Camels, Sunsets, and Sunrises at Ayers Rock

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Camels, Sunsets, and Sunrises at Ayers Rock


Our first full day in Uluru was pretty uneventful for most of the day. We found ourselves a sunny spot by the pool and sat there reading while swatting at flies. We grabbed a bit of breakfast and a bit of lunch while lounging around but pretty much just spent the day being lazy. Never a wasted day on this trip!

Camels, Yay, Camels

Our major event of the day consisted of a camel trek out into the bush during sunset. Us and 24 of our fellow tourists jumped on a bus at 4:30pm to take the quick trip out to the camel stable yards where we got a chance to meet and learn about our furry steeds which we would be riding that evening.

Camels, while not native to Australia, have been used in the outback for more than a hundred years. Horses were originally used for travel into the outback but were quickly considered obsolete because of their inability to effectively deal with the dry climate. On the other hand, camels can go close to forever without taking a drink if they get enough moisture from their food. Unlike any other large land mammal, camels have the ability to recycle their water, eat almost anything including their own poo, and drink an amazing 100 liters of water in one sitting. Their hump (or humps if they are cool weather camels) are made completely of fat which stores energy for them to live off of when going without food and water.

Camels were imported from various locations when Australia was originally settled and have thrived in the climate due to their ability to adapt. Some figures state that there are up to 700,000 camels in Australia living in the wild and in captivity but others think there could be up to 2 million of these creatures running about in the vastness of the outback. Many of the ones that were used from our trek were caught from the wild and trained to allow riders. With as much intelligence as a fairly smart dog, the camels respond to vocal commands which allow the handlers to tell them to stand or sit. Pretty cool!

Kel and I managed to get ourselves on the very last camel in line which meant we’d have no one behind us to bother us. Our camel, Sally, was a smaller camel who managed to take us for our hour long ride without any troubles. Only once did she get a little wily when she tried to grab some bushes as we were stopped, listening to our guide talk about the camels and give us some history. Otherwise our noble steed managed to be faithful and pretty comfortable for the trek.

Unlike the camels we rode in Dubai, Sally was well groomed, didn’t smell and had a very comfortable (relatively) saddle which didn’t cause us a ton of discomfort. We spent the hour walking through the plants of the desert with pretty decent views of nearby Ayers Rock. As usual the only thing scary about the whole trip was getting on and off Sally. When you first jump on the camels while they are sitting you are told to lean back at all costs. The camels straighten their back legs first and then their front legs. This causes a very steep angle to occur for the riders on their backs. If you’re dumb enough to lean forward in any way, you will immediately tumble forward and fall face first off the camel hurting yourself to the ground or at least making a fool of yourself. Likewise, when sitting, the camels bend their front legs down first which makes you feel like you are going to tumble to your death. To make matters even more scary, if you aren’t quick to get off once they are sitting, they may stand right back up without any provocation. The people in front of us had this problem but thankfully jumped off fast enough to not cause anyone damage. Who thought that camels could be dangerous??

After an hour long ride through the desert we came back to the main building of the camel trek and had a few drinks. We took some time to have a conversation with an Aussie couple from Sydney who had accompanied us on the tour. As usual we find ourselves more likely to have a conversation with people who are a few years older than we are. We figure this has to do with the fact that we are more mature than backpackers yet we don’t have kids. Thus we find that empty nesters have more in common with us than the few people we meet from the younger age groups. Either way, it’s nice to have a conversation with new people.

Sunrise is an Amazingly Cold Time of the Day

Our final major tour of the Uluru area was scheduled for our last full day in the outback. In this case we had to meet our tour group at 6am just outside our hotel. Six o’clock in the morning continues to be a time when I think nothing should ever happen, but I was willing to forgo sleep for a chance to see Ayer’s Rock at sunrise.

As I mentioned before, Uluru is pretty chilly in winter time and this was incredibly evident as we boarded our bus to head out into the desert. The morning temperature of about 38 degrees Fahrenheit was partially mitigated by a cozy little camp fire prepared by the tour guide fact at our site for watching the sunrise. I spent most of my time trying to get some decent shots of the sunrise while the other 10 tour guests sat around the fire and enjoyed some morning tea. The tour even included a very good egg and bacon English muffin which we all devoured.

