The morning after arriving in Alice Springs I picked up the rental car, loaded our bags, and stocked up with water. We then headed south down the Stuart Hwy for our 5 hour drive through the Red Center desert to Uluru and Kata Juta National Park, named by westerners as Ayers Rock and the Olgas respectively.
Uluru in twilight as the sun grazes the predawn clouds.
Layers of sedimentary rock rotated vertical and eroded.
We like driving trips. The pace allows us to take in the changing scenery and stop at places that intrigue us unencumbered by a tour guides schedule. The outback here is not as flat and barren as the flight to Alice Springs suggested. There are sandstone outcrops, mulga scrublands, spinflex grasses, desert oaks, and a variety of drought tolerant plants. We scanned the horizon looking for wildlife. Particularly roos (kangaroos), wallabys, and emus as the highway caution signs suggested their presence with silhouettes. Other than the vultures, the only animals we spotted were flattened wallabys at the side of the road. At about the halfway point south we stopped at Stuart Junction for a cuppa (coffee) and to check out their upright wildlife.
Emu - at Stuart Roadhouse
At Uluru, with emphasis on the last syllable, the only town is Yalara. It is a master planned development based on a ring road with various quality levels of accomodations and dining for the tourist.
The next morning we got up an hour before dawn to pay homage to the rising sun. Being winter here, the morning was quite chilly such that a jumper was needed. (A jumper is a jacket or fleece). From below the horizon the sun heralds its arrival by gently grazing the cloud bottoms across the entire sky. This red coverlet is slowly pulled back to the horizon until the sun peeks its head from under and the final vestige of twilight is chased away. Uluru is set afire by the sun's direct gaze.
After Brekky (breakfast) the morning chill was already dissipating and we prepared for our bushwalk (hike). At the base of Uluru were interpretive signs by the local aborignal people who now own the land and manage it jointly with the federal government. I'll write more about this relationship later. The signs emphasize that this is a very spiritual site and respectfully request visitors to understand another perspective and not climb the mountain. Being a culture that seems to understand cultural differences they don't ban it - yet. While I was sorely drawn to go up I was so struck by their plea that we decided to just walk around it. It's only about 10 km (6 miles).
On our return, hordes of tourists were disgorged from the buses like ants from the top of an ant hill. They marched single file right passed all the intrepretive signs and placards, and began ascending the sandstone ridge. Less than 100 feet up many were petrified, and sat or even laid down on the rock clinging to the wire handhold, spouses entreating them to continue. Through the day the ridge line was covered with these marching ants wearing in a path to the top.
Next Post: Red Center Part 3 - Kata Juta.
No comments:
Post a Comment