Flies, Flies and More Flies

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As I stroll back from breakfast it’s a bit hard not to notice the “do not disturb” sign on the door of the room next to ours. And this wouldn't normally be worthy of comment, except it’s been there every time we’ve walked past since we got here a couple of days ago. I guess the inhabitants might be honeymooners. I hope so. I’m not sure I want to think too hard about other possible explanations.

Issy’s legs have gone on strike after yesterday’s exertions, so I head off alone to explore Kata Tjuṯa (also known as Mount Olga), Uluṟu’s slightly lesser known neighbour, 50 odd kilometres to the west. It consists of 36 spectacular red granite, basalt and sandstone domes, the tallest of which rises 546 metres above the surrounding plain, and is thus nearly 200 metres taller than Uluṟu. The whole site is considered sacred to the local indigenous population.

First up is a two odd kilometre hike up Waḻpa Gorge which runs between two of the larger domes.

Then it’s off for a seven plus kilometre loop hike through the Valley of the Winds. Whoever named that wasn’t kidding, I’m glad my hat‘s attached to my head. I might get strangled by the cord around my neck, but at least my beloved sombrero won’t fly away. And the upside of wind is that the flies don’t seem to like it. The flies here are a ridiculously tenacious lot. They seem to particularly like getting in behind sunglasses and then trying to suck the fluid out of your eyes …. well that’s what it feels like. And when I go to take happy snaps, they’re a constant presence in front of the lens. I now find I need to check each shot after I’ve taken it to make sure a few of them haven’t inadvertently snuck their way into the foreground.

The views here are stunning, and the vista from the first stop, Karu Lookout, is no exception. Then it’s off down the loop track. Signs say it’s closed when the temperature gets over 36 degrees, which is probably all the time in summer …. unless you wanted to do it at night … not that I’m too sure exactly what you’d get out of that. It is a bit steep and rocky in places, like be careful not to slide off type steep. The view from what seems to be the highest point in the loop, Karingana Lookout, is beyond spectacular. I’m about to take my award winning happy snap when I can’t help but notice a sign saying that I’m not allowed to. I can shoot away to my heart’s content anywhere else in Kata Tjuṯa, just not from here. Whilst there’s no explanation given I assume the ban’s there for cultural reasons, and not because they think you might fall off the edge of the cliff while you were lining up your shot. I’m sorely tempted, but after my rant yesterday about idiot tourists disrespecting the local culture, I wouldn’t want to join their number, at least not quite so quickly.

This gets me thinking about whether there might be other places in the world where you’re not allowed to take happy snaps of scenery, not religious icons, or cultural relics, or nuclear weapons factories … scenery. I nearly got shot in Morocco last year for trying to photograph the attractive looking door of what I thought was a mosque, but which turned out to be some sort of military facility. I guess the guy with the machine gun might have thought I was a terrorist planning some sort of mischief. And a few years ago in Portugal Issy ran screaming at me to stop when she thought I was taking a photo of a naked four year old on a beach; he just happened to be standing close to the seagull I was really trying to snap. So that’s all understandable, but scenery?

Back in Yulara we stroll through the Gallery of Central Australia with its excellent display of indigenous art. We discover that there’s a swimming pool in the back blocks of the resort. There’s one brave gent swimming, whilst others sit around on sunlounges …. wearing fly nets. I wonder if they take them off when they go in.

This evening we’ve booked a stroll through the Field of Light, a supposedly “temporary” installation that opened in 2016 … and is still going. We’re told that it covers an area the size of three MCGs (not that too many non-Aussies on the bus would have any idea what that means), which makes it the second largest such installation on the planet (after something in California, where else). It’s apparently made up of some 50,000 glass sphere solar powered globes, connected by a staggering 380 kilometres of fibre optic cable. The evening starts off with drinks and canapés on the top of a dune, where we get to watch yet another spectacular Uluru sunset. Then it’s off down through the sand for our stroll through the array of ever changing coloured lights. All very peaceful and relaxing.

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