Christmas / New Year at Uluru

Not a good time to be in the outback - Hot as hell and water, water, water!!

Uluru temperatures here. You would need to be very well prepared for the possibility of extreme heat and very low humidity, both of which can be life threatening if you have a mishap.

Cheers,

Val

Good advice. Trip postponed for 7 months till the cooler months.

Chanticleer,
We just did the centre and although we allowed 6 weeks we could have taken longer. Especially in the East MacDonnell’s. Not sure how you are travelling but we had our off road camper trailer and stayed at some brilliant places and were able to travel on some fantastic tracks. Weather wise it was very, very cold. But the days were beautiful. Being in a camper mornings of minus 5 really tested us. But I would hate to do the trip in summer as some of the walks would be a killer. So depending on how you are travelling, you could easily spend the full 6 weeks just in the centre.
Kevin

Gday,
I have to disagree......thats a great time to go camping in the centre. You dont get all the tourists! LOL
Just camp near water and you wille fine......its only heat.

Cheers

A trip like this is doable, but you need to hold a few winning cards, so that it doesn't become a disaster.

I find high temps/low humidity more appealing than high humidity/moderate temps. The dry heat can be tolerable, as long as you have ample water, and somewhere cool, like a reliable airconned vehicle to retreat too.

But if you strike some extreme weather, like 45 deg plus everyday, it would make it hard to "smell the roses". They'd have have died and shrivelled up long before before you got there. These extremes will make things hard for your vehicle too, and if you happen to break down, it could be a miserable few hours, or longer, till you're rescued.

One other thing, if it hasn't rained, the terrain can look quite stark, and unfriendly, giving you a false impression, and hiding the actual beautiful qualities of those areas.

Bob.

Dear Chanticleer,
Did the Centre last year in November and early December. We were lucky as it had been raining for three weeks before we arrived. So had three weeks of perfect weather- mid 20's most of the time. I had been told to expect heat and so prepared for it. Carried spare water (60 lts). Decanted it into 2 litre flasks and refilled every time we finished a walk- You will drink plenty. Sun off gear- umbrellas were most useful. Most of the walks will need to done very early. Getting up at 5 ish to start walking and be finished late morning avoiding the heat.
But the biggest problem is the FLIES you will need fly veils- bought from our shop at Explore Oz, and some Deet repellant. Hopefully there might be a cold snap before you arrive- kills off the flies.
Hope all goes well for you
Regards,
Stanley