Heading to Ayres Rock, what else to see an do

Yes got friends doing same thing before the rock is closed and because of the unreliability of access they, like you will hang out for a few days to ensure the trip is not wasted.

As a result the plan is to go straight to Ayers rock , do the climb, and then decide on rest of trip considering the remaining time.

We did Boggy hole track and then the back way up to Alice which starts 1/2 way along the main Ayers rock road. Plenty of camping and a lovely , not to hard track. Takes about a day.

Not a lot in Alice - but its fun to drive the unlimited speed section north of Alice if you have time left.

If you still have spare time then head out to Ruby Gap N.E. of Alice for a really good day or overnight trip

Beware of midges. Was up there 2 weeks ago and got stealth attacked.
And make sure you drive on the left hand side of the road :) you'll know what I mean when you get up there.

You can't miss the West McDonnell Ranges so head in that way from Alice to the Uluru. If you have a few days after, I would suggest popping out to see Rainbow Valley and Chambers Pillar - the pillar makes a beautiful sunset and sunrise location for unique photographs and has a unique remote feel yet so close to reach (with a 4WD). Grab our app and you'lll find it easy to plan on the go - as icons with all the trip planning info, photos, and reviews for what's nearby your current position is easily accessible from the map - works online and offline on any tablet or phone, or Windows 10 with GPS.

Look at the blogs of "Motherhen" under blogs in the Menu. Her blog helped me out several years ago when we did a similar trip and I asked the same question
Some people find Kings Canyon is more inspiring thena Uluru. As Michelle said, the West Mac ranges are pretty special, but depends if you are into walking. After our trip I went back a couple of years later and over a couple of trips walked the 230km of the West Macs.
Good suggestions regading Lamberts Centre, Dalhousie Springs, Oodnadatta, Painted Desert as above

We were there for 3 days last June and it was closed every day. Either too windy or "it might rain" (it didn't). You may be lucky, you may be unlucky - if you really want to climb it you might need to have a "plan B" in case it's close for the 3-4 days you are there.

As seen within comments above, there are lots of outstanding places of natural environmental beauty to see in that central Oz region. Those that would feature topmost on our list include:

The Olgas...blew me away...much more impressive than Ayers Rock for mine (and, more rock for your $...bigger and higher ! :-)...the Valley of The Winds walk is not long, but quite outstanding. Its worth reading up on the geological origins of this area...an example... [ http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/national-parks/uluru-kata-tjuta-national-park/natural-environment/geology ]. Oh...and...as I recall, the Olgas seem 'just over there', but its a 100km round trip drive from Yulara !

Kings Canyon...again, impressive. The 6km rim walk is a feature...well worth the time.

Ormiston Gorge...head and shoulders above the other gorges along the Namatjira Drive ....this is an impressive gorge on a grand scale.

Palm Valley...a curiosity, re the palms but worth dropping in, if passing that area. You have to drive along the sandy bed of the Finke* for quite some km's...check conditions prior**.
*you can't drive along the world's oldest river anywhere else !
**not an issue generally...quite firm...we took our van in, years back.

Gosse Bluff...one doesn't get to see an asteroid crater every day ! Well worth the visit (you can drive into it). A look at web sites such as the following is worth the time [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gosses_Bluff_crater ] ...especially the bit about how big the crater was at formation...(we now just have the relatively minor remnant :-)

Have great time...can't go wrong up there !

Not in the same vein as other replies, but if you are spending a day or so in Alice, do try the Tinh & Lan Vietnamese garden restaurant out near the airport. Definitely worth the trip.

Cheers,

Mark

Check out MyBlogs (2008) of what we saw and did in Central Australia.

Awesome, thats heaps guys for all the input and suggestions, really looking forward to this trip as a precursor for doing 3-4mths away maybe in 2020, where we head to Darwin turn left and head down to Perth along the coast and then back to Melb.

With so much to see up that way this quick trip will at least give us an extra couple of weeks in 2020 to see some more thing we got too see and do this time.

Seems like it’s going to be a pretty popular destination this year with many...friends just tried booking into the campground at Yulara for several nights in the second week of July (school holidays for Qld & possibly other states also i’d guess), they only had single night sites available in both the powered and unpowered area, they would need to move sites each day if they wanted to be there more then one night. Apparently there is an overflow dirt ground area available that is abit of a walk to the amenities, but they don’t take bookings for it our friend was informed. Hopefully the crowds will have eased some when we are there later in the year.