Once the sun had risen we jumped back on the bus to head into the actual park surrounding Ayers Rock. The land around Ayers Rock was taken over by the Australian government but was given back to the Aborigines in the 80’s. To ensure that tourists and Aussie’s alike could continue to enjoy this natural monument a deal was struck with the Aborigines to lease the land back to the park service with a few caveats. The main deal agreement was that money for the park passes had to go back to the Aboriginal community and that certain parts of the rock and surrounding areas would remain purely for Aboriginal use only.

Ayers Rock has sacred meaning to the Aborigines of the area. Some parts of the rock are male only sites, while others are female only sites. Each of these sites are used for specific Aborigine rites and ceremonies, many of which have not been shared with anyone who isn’t Aborigine. As we drove around the rock the guide would point out some of these sites and ask that no one take pictures of them because it was offensive to the Aborigines. We of course obliged and didn’t take pictures when we were requested not to, but I’m sure that some tourists don’t heed these requests and take pictures anyway.

After driving around to a few key sites for picture taking we stopped and walked closer to the rock to check out one of the waterholes which is called the Mutitjulu Waterhole. This waterhole is one of the few sources of water anywhere near the rock. Water which accumulates here comes from the runoff from the infrequent periods of rain in the area. Today this water isn’t potable but prior to the white man coming to Australia this was a center for activity for Aborigines due to its clear drinking water and large amount of wildlife situated nearby.

You never really get a sense of the size of Ayer’s Rock until you are right up next to it. As you stand at the waterhole you realize that it could take most of a day to walk from the other side of the rock to get to this water. To ensure that the Aboriginal young knew where the water was, some of the distinctive rock outcroppings were incorporated into children’s stories. These stories reinforced knowledge of the rock so that children would take the shortest path to the water. If you took the wrong path you may have to walk up to 9kms (roughly 6 miles) to get to this very important source of life giving water. Remember that it gets well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit during summer here, a wrong turn like that could mean the difference between life and death.

Speaking of life and death, one feature of Ayers Rock that is often touted in tourism brochures, is the path to the top of the rock. This steep climbing path covers the 354 meters to the top of the rock with very little to help the climber other than a chain which has been embedded in the rock. The Aborigines ask that people not take this climb as it demeans their sacred rock but the park service allows people to take the path if they would like to brave the dangers. Every year people are injured or killed on the trip up the rock due to accidents and stupidity. Sometimes people slip and fall but most often people seal their own fate by not being prepared. During summer the park services recommend that each person drink a liter of water an hour. Earlier this year one guy went up with his family with very little water and with a par of loose fitting rubber shoes on his feet. As he climbed, the rubber on his shoes melted so he took the shoes off and continued to climb. After a while in bare feet, his feet started to blister so he took his shirt off and wrapped it around his feet. You can see where this is heading! By time he neared the top he was dehydrated, skin burnt, had blisters on his feet and could no longer walk. He had to be rescued by the park service to the tune of $5000 for the airlift off the rock. The moral of the story is: be prepared, listen to the local warnings and don’t take unnecessary risks when traveling.

When we were finished with the rock we ended our time with a brief walk through the nearby cultural center which focuses on Aboriginal culture. The exhibits talk about Aboriginal customs, ceremonies and survival habits. We spent a large part of the time watching a video on bush foods that the Aborigines eat. This fascinating video talked about nuts, flowers, animals and insects that were, and still are, used as sustenance by the Aborigines. My personal favorite were the large grubs which are cooked in hot ash and eaten without their heads. Sounds pretty gross to me but they are supposed to taste like soft boiled eggs.

With the cultural center behind us, we returned to the resort. We were pretty hungry so we grabbed a little lunch and then headed back to our room. Kel and I both agreed that it was nap time and so nap we did. The rest of our afternoon was spent reading, napping and then getting some dinner. Pretty much the rest of our time at Ayers consisted of relaxing and waiting for our trip back to Cairns.

Hope you are all well at home! We miss you all!

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Comments

[Alexa Starr]

Animals Posing
I love the pose the camel is striking in the picture with the two of you on her back! She seems to be blowing kisses to all her fans!

[Bruce / Daddy]

Kel and Mike, In the picture captioned "Kel by Ayer's Rock", Ayer's Rock looks like a giant hamburger. (eat your heart out big macs and whoppers) All the places you've been in Australia and New Zealand have been so beautiful, it's hard to know which blog to comment on. Mike's pictures have been terrific.