Kate Middleton

The Duchess of Cambridge donned the comparatively plain garment for her tour of the iconic sandstone landmark, also known as Ayers Rock

Ian Vogler

Kate Middleton wore a sleeveless dress by Roksanda Ilincic as she joined her husband Prince William on a visit to Australia's most famous natural landmark, Uluru or Ayres Rock.

The Duchess and the Duke were met at the airport by Sally Thomas, administrator of the Northern Territory, Adam Giles, Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, and two members of the indigenous Anangu people, Vincent Nipper and Daisy Walkabout.

They left left Prince George with his nanny Maria Borrallo in Canberra to take a Royal Australian Air Force flight to Yulara airport.

During their visit William and Kate will visit the National Indigenous Training Academy, which provides training for the hospitality and tourism industries in 12-month residential courses.

Each of the 100 people who graduate each year are guaranteed work at the Ayers Rock Resort or other hotel complexes.

The couple will then visit the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre to learn about Uluru and neighbouring Kata Tjuta, the major geological features in the national park, both of which are sacred sites to the indigenous people.

They will also learn about Tjukurpa, the belief system of the indigenous people, though the full significance of Uluru is known only to the Anangu people, who do not share it with outsiders.

Following afternoon tea, the couple will visit Uluru itself, walking up to it along one of the marked out routes for tourists that avoid the most sacred parts of the rock.

The couple will spend the night at luxury campsite Longitude 131 where they will be able to experience the outback at night and will have an opportunity to see the sun rise over Uluru.

The Anangu, the traditional owners of the land that includes Uluru, previously known as Ayers Rock, jointly manage the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park with Parks Australia, the federal parks agency.

The indigenous people have looked after the land for tens of thousands of years but only won back the title to the land in 1985 is what is known as the Handback.

Uluru, which has no direct translation in English, was named Ayers Rock in 1873 by the surveyor William Gosse, who named it after the then Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers.

The sandstone rock, which rises 1,142ft above the red earth around it, with a circumference of 5.8 miles, was formed over hundreds of millions of years when sand was deposited on the bed of an inland sea.

The sea bed was compressed into rock and then turned through almost 90 degrees by the shifting of tectonic plates, meaning the layering of the sandstone of Uluru is almost vertical today.

Over hundreds of millions of years, a mountain range that surrounded Uluru was eroded away, leaving the unusually hard sandstone monolith exposed.

Its red colour comes from the oxidisation of iron-bearing minerals within the rock through exposure to air and water.

Below the surface, the rock is grey in colour.

View gallery

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will tour the popular attraction, also known as Ayers Rock, and meet members of Australia's Aboriginal community

The royal couple will leave baby Prince George with his Spanish nanny as they stay at a £600-per-person retreat under the stars

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