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Published: August 26th 2006
First Light Striking Uluru (Ayers Rock)
The sunrise brings out the bright orange tone and metallic streaks in the monolith.Alice Springs
June 16-21, 2006
Friday
We were very eager to reach Australia’s “red center” and bounded off of our airplane excited to explore. The Alice Springs airport is perfectly situated in the rocky nothingness outside of town to whet the appetite for exploration and the uninterrupted view across the dry plains greets you from the moment you climb down from your aircraft. Our lift into town was to be provided by our hostel, Annie’s Place, but was nowhere to be seen. After forty-five minutes sitting in the passenger pick-up lane our mood was beginning to dampen, particularly when calls to Annie’s were answered with typical Aussie aplomb (“no worries, we were just waiting to give someone else a ride to the airport”). We never tried to explain to our genial hosts around the country that we were, in fact, rarely worried, we just kind of wanted things to work smoothly. Things brightened considerably when we found our driver, a warm dreadlocked character who goes by the name of Krusty. Written words can’t do justice to the phrase “My name is Krusty with a K” uttered with the famous Aussie drawl. “Not because of anything nasty,” Krusty would tell
us, but after the famous animated clown from The Simpsons.
After checking in at Annie’s we walked downtown to the outdoor Todd Mall and explored the shops and restaurants. We ate at The Lane which had great pizzas and pleasant, folksy live music at very reasonable price. After dinner we took in a show called The Sounds of Starlight, a production featuring a didgeridoo player, a percussionist and a guitarist accompanied by a photo and light show featuring images of the Alice Springs outback and traditional story telling. The show was very good and the didge player was very interesting. Before becoming a musician and a showman he worked for the Australian government in the most remote Aboriginal communities. Roger naturally decided that he was destined to be the next great American didgeridoo player and checked out the variety of instruments at the show. After trying out several didgeridoos and even getting a lesson from the didge master he was still only able to manufacture a rather unmusical and crass spitting noise echo from the instrument. If Roger is to become the next great American didgeridoo player he will clearly have to take more lessons.
Unlike Darwin, Alice
Springs gets quite cold this time of year. After a chilly walk to the hostel and a cool night’s sleep we were eager to head out on Saturday hoping that the vast interior of Australia would be somehow warmer than town. As we would discover, just because the rocks and dirt looked like they have been baked for a million years and the flora and fauna resemble only the heartiest of desert breeds does not mean that the continent’s core is warm and toasty during the winter.
We picked up our campervan and loaded up on supplies before commencing the 441 kilometer drive south and west to the town of Yulara, the only service and accommodation area serving Uluru and Kata Tjuta (the rocky icons known today solely by their traditional Aboriginal names but also known by their westernized labels, respectively, Ayers Rock and The Olgas).
The drive down the Stuart Highway and then west along the Lasseter Highway took about 4.5 hours. The bulk of the drive the road was straight and almost featureless. We saw very few other vehicles aside from the occasional road train, massive semi trucks towing three or four trailers. The roadside was
Us At Uluru For The Sunrise
We just l-oooove kangaroo crossing signs.... littered with roadkill. We saw cattle station livestock, birds and kangaroos in various stages of decomposition and road damage being devoured by scavengers and Australia’s largest bird of prey, the wedge tailed eagle (it is odd to see such large and majestic eagles perched on dead roadside carcasses).
We arrived at Yulara just before sunset and secured our space at the campground which was almost full despite this being the cold season. Yulara is both a town and a resort, featuring a variety of accommodation options from camp sites and campervan lots all the way up to a 5 star luxury hotel. The facility also has a post office, grocery store, restaurants, photo shop, and hairdresser. The resort blends rather seamlessly in to the landscape and preserves the feeling of a vast expanse surrounding Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park (a remarkable effort considering the popularity of the park and the massive number of visitors). When they are full, which the resort often is, Yulara becomes the Northern Territories’ third largest town.
We scampered up one of the campground’s hillsides to watch the sunset over Uluru and did laundry at the campground facilities. This night the small area
Uluru Under Morning Light
The deep weathered crags of Uluru are not often visible if you are looking at the whole of the rock. These deep shadows are evident in different light and part of the wonder of the rock's constantly changing face. of tents near the laundry were housing a large group of teenage girls, one of whom was loudly talking about how she just couldn’t get warm even though she’s layering her clothes (she was wearing skimpy shorts and leg warmers - we are unsure what she was layering).
As night fell and we turned in we discovered we weren’t prepared for the cold of the evening. With nothing to retain the day’s heat the temperature dropped to near freezing, making even the most swelling bladder shy about walking from the camper to the bathroom.
