Well mates! Its official! I have now seen 4 out of the 6 Australian states and have been to the "Outback", red centre of Australia.
Me and my fellow adventurers spent 3 days at Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Uluru and Kata Tjuta are sacred sites to the Anangu, Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara people. They have many dreamtime stories or Tjukurpa here in the red heart of Australia, where they received full ownership rights in 1985. We respected the Indigenous peoples wishes and Mala ( care for country and culture) and did not climb Uluru. We couldn't have done so in any case because the winds were too strong and dangerous according to the closure sign. However, the traditional owners of the land are working on closing the route on top of Uluru permanently. Would you climb this beautiful and magnificent red rock? Or would you leave it alone to preserve it for future generations and cultural traditions?
Since we would not and could not climb, we took a long, leisurely walk around the base of this megalith. Uluru stands at 350 m tall and about 500 m wide. I have been around the globe and seen many wonders of the natural and man-made world, most of which turned out to be smaller than I had imagined. Uluru, on the other hand, did not disappoint. It was much larger than I had thought and took a good 4 hours to circumnavigate by foot. Thankfully, the weather was mild, but the flies were killer! If you go, invest in a fly net, you'll thank me later!
As we made our way around the base of Uluru we were asked to take pictures only at certain areas since many sites around Uluru were sacred female sites and part of Tjukurpa. Uluru is said to be a site of the woma python woman Kuniya who killed the man Liru, a poisonous snake from Kata Tjuta, for killing her nephew. You can see markings that look like the snakes in these stories imbedded in the rock faces of Uluru. You can read and hear more about the dreamtime of Uluru and Kata Tjuta here: http://www.parksaustralia.gov.au/uluru/people-place/stories.html
As wiru (beautiful) and spiritual as Uluru was, we made our way over to Kata Tjuta which is about 30 km to the west of Uluru. Here, at this sacred man's site, we were allowed to climb over the rocks on the designated hiking trails, but were allowed to take pictures only in certain places. Some say that Kata Tjuta is even more sacred than Uluru to the Indigenous peoples of this region, and is under more protection. Whether that is true or not, we did see some amazing wildlife in this area - like this goanna here - and heard some beautiful bird song amongst the crevasses and canyons of the deep red rocks. I felt strange in these places because it reminded me so much of home in New Mexico, yet it was very different in terms of culture, wildlife, and the sand was much more red.
There are also camels. Lots of camels, who can take you for a ride near Uluru at sunset, but tend to put up a fight at first. They don't mind though, as long as they get their hay at the end of the day. I got the chance to feed the baby camel Priscilla before going for a ride on Norseman through the outback. What a great way to end the day!
After a few sunrises and sunsets in the Northern Territory we made our way back to New South Wales just before the cyclone hit. While bundled up warm and cozy against the storm we all dreamed of being back in the sunny and mystical land of Uluru and Kata Tjuta, hoping to return and explore more of the Northern Territory one day soon. Palya mates! Until the next adventure
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