Field of Light Sunrise Tour with Hot Drinks Uluru

The Field of Light installation

The Field of Light is a large outdoor art installation made of around 50,000 slender stems topped with frosted glass spheres, spread across the red sand and spinifex near Yulara. Lit by optical fibre and powered by solar energy collected during the day, the spheres glow in slowly shifting shades of ochre, blue, violet and white, so the desert looks like a field of flowers blooming in the dark.

Its local name in the Pitjantjatjara language means 'looking at lots of beautiful lights'. First opened in 2016 as a temporary work, it proved so popular that it became one of the best things to do at Uluru. On this Field of Light sunrise tour you walk the winding paths through the installation before dawn, when the colours are at their strongest and the desert is silent.

The dune-top viewing area at sunrise

After the walk your guide leads the group up a red sand dune to the Dune Top viewing area, a raised spot that looks out over the installation and the open desert. Here you are served tea, coffee or hot chocolate, which is very welcome on cold winter mornings, when the desert air can drop close to freezing before the sun appears.

From this height you watch the sky change from deep blue to pink and orange while the Field of Light slowly dims. The guide shares the background of the artwork and talks about the desert landscape around you. It is one of the most relaxed ways to see the Red Centre wake up, and the elevated position gives you clear photos of both the lights and the horizon.

Uluru at first light

As the sun rises, the first rays reach Uluru, the huge sandstone monolith that stands about 348 metres above the plain and measures more than 9 km around its base. Sacred to the Anangu, its traditional owners, Uluru is part of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site for both its natural and cultural values.

Seen at dawn, the rock changes colour from dark purple to deep red and glowing orange within minutes, the moment most visitors come to Uluru to see. Many people ask what the best time to visit Uluru is: the cooler months from April to September bring crisp mornings and comfortable days, while summer sunrises are warm and the earliest of the year. Either way, sunrise is the most magical time of day here.

Kata Tjuta on the horizon and the town of Yulara

Turn around on the dune and you see Kata Tjuta, a group of 36 giant rounded domes about 30 km west of Uluru, lit pink and red by the rising sun. Its highest dome stands taller than Uluru itself, and the two landmarks together make the Red Centre one of the most remarkable desert landscapes on earth. From this raised location you can photograph both in one morning.

The tour starts and finishes in Yulara, the small resort village that is the base for every visit to Uluru, with hotels, a campground, shops and Ayers Rock Airport nearby. Because the tour lasts about two hours, you are back at your hotel in time for breakfast, with the rest of the day free for a helicopter flight, a walk around the base of Uluru or a visit to Kata Tjuta.