Sunday
We awoke at 6am in an effort to catch the sunrise at Uluru at 7:30. Like the tides in coastal towns the daily times for sunrise and sunset are posted and observed by everyone in Yulara. The cold of the night made it very hard to get out of our sleeping bags and Amy begged Roger to just leave her. Fortunately for Roger our entire hotel room was mobile and she had no choice.
We watched sunrise with around 200 of our closest friends, all of whom disappeared as soon as sun peeked over the horizon, leaving us to enjoy the
Climbing Uluru
This sign urges people not to climb. This sign warns of the dangers of climbing - high winds, steep and narrow walkways. This sign advises people to climb. peace and the beautiful morning with Uluru. We ate our breakfast and returned our camper to day mode before heading to the Uluru cultural center. At the center we were able to learn a little more about the Aboriginal connection to Uluru and view some of their nice and very expensive art, splurging $20 AUD for a bowl carved from wood. The center, along with the literature and the welcome information at Yulara, explains in detail the history of Uluru and the role of the Aboriginal “traditional owners.” This provides probably the best example of the constant conundrum that is Australia’s native identity. While generations of Australians descendent from European settlers (and convicts) have been raised in Australia, there are constant reminders of the friction caused by that settlement and the displacement of the Australian natives who had been present on the continent for some 40,000 years before white men. While the law of the European government became the law of the land and places like Uluru became tourist attractions under another name, the land remained a sacred and ceremonial place for the Aboriginals. In ___, the government of Australia attempted to address this divergence by restoring Uluru
to the traditional owners, a point of great pride for the community of Aboriginals who maintain their connection to the sandstone monolith.
Great friction remains as there are still very different attitudes regarding just what is appropriate at Uluru. The traditional owners beg visitors not to climb the sacred rock, both for spiritual and safety reasons. The Australian park authorities, however, provide access to climbing activities literally in front of signs stating both the desires of the traditional owners and the risks involved. Most tourists ignore the wishes of the traditional owners and scamper over Uluru like ants while a small minority satisfy themselves with the plethora of lookouts, photographs, and the walking trail that extends completely around the rock.
Following our visit to the cultural center we spent about three hours walking around the base of Uluru. The 9.5 km walk hugs the sides of the rock, diverting occasionally to preserve an ancient ritual site. We were able to view the monolith from all sides and angles as the light of day changed and only rarely came upon other people. By contrast those who decided to climb Uluru appeared to be filing up the side of the
Macaroni & Cheese, Hot Dog, Coke
Campervan living at it's finest! rock in a line reminiscent of a cafeteria lunch rush. We talked to one of the local guides about what the Aboriginals think of the thousands of visitors who scamper over their sacred place. The guide responded that they definitely do not like it, though a few of them have been told that some western cultures connect spiritually to things by climbing them. In the interests of fairness and cross-cultural education we are sponsoring a group of Aboriginals to climb St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Please contact us for more information. We hope to make a bundle on the “My Uncle Climbed a Church And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt” concession.
After walking the base, and in an effort to take advantage of the warmth of the day, we went back to the camp to shower. That evening we walked around the resort to the various hotels and restaurants looking for something to spark our appetites. Instead of dinner we simply watched the sunset from one of the campground lookouts and returned to our camper for macaroni and cheese with hot dogs (another of the chef’s specialties).
Monday
About fifty kilometers from Uluru is the other jewel
of the national park, Kata Tjuta (also known as The Olgas). Like Uluru, Kata Tjuta is an above ground extension of a massive underground sandstone form. Whereas Uluru looks like a single large stone, Kata Tjuta resembles a range of round and dome shaped mountains. Like Uluru the appearance of the rock in contrast to the flat and relatively barren surrounds makes for a startling view. Kata Tjuta is also a place sacred to the Aboriginals in the area though the combination of fewer visitors and more land around and between the sandstone features makes visiting the rocks a more adventurous hike.
We decided to tackle the valley hike, a winding walk with numerous inclines and long open stretches between the rock formations. The approximately ten kilometers took about 3 hours. Despite Amy taking a fall on some loose gravel on a steep pathway early on, the walk was fantastic. After looping around one of the more prominent rocks we wound through a narrow and green valley almost completely sheltered by the sandstone. The most serious incline of the walk, which leads out of this valley, climaxes at a simply stunning view of a small patch of forest and
vast open plains
We again showered in the heat of the day before returning to Uluru for sunset. The parking area for sunset is exactly opposite the lot for sunrise viewers and filled just as quickly. Thankfully there is a separate viewing area for buses across the road from the lot. It is hard to imagine how large the crowds must get during the high season if the flash bulbs of the bus lookout are any indication.
Having been relatively good in preparing our own economical meals we splurged for dinner taking in the expensive buffet at Yulara’s most chic resort. The buffet was excellent and we made no effort to conceal our desire to gorge on the seafood, roast beef, and hot sticky date pudding. We managed to look up once in a while during the meal to observe several of the large families in the buffet taking advantage of the “buy two get one adult meal free” and the kids under 12 eat free promotion. A family of 4 kids and 3 adults paid same price as we did though we are not confident that they ate as much.
