Saturday, October 15, 2011

Kings Canyon - Kata Tjuta - Uluru pt. 3

Uluru

 Our first real taste of Uluru - more commonly known to the western world as Ayers Rock - began with a visit to the Uluru - Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre, owned and run by the Anangu people. These aboriginal peoples are known as the keepers, or owners, of Uluru, and they are very happy and keen to share their knowledge and history with visitors.
 After our self guided tour through the visitors centre, where we learned about the history of the aboriginals who inhabited the area, as well as their Dreamtime stories and significances of Uluru in their culture, it was time to get up close and personal with the famous monolith.  

 As it was already pretty late in the afternoon by the time we reach the base of Uluru. We were guided along one of short tracks called the Mala Walk, which features many old aboriginal sites and rock art. 

 Now, scientists and geologists have many explanations and theories describing and unfolding the mysteries behind Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon. But the aboriginals have their own explanations for all of these things. And I have to admit, I think I like the aboriginals explanations better.

 Rather than talking about erosion and sediment and fluvial channels, the aboriginals have ancient stories from the "Dreamtime" that explain every significance in the area. Every rock form, crevasse, cave and green space has a significance and a story explaining its creation and being.

 After our walk wrapped up, we headed for a lookout to grab a prime spot to watch the world famous Uluru Sunset! It is quite spectacular to watch the rock change colour as the sun sets. Such drastic changes in such a short period of time. It is quite a sight to see.

 We spent the better part of the evening at the lookout, till well after dark. The full moon provided some very interesting photo opportunities. And while all of the other tour groups had arrived right at sunset and left instantly after, our crew arrived early to grab a prime spot, watched the entire sunset, ate dinner and stuck around much, much longer than anyone else. I almost feel sorry for the other people for missing out... Almost.


 Finally we packed up and headed to make camp. It wouldn't be a long night, as we were waking in the wee ours of the morning to once again snag our prime spot for the sunrise view. 

 The nights were pretty cool, but not like many of the nights I had spent in Queensland - the coldest I was aware of had reached -5C. So these nights around Uluru were refreshing for me. But with a big fire rolling we all curled around with our swag and before we knew it, everyone was fast asleep except for myself and new friend Boris. Being our last night on the trip, and with such a large pile of firewood remaining we felt it was only right, our duty, to stay up and finish off the wood pile. 




 Morning has never come so early...

  It was right up and at 'em the last morning of our trip. If I had checked the time I would say it had been around 4:30am. We rolled up our swags and had camped packed up surprisingly quick considering he hour of the morning.



 It was great to spend those few nights out in the swags, not too, too cold, clear star-lit sky's and not a bug in sight. Though we were kept company by what I would have considered a small heard of aussie kangaroo mice. They were quite friendly little buggers.


 So off we set for our lookout to watch the sunrise over Uluru - where we would also be having breakfast, and very much needed coffee. It was quite an experience all-in-all, and I have to give props to The Rock Tour for putting together such a well structured agenda.

 Sunrise was nothing short of spectacular. Cameras went off like mad, here there and everywhere. And for a moment, I think everyone even forgot that they could see their own breath. 


 Once the sun had risen, we set off back to the base of the rock. We had the morning free to explore and wander some of the tails surrounding Uluru independently. This was our first chance to really get up and close for a little one-on-one time with one of Australia's oldest and most significant pieces of the countries culture and history.


 Myself, and several others completed the entire base walk around the rock. The roughly 10Km loop is definitely the best way to take it all in here. There is so much to take in if a person is willing to open their eyes and their imaginations. Despite all the geological significances, it was the stories and the history of the aboriginals that caught me more than anything. 


  As I have said before, everyone experiences these place differently. Ten people visiting these places together can walk away in the end having had ten very different experiences. That is one of the beauties I discovered out here, but not just in the park, but the entire Outback. It holds something different for everyone. But little did I know just what the Outback had in store for me next...

 Though one thing several of us did share was an encounter with two dingoes as we were walking the trail. They were so tame and in such good health that we mistook them for domestic dogs that had gotten loose from their owner. A bit father down the tail we discovered what we believed to be these dingoes den. Someone was certainly living there!












 

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