Yulara, Northern Territory
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| Yulara Northern Territory |
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 Yulara from helicopter in August 2004 |
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| Population: | 3,000 |
| Location: |
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| State District: | MacDonnell |
| Federal Division: | Lingiari |
Yulara ( ) is an isolated town in Australia's Northern Territory with approximately 3,000 inhabitants. More than three quarters of the residents of Yulara are from either overseas or another Australian state. The name is derived from a local Aboriginal word for howling and dingos.[citation needed] It is 18 km by road from world heritage site Uluru and 55 km from Kata Tjuta. It is located in the Northern Territory electorate of MacDonnell and the federal electorate of Lingiari.
It is home to the busiest tourist resort in Australia, Ayers Rock Resort.
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[edit] History
In early 1970, the pressure of unstructured and unmonitored tourism was having detrimental effects on the environment surrounding Uluru and Kata Tjuta and the Northern Territory government agreed in 1973 to relocate accommodation facilities to a new site. Yulara was created in 1984 as an infrastructure hub to support tourism to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
It originally had numerous competing hotels, however this was not financially viable. The Northern Territory government leased the incredibly valuable land to Voyages for one dollar per square kilometer. Voyages owns and manages all aspects of Yulara, with the exception of the post office, which is owned by Australia Post and the bank which is currently leased by ANZ. All residents of the town lease their housing from the resort corporation, Voyages. All residents are under constant twenty-four hour security surveillance as directed by Voyages. Violation with Voyages company policy can commonly result in a notice of forty-eight hours to permanently leave the township.
On 18 August 1983, the Inland Hotel near Uluru was severely damaged when truck driver Douglas Crabbe rammed his 25-ton Mack truck into the hotel after being refused service, killing 5 patrons.[1]
[edit] Transportation
The nearby Connellan Airport makes it possible to reach the area in a few hours from Sydney, Melbourne or Cairns, compared to five hours by car from Alice Springs, the nearest major town, 428 kilometres northeast.
The town is served by one major road, the Lasseter Highway, which links it to surrounding roads and landmarks. The Lasseter Highway is currently being expanded in the area to help with the tourism traffic flow. The sealed Lasseter Highway extends east to meet the Stuart Highway. The roads in other directions are not so well maintained or travelled. The Gunbarrel Highway and Great Central Road lead west and southwest into Western Australia, but are generally only suitable for high clearance four-wheel drive vehicles.
[edit] Hotels & Apartments
- Sails in The Desert is the highest luxury hotel in the town, hosting a large pool (Rockpool), bars, resturants, and large sails, key to its name, engineered by Arup.
- The Desert Gardens Hotel is second to Sails in the Desert, coming in at 4½ stars. It is surrounded by native shrub gardens, and features a pool and bar.
- The Emu Walk Apartments is the smallest accommodation section in the resort, Emu Walk provides basic, simple 3-star rooms. There is no pool or any resturants in the apartments, but residents have access to other pools and food.
- The Lost Camel Hotel, a mid-class hotel, features a bar, a large pool, and modern, simple rooms.
- The Outback Pioneers Hotel is the lowest-rated hotel, the star rating ranges from 2-3½ stars. It features basic rooms and a restaurant/bar.
[edit] Climate
Yulara has a dry and arid climate, with little rain and a high mean average temperature.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) | 38.5 | 36.6 | 34.1 | 29.6 | 24.5 | 20.8 | 20.6 | 23.6 | 29.1 | 31.7 | 34.8 | 36.6 | 30.2 | |
| Mean daily minimum temperature (°C) | 22.3 | 22.1 | 18.8 | 14.2 | 9.6 | 5.8 | 4.7 | 6.1 | 10.8 | 14.3 | 18.1 | 20.8 | 14.2 | |
| Mean total rainfall (mm) | 15.9 | 15.6 | 45.1 | 9.1 | 30.5 | 19.3 | 15.7 | 3.1 | 10.4 | 15.5 | 11.6 | 25.6 | 217.3 | |
| Mean number of rain days | 3.5 | 3.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 4.3 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 4.3 | 2.3 | 4.0 | 30.7 | |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology | ||||||||||||||
[edit] External links
- Satellite image from Google Maps
[edit] References
- ^ Martin (BR) CJ, The Queen v Crabbe [2004] NTSC 63 (8 December 2004), Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, 2005-01-27. See in particular paragraphs 23-27.
