Round red rocks of Kata Tjuta, Australia by Rietje Bulthuis

Round, red rocks of the Kata Tjuta, Australia. Valley of the wind. Kata Tju?a, also known as Mount Olga of the Olgas, is a rock formation in Central Australia, in the Ulu?u-Kata Tju?a National Park, located in the Northern Territory.

Kata Tju?a means many heads in the language of the local Anangu-Aborigines. It is a formation of about thirty rocks, of which the highest is more than 500 meters high. Geological research has shown that Kata Tju?a is part of an enormous underground rock formation, which also includes Ulu?u. The rock formation is of the inselberg type.

The colour of Kata Tju?a varies from red to yellow ochre under the changing light. This is due to the oxidation of the metal in the rock, this is probably because the red center used to be a sea. Without this oxidation, the rock would not be there at all because otherwise it would have disappeared due to erosion.
According to the Aborigines, on the highest rock of Kata Tju?a a mythological snake, called Wanambi, lives in a water hole close to the top. The hairs of the snake are the dark lines on the east side of the rock. The wind blowing through the many holes in the rock is his breath. If the snake is very angry it swells up to a hurricane.