Uluru’s dormant waterfalls have come to life thanks to rain in the region.
Key points:
- Uluru recorded 14 mm of rainfall in a 24-hour period
- The waterfalls come to life, mainly on the east side of the monolith
- Steve Baldwin of Parks Australia says Uluru’s appearance changes in wet water
The meteorological office recorded 14 millimeters of the desert icon in the 24 hours before 9 a.m. Thursday.
Parks Australia Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park representative Steve Baldwin said cloud cover had affected the rock’s visibility.
“I’m outside, a few hundred meters from the rock and probably a third [it] it is completely covered by the cloud, “he said.
Latent waterfalls come to life after rain in Uluru. (Provided by: Rachel Frearson)
“It’s almost translucent in appearance.”
Baldwin said the rain hadn’t stopped people from visiting it.
“What it does is it attracts people,” he said.
“I would think people would stay away when there is wet weather, but we had over 50 people on our Mala walk this morning,” he said.
Baldwin said most of the waterfalls were on the east side of Uluru.
“Those that are easily visible are in the walkway area of the Mala car park,” he said.
“That’s where you see, literally, 10 to 20 waterfalls and the biggest one in Kantju Gorge,” he said.
Uluru was surrounded by clouds after rain fell in the region. (Provided by: Rachel Frearson)
Baldwin said only one in 100 people could see rain on the rock.
“It’s weird for us, we push it hard,” he said.
“It’s absolutely phenomenal because noise and visual spectacle is something you can’t experience anywhere else.”
Emotional experience
Frequent visitor John Carty said that he had been to Uluru about 20 times and that he had dreamed of seeing him wet.
Rain creates a waterfall in Uluru. (Provided by: Rachel Frearson)
He said it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
“You’re watching the passage of time as you watch the dripping water that has shaped this monolith for millions of years,” he said.
Mr. Carty said it was an emotional experience.
“I felt strangely intimate,” she said.
“Everyone was walking around Uluru smiling like children.”