaded.

There are no bins or toilets. Before arriving, consider the toilet stop you drive by on your way...

Well what can I say and where do I start about this beautiful place. Breathtaking, peaceful,colourful, ahhhh the serenity!! This is one of those places that I cannot write a review about because it needs to be seen to really take it all in. My wife and I found ourselves just staring into the landscape with no words. Starting from the sheer enormity of it all, the changing of all the surrounding colours as the day progressed during our walk. My camera was on steroids trying to capture everything so we wouldn't forget even a location of a twig on the ground. Uluru was beautiful but this place has something else about it. Once you get up to the top and see the valley below the you get an idea how big the actually place really is. Its amazing that a rocks colour can change so much in the space of a few hours, I look back through my photos and see that every frame is changing before my eyes. it was very hot but we managed to get the walk done before the peak heat hit. This is a place that needs to be on every Australians bucket list, highly...