Following dinner we went to a
star show at the Yulara observatory (three telescopes and a cheeky star gazer for a guide). The stars and their movements are very different in the southern hemisphere from the northern hemisphere and it was fascinating and fun to see the variations. Like we had seen outside of Darwin the virtually nil light pollution made for stunning starscapes and a crystal clear vie of the fringes of our own galaxy. The guide, despite being more clever than you might expect for an astronomer, was very knowledgeable. His compression of vast amounts of material into the ninety minute show was efficient if difficult to absorb for Amy (not because she is slow, it’s just that she has never learned about the stars, seen the new Star Wars movies, or orbited the earth in comic book inspired daydreams).
Tuesday
Tuesday we awoke as cold as we had been the previous two mornings. It’s just not something you get used to. Before heading back to Alice Springs we made a long, slow drive around Uluru. The park is very well laid out with respect to viewing and accessing Uluru and Kata Tjuta. You are able to see every angle and absorb
the radical changes in the rocks at the various times of the day. In morning light or at dusk Uluru appears to be a deep purple. When the sun is low in the sky it looks red and sandy and the light catches what looks like broad streaks of glitter in the sandstone. At midday, under the stark and harsh light, the rocks simply look immense and immoveable. In the stark vastness of the Australian interior it is very easy to see why the Aboriginals were drawn to this place and how it could become home to sacred rituals.
We drove back to Alice Springs, stopping at Erdlunda, a roadhouse at the junction of the Lasseter and Stuart highways. This roadhouse is one of about five between Alice Springs and Yulara, though it is the only one the rental agency recommends for gasoline. We recommend it, however, for the massive portion of fried potato wedges, sour cream and sweet chili sauce (again regrettable shortly after you begin eating it). We arrived back in Alice Springs around five, settled in to a caravan park about 2 kilometers outside of town, enjoyed a dinner of pb& j and went to see
X-Men 3.
Wednesday
After what was to be our last frigid morning in a camper van we headed into town to visit the Royal Flying Doctors headquarters. The Royal Flying Doctors are often the sole access to health care for Australians living in the vast and sparsely populated areas of the continent. The Alice Springs Central Operations facilities (with bases in Alice Springs, Yulara, Adelaide and Port Agusta) house aircraft, pilots, and medical staff servicing more than 2.3 million square kilometers of land. The visitor center provided a very educational look at the realities faced by those living in the less populace parts of Australia, from massive cattle stations to remote Aboriginal communities. The center also houses a pleasant cafe complete with yummy bajed treats.
Educational experience under our belts we headed to Long John Silver’s (clearly drawn to the name but this shop has no relation to the franchise of the same name in the USA) for fish and chips. The heaping piles of breaded fish and thick soggy chips were something of a disappointment, but we were able to watch Oprah chat up Lisa Marie Presley. Oprah and Homer Simpson might be America’s two most
popular exports.
Before leaving the central area of town to return our camper we stopped back in at the Sounds of Starlight to pick up a didgeridoo recording. When we entered the store the didge player was sitting, back to the door, playing away on his hollowed out log and sipping coffee. We had a long talk with him about his music and how he came to be a full-time performer after twenty years as a resource manager and liaison with the Aboriginal community. The man was simply fascinating and very academic and thoughtful in his approach to the many complexities of life for Australia’s natives. As tragic as the past may have been for the Aboriginals it is impossible to paint a flowery picture of the present. Any serious discussion includes ongoing culture clashes, exclusion, racism both subtle and overt, massive failures in education and health care, substance abuse issues, child abuse and insanely high crime rates.
Despite there being several couples picking up and dropping off campers the single gentleman staffing the rental agency was moving slowly enough to make us nervous about missing our flight. Even though standard rules of arrival at the airport eighteen
hours before your flight don’t really apply in Alice Springs we managed to complete our paperwork and get to the airport with little time to spare. Of course our cab driver on the way told us there were “no worries” about making our flight. Fortune smiled on us and we ran into Krusty With-a-K in the airport giftshop, managing to get the story behind the nickname out of him before we had to depart. We do not feel it is our place to tell, but we can confirm it is not because Krusty is unclean. Well, who knows, he might be but that’s not where the nickname came from.
That night we hopped through Adelaide and on into Melbourne to begin our tour of Australia’s large urban centers. Though we arrived late we were easily shuttled into the city from the airport and checked into our accommodation, a student housing apartment in the city center. Complete with a couch and a television the digs were very comfortable and provided a warm welcome to Melbourne, Victoria.
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Jess
non-member comment
Is Alice Springs a sacred place?
Is Alice Springs a sacred place??