Ayers Rock
 

Happy New Year,
SUNSET VS SUNRISE. GIVEN THE CHOICE, WHICH WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AT AYERS ROCK & THE OLGAS.
THANKS,
JOHN

Hi, Yanker!

I guess the time of year is a facor here, but as a general rule, sunrise: the coolness of the morning and the insect factor (fewer as the dawn breaks) are my reasons for choosing this.

Watching sunset at the Rock with a few drinks for happy hour is a good experience.

We found we didn't feel like getting up early enough to see sunrise. The tours leave awfully early. Check the times -- you may be a bit shocked. Note that we were travelling with children and the teenagers in particular are not early risers. Had we been just adults, we would have forced ourselves to get up. Anyway, we saw sunset one night at the Rock and one night at the Olgas. Both were lovely.

We saw both sunset and sunrise at Uluru. Of the two events, sunset was the more impressive.

The viewing area at Kata Tjuta is only good for sunset, I think. It's the wrong side for sunrise.

We haven't been yet, but we're doing sunrise at Ayers Rock, and sunset at the Olgas followed by the SOunds of Silence dinner...

I'd recommend going out to the sunset viewing area and then seeing sunrise from Yulura. Not nearly as close but there are viewing points in Yulura near the visitors' centre and in the campground.

The dawn trip is a shock to the system jet lag wise but worth it. The Sounds of Silence dinner was touristy but fun, especially for tourists. Loved how the parrots landed by the hotel pool in the evening for water. What a great country!
Been there twice in 3 years and will return!

We got back from Ayers Rock last week. We did both sunrise and sunset at Ayers Rock and sunset at the Olgas.
Sunrise at Ayers Rock was fun, but the viewing point is rather crowded.... I reccomend getting a tour that lets you get on top of a bus or a trailer, so you can actually see the sun coming up from the horizon and a good view of the Rock.

Sunset at Ayers Rock was OK as we were hit by the storm. The viewing area is crowded for the tour bus parking lots. If you like quiet viewing, rent a car and watch it from the private parking space. It has less people and a better view.

Another good spot to view the sunset/ sunrise is the look out spots that they have at the Ayers Rock Resorts. We woke up early (30 minutes before sunrise so not as early as the time the tours depart) and went to the look out at Emu Walk Apartments and the Uluru Look Out. The Emu lookout had a great view of the Olgas, the Ayers Rock was small, but it was still quiet and peaceful to watch it. Since you're quite far away, you can get a "bigger picture" and watch how the colors change. The Olgas was amazing; it turned from pink to red in the 30 minutes we were there...and then we went back to bed... so if you don't want to wake up too early but still want to see the changing color, check out the look out spots, there are several within the resort and all provide different "faraway" views of the Olgas and Ayers Rock...and it's free.