The Red Centre

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First off, who ever named it the Red Centre had obviously never been there after a summer of cyclones because it looked pretty green to me. Flying in was the best part because I saw the rock from the air! The evening I got there I went to an evening dinner called the Sounds of Silence. I got collected from my accomodation and taken to the middle of nowhere where I was given a drink of champagne and canapes and I watched the sun set with Uluru to one side and Kata Tjuta to the other, it was brilliant. I met a group of people who I sat with at dinner, they were from Sydney and had a friend from Canada visiting them, they were really fun and so were the others on my table. The 3 course meal and flowing wine was fantastic, I had crocodile ceasar salad and there was kangaroo and sooo much yummy food. The evening was lit soley by the little lights in the centre of each table and the moon and between courses there was digeridoo player and a man to talk about the stars. He talked about how to find south, the planets the star signs, it was fantastic. Then everyone had the opportunity to look through the telescopes at the moon, and have a photo of it, and Saturn, you could see the rings and everythng, it was cool! It was a fabulous evening.

The tour I did the next morning took me to the cultural centre in the Uluru and Kata Tjuta National Park where the history and significance of these places is explained. Information about the flora and fauna, the National Park, the people that live there and the administration was all there and it was very interesting. Afterwards I met my guide Valerie and translator Kaiomi. Valerie showed us some watering holes and different caves where the women or the elders would go. The caves had drawings on the walls, different shapes represent people sitting down or standing, if a face was drawn it signifies a monster or bad creature. At the moment there is a lot, relatively, of water in teh watering holes due to the summer of rain. Valerie's grandparents actually lived by the rock and its sacred sights. She was a very interesting person who spoke very quietly. She will be visiting Japan with Kaiomi later this year and I hope she enjoys it, I think it will be quite a culture shock! On the bus in the way back, the driver stopped and showed us a Thorny Devil which was sitting in the middle of the road, under their belly is a unique pattern which identifies each of them like our fingerprints do. I came back to the hotel for lunch and then had an explore of the local shopping centre. In the afternoon I visited Kata Tjuta (aka the Olgas). At Kata Tjuta the guide Bec provided us all with an explanation of why Uluru and Kata Tjuta exist. It starts with tectonic plate movement which created a mountain range that would have rivalled the Himalayas. Over time they were eroded away because of the lack of vegetation to protect them from the wind, rain and water (in the then inland sea). The rocks and sediment were deposited in the inland sea which had two craters, the rocks were deposited in the first crater and sediment flowed over to the second, where it was compressed over millions of years.Over the years the sea dried up and more tectonic plate movement forced the sedimented rocks out of the craters that had been there: creating Uluru at a 90 degree angle, hence the ridges in the rock and Kata Tjuta at different angles due to the rocky composition.
To the Aboriginal people the plants all fell under at least one of three categories: pharmaceutical, hardware or supermarket. Our guide Bec showed us some spinifex resin which once heated becomes sticky and is used as superglue. We were also told about honey ants and witchety grubs that are good to eat, apparently. The group then continued on to a walk to Kala, the first lookout point on the Valley of the Winds walk. Unfortunately we could not go any further because the temperature inside the valley can be 10-15 degrees hotter than the air temperature. Instead we walked down Walpa Gorge, also very hot but lovely scenery and pretty water hole at the bottom. Soon after we were at a lookout point for sunset with a glass of bubbly. It was lovely. Then had another bbq dinner and star talk, they were amazing so I definately didn't mind being told about them again. The people on the tour were ace as well, had good chat with an Aussie couple and an English family.

The next day was an early start. I was up at 3.30am to catch a bus for a Kings Canyon tour. I met a girl called Amy and sat with her on the bus, not that I needed anyone to talk to that early in the morning, trying to sleep. We drove, well Craig drove, for 3 hours to Kings Creek Station (ranch) for breakfast and then another half an hour to Kings Canyon. I went on the canyon rim walk and some people I met at the sounds of silence dinner were there too. It was a relativly challenging walk, which once up the 500 or so steps was "peruvian flat". Kings Canyon is where three regions meet, the MacDonnell Ranges, the Kata Tjuta - Uluru National Park and Kathleen Springs. The canyon used to be flat rock but over time erosion caused cracks to appear and more time caused the cracks to widen and eventually become the formations that are seen today in Kings Canyon. We visited a little place called the Garden of Eden where there is a water hole that we could have swum in if we so wished. The whole walk took 3 hours and it was really hot apart from a very slight breeze and the very occasional bit of shade and the litres of water that we had to take with us. The view were stunning and you can see where the rock had slid away and it looked like chocolate mud cake. The colours of the rock and the different layers in all different directions were really interesting. Again it was a lovely group and I got to speak to most of them except for the Japanese peopel who kept to themselves a bit. After lunch in Kings Canyon Resort was the drive back to Ayres Rock Resort, another long drive but this time pointing out Mount Connor, a rock much bigger than Uluru but formed in an entirely different way. It has always been there and the land around it has eroded away. It was early evening by the time I got back so I booked a bus to see Uluru at sunrise the next morning, sorted myself out so I was ready to check out and had an early night.
My phone had cleverly reset itself during the night so I was lucky to wake up in time to catch the bus. Sunrise at Uluru was great. Really good atmosphere, lots of people, lots of colours. The bus dropped me at the viewpoint and I watched it change colour until the sun was up, pretty cool. I then went to the rock and did the base walk rather than climb it as the Traditional owners ask you not to climb it but people do anyway... It was closed when I got there so I took that as a sign and walked the base instead and I am really glad I did. I felt I got much more of a sense of what it's all about, the significance of it and all its sacred sights, the people who used it and lived around it. It took two hours at a good pace to walk around, which hopefully gives you some idea as to how big it is. I am really glad I stayed at Yulara, so close to the rock and that I met all different people on each tour I took and finding out about the little things like why the road to Kata Tjuta is meandering between the sanddunes, it is a men's sacred sight and therefore the women should not see it. It was a brillliant time.

I took a bus to Alice Springs the same afternoon and arrived in the evening. It's a long way away. The day after I joined a tour to the Western MacDonnell ranges whcih encirlce Alice Springs. I saw Flynn's Grave, John Flynn was the founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Australia. Simpson's Gap was the next stop and it was deserted, we were the only ones there, standing in the middle of the river (no water because it is all dried up) spotting rock wallabies and taking photos of the coloured rock. After that we went to a place called Stanley's Chasm and walked what woudl usually be upstream to the end where there was a small gorge and some large quartz rocks. Once we got back it was time for lunch and billy tea and after that, time to part ways. I went to a place called Desert Gardens and saw lots and lots of animals and plants native to the outback. Lots of them are nocturnal because it is too hot during the day, very sensible if you ask me, I wouldn't recommend going there in the hottest season, whenever that is, it was hot enough when I was there! I had a tour around the nocturnal house and Matt, the guide, had a lot of not too happy stories like "this scorpian could kill a child" "stay away from this its very dangerous" "don't stick your toes in the little holes you see in the ground" It was cool to look around though. I also saw some aboriginal art and learnt about the paints made from the different colours of rocks. Nowadays acrylic paints are used. I also saw a short film about how the MacDonnell Ranges were formed, the weathering effects and the significance of. After this it was time to see the birds of prey strut their stuff, a black kite, a brown falcon, another kind of kite and a tawny frogmouth. I finished off looking around the park by looking at some roos and joeys, then it was time to be collected and taken back to Alice. The next day I was flying to Sydney and was very excited to see John, Mel and Jess again!

Hope you are all well. I actually leave Australia this Wednesday 26th to go to Bali and start the Asian leg of my trip. I only have 3 months left 😞 but looking forward to all the new places I will visit.
Miss you all. Lots of Love xxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Comments

[sally]

rocks
Hi jenny what an amazing diary - you are so good at remembereing all the detail and explanations, I found it fascinating. UK has been nearly as hot the last few days - honestly! Almost 30C! But all that will change before the BHol wkend... You look so well in the photos, and sound very happy. The advert is in again for our new priest, so fingers crossed once more. All are well, except for Margaret Hellier who has fallen and fractured her pelvis. And someone else has left (moved to Wales) - Neal. So we getting fewer by the week. Quality not quantity? love s