Ayer's Rock

Why does Ayer’s Rock Change in color?

The color of Ayer’s Rock alters continually according to the atmospheric conditions and the changing angle of the sun. The rock is an immense sandstone boulder rising 1,143 feet out of the flames of the plain near the center of Australia.

It normally re, and measures over five miles round the base with relatively gentle slopes which can be easily scaled. The most dramatic effects occur at sunrise, when the sun’s ray inflame the rock to a burning crimson, and at sunset, when marvellous purple shadows overlay the glowing blood-red monolith. The colours of the rock vary from a yellowish ochre through all the various shades of oranges and reds to a deep purple and to black.

Ayer’s rock is now one of Australia’s most popular tourist attractions, through visitors of one kind or another have been travelling far for centuries to see the massive shape. There was a time when it was regarded  with great awe as a religious shrine.  People from the local tribes came to the caves around its base to worship and to decorate the walls with paintings.

The rock was discovered by an Englishman, W.G. Gosse, in 1873 and named after Sir Henry Ayers, then Prime Minister of South Australia. The spot was so remote and inaccessible that for years few people ever visited the rock. Now they come by car and aeroplane and the rock forms part of the Ayer’s Rock – Mount Olga National Park, 487 square miles in area, where the local plant and animal life is strictly protected.

Desert oak, mulga, mallee, bloodwood and spinifex are some of the exotic names of plants that grow here. No less strange are the names and appearance of the animals – kangaroo, wallbay, bandicoot and euros.