Uluru, Northern Territory, travel guide and things to do: Nine highlights

There is so much more to Uluru than the famed Rock itself.Credit: iStock

THE ONE GUIDED WALK

Thanks to the ban on climbing Uluru, all the walking done here is now of a commendable horizontal rather than vertical nature. SEIT Outback Australia runs dawn walking tours beginning with a chance to savour sunrise over the rock as you tuck into breakfast bites and hot bevvies. Then hit the red dirt and explore the rock's most important features, including the Mutitjulu Waterhole, a semi-permanent natural pool. The walk is often accompanied by an Indigenous guide with an intimate knowledge of the monolith and its profound significance to the local Anangu people. See seitoutbackaustralia.com.au; parksaustralia.gov.au

THE ONE ART GALLERY

GOMA, MONA, AGSA …You're nothing in the big-time art world these days without a punchy acronym. The newest attraction at Ayers Rock Resort, or Yulara as it's also known, is GoCA (Gallery of Central Australia) and what it lacks in size it compensates for in impact and initiative. GoCA displays 300 eclectic artworks - all for sale - from established and emerging Indigenous artists from the surrounding Western Desert communities. There's also an excellent gift store, with a strong collection of Indigenous-related books, and you can join a free guided tour of the gallery from 10.30am daily. See ayersrockresort.com.au

THE ONE ROOM WITH A VIEW

Ayers Rock Resort's 218-room Desert Gardens is looking blooming good these days following a soft refurbishment. It even eclipses the somewhat more luxurious Sails in the Desert as the only hotel at the resort with views of the rock from selected rooms set, as the hotel's name suggests, in a beautiful oasis of native bush gardens including some stunning and towering ghost gums.

THE ONE OUTDOOR DINNER

It's one thing delivering city standard food and wine under a roof in such a remote location as Uluru and another entirely to do so under the stars. Cork-screw hats off, then to Ayers Rock Resort for Tali Wiru ("beautiful dune"). At this upscale al fresco desert dinner all four courses are infused with native herbs and spices and served with bush bonhomie by a near-all Indigenous crew. Before dinner enjoy the sunset over Uluru and Kata-Tjuta with the accompaniment of a didgeridoo soloist while looking forward to a post-prandial astronomy show.

THE ONE COOL LUNCH SPOT

Don't worry. There are also plenty of venues where you can enjoy lunch under cover and in air-conditioned comfort, particularly welcome in the hotter months. Aside from the good variety of restaurants and cafes at the centrally-located Town Square (including the drolly-named Ayers Wok Noodle Bar) and at the eateries at the upscale Sails in the Desert hotel, there's also the attractively-designed Mangata Bistro & Bar, meaning "desert quandong" (a fleshy, Vitamin C-rich native fruit) at Desert Gardens.

THE ONE ART INSTALLATION

Field of Light is the light bulb moment of British visual artist Bruce Munro, which twinkles into life in the desert each night and right through. Take a dawn tour to view its final twinkles of his spectacular art installation while at the same time witnessing the Uluru sunrise. The work consists of an extraordinary 50,000 light bulbs, illuminated in different colours under the "blanket of stars" and set on slender stems that gently sway whenever there's a desert breeze.

THE ONE ART CLASS

Between October and March, guests at Ayers Rock Resort can join the daily two-hour Maruku Arts dot painting workshop. Create your own piece, which you're welcome to keep, as Indigenous artists, through an interpreter, explain their techniques and the meaning of the ancient symbols, depicting Creation Time (Tjukurpa) stories featured in their distinctive world-renowned art.

THE ONE LUXE STAY

Sails in the Desert, Uluru's classic five-star hotel with its striking white spinnaker-like shade cloth roofing, has undergone an overdue $50 million makeover since most of us have been gone. An icon of Australian tourism architecture from the 1980s, the upgrade includes refurbished rooms with new bathrooms and some with renovated terraces. Its lkari Restaurant offers an easy-going, and excellent, evening buffet dinner while the Walpa Lobby Bar is perfect for a drink and a casual feed.

THE ONE DETOUR

Consider adding another night to your stay to allow for a proper visit to Kata Tjuta, a spectacular 45-minute drive from Yulara with viewing spots enroute. Meaning "many heads", this companion monolith is composed of three dozen steep-sided domes, with its sunrises and sunsets rivalling those of UIuru. Kata Tjuta's eerie Valley of the Winds envelopes walkers within its monumental towering formations. See parksaustralia.gov.au

ONE MORE THING…

Now is a wise time to visit Uluru, and not just because of the more forgiving daytime temperatures at this time of year. International tourists are yet to return in the numbers experienced before the pandemic.

Anthony Dennis visited Uluru as a guest of Ayers Rock Resort.