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Published: March 14th 2007
We left the humidity of Cairns and entered the dry heat of Alice Springs. Straight out of the coals and into the fire!! The temperature went up from the late 30s into the 40s..... It was hot!
We stayed at Annie's place on the recommendation of Rachael who had stayed there the year before. The place was great, so thanks Rach. Really friendly staff, the rooms were air con'ed and the bar served great food for a bargin $5!! Just what you needed before heading off into the outback with nothing more than a toothbrush, a clean T shirt and some insect repellent!
We booked our tour through the hostel. The 'Mulga's Backpacker Trip' included visits to the Olgas, Kings Caynon and Ayres Rock. It was a true, no frills backpackers budget tour and involved a lot of time in the bus, nights under the stars in a swag, and limited toilet & washing facilities!!
Apart from looking forward to all this it promised to be our first traditional cultural experience in Australia. It's one of the most famous land forms on the planet and from a western perspective it is probably the most common representation you think
of when you think of Austrailia. This part of the land is steeped in Aboriginal history, a scared place and We were hoping to get an understanding of what this place means to the Aboriginals, the stories and theories on how it came to be here. But also just to get to see some awesome scenery!!
Our trip to Kings Canyon was pretty memorable, not so much for the views but for the experience. It was our first experience of the outback temperatures and once we had off loaded from the air coniditioned bus the heat hit like a bag of cement in the face. Our proposed itinerary was to climb to the top of the canyon and walk round the perimeter. In all taking about three hours......in 42 degree heat.....in the mid day sun?? no thanks mate!! While the majority strode off up 'heart attack' hill aptly named after a 47 year old English woman who, obviously unprepared for the rigours of the walk, died from a heart attack while attempting it. We opted for a more leisurely stroll along the canyon floor. I'm sure the views from the top were superb,the views looking up were pretty good
too.
The Olgas and Ayers rock were our next stops. They are the two main rock formations in the region (Well apart from Mt Connor, which I found out when our guide, Shaun convinced me it was Ayres rock...what a banker!! Mt Connor is bigger than Ayres Rock, but its situated on privately owned land and costs a small fortune to go anywhere near it). The traditional name for Ayres Rock is 'Uluru' meaning both the rock itself and the waterhole on the top. 'Kata Tjuta' is the Aboriginal name for the Olgas and means "many heads."
Both were formed over many millions of years as a result of sediment being collected, deposited, eroded, fractured and folded. Both rock formations lay on their sides, Uluru as much as 80 degrees, so instead of being huge boulders, they are, its claimed, part of the same huge underground rock formation. Uluru is naturally grey, but the iron content of the rock is "rusting" at the surface, resulting in the bright red colour you see in all the photos, but also the many other colours which appear to radiate from the rock depending on the light conditions.
Uluru and
Kata Tjuta are very important in local Aboriginal culture. They believe they were both formed by ancestral beings in a time best translated in western language as "Dream Time." They are sacred places and are sort of, giant story books, where the features and contours of the rock are representations of past happenings which when retold carry important life messages. Trying to get your head round all this is pretty new, but I'll have a crack at explaining it a bit more!!
The ancestral beings resembled creatures or plants and were half human. They awoke from the earth when it was created and travelled the land hunting and fighting with one another. In their journeys, they created the landscapes, the animals, and the people. They made the natural elements : Water, Air, Fire. They made all the celestial bodies : the Sun, the Moon and the Stars. Each could transform into the other. A plant could become an animal, an animal a landform, a landform a man or a woman. Everything was created from the same source. Then, tired from all their activity, the mythical creatures sank back into the earth and returned to their state of sleep. Sometimes
Uluru?........
Nope thats Mount Conner. I fell for it when Shaun told me it was Ayres Rocktheir spirits turned into rocks or trees or a part of the landscape. These became sacred places, to be seen only by initiated men and had special qualities.
Only a few stories are told to non Aboriginies and then, only the initiated are told the stories as and when they reach a certain time in their life. One such story we were told explains the origins of Ayres Rock. It is said that the rock was formed in Dream Time by two young boys piling up mud and then using their fingers to shape the contours. This may well be the story of how the rock got here, but we were also to hear or were aware of, other stories connecting specific parts of the rock where prominant rock erosion has occurred to past historical events in Dream time. Both the Olgas and Ayres Rock have sites which are designated sacred for either just Male or Females. For instance the whole of the Olgas is an initiated male only area, whereby no other Aboriginy can enter. Here sacred ceremonies are performed and or stories told and lessons learned.
Luckily enough these rules do not apply to westerners and
our experience of the Olgas was again one of extreme temperature. By the time we got back to the beginning of a two hour hike in and around the rock formations the track had been closed due to the heat :S No dramas though, us Europeans are fine in these coniditions, all you need is a pair of reebok classics and a can of Orange Tango! The Olgas are made up of 36 seperate rock domes. The tallest being nearly two hundred metres above the height of Ayres Rock. You can get an idea from the photos what great views we experienced and kind of the vastness of these rocks, which just rear up out of the otherwise flat surrounding ground. But what the photos don't convey is the stillness or the sound of the wind we encountered at certain points, which very much go towards magnifying the views and the feel of the place.
Our trip to Ayres Rock on the other hand was a little cooler, mainly due to the fact we walked around it at about six thirty in the morning, but still by about eight o'clock it was in the thirties!! The morning of our
visit we had got up around five am in order to see the sun rise over the rock. It was an unforgetable sight. The rock did change dramatically in colour as the sun rose. At one point it was purple!
We did a base walk around the rock and although I missed out on climbing to the top of the rock due to high winds I don't feel I missed out on the experience, but I was still disappointed. The rock climb is a contentious issue with a lot of people. Some say it is disrespectful to climb it, as thats what it suggests in the tourist guide. Others see it as a right of passage in fulfilling a life times dream. Those that I spoke to who have had first hand experience with talking to the locals about it seem to agree that it is up to the individual as long as they are made aware of the dangers. My own view is that you should climb it if you want to. The Aboriginies have climbed it themselves for hundreds if not thousands of years as the beginning of their initiation process and as long as you are
respectful of that and what it means to them in their culture, then why shouldn't anyone else be able to climb it?
Anyway!! during our walk around the base of the rock it was amazing to see the contours of the rock. It really makes you wonder just how the wind could have shaped it like that. The varying size and shape of the rock is somewhat unexpected. You are familar with the classic photo of the rock, a big block of red mud with vertical contour lines running along the side like a jelly mould. But When you get to go up close and get to see the other sides of the rock you realise just how unlike a block it really is. I think the best way to explain its shape is to think of it from a birds eye view. From this perpective it looks like a leaf or a crudely crafted flint spear head. At the far tip of the leaf or spear head the rock is quite low to the ground, so much so that it would be pretty easy to just walk up it. The steepness of the rock varies greatly as does
Good views after a steep climb
Looking towards the valley of the winds the texture of the rock. In some places the surface sweeps away and looks like the top of a shepherds pie i.e. someone has left overlapping rounded knife impressions on the mashed potato!! In other places it looks like a red chocolate sauce has been poured over the rock and where this layer has eroded it reveals rock folded just like a cabury's flake!
The whole tour was a great experience, from my point of view it wasn't necessarily the spiritial encounter some people reflect upon when visiting Uluru or the Olgas, but it was more thought provoking, it was certainly visually impressive and at times mind blowing. The other bits of the trip like the camping out under the stars and the beers around the campfire, the fresh feel and sights of the early morning starts and the amazing sunsets all made it a rewarding experience, one I really wouldn't want to put myself through again, but one that I'd recommend everyone to try.
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