OUTBACK ADVENTURE - Days 7-8

Day 95 - 3rd May - Outback Safari - Day 7

We arose from our slumber once again before sunrise to pack up and have breakfast. There were hills all around us made entirely of brilliant red rocks that were illuminated spectacularly in the fiery red glow of the dawn. But these hills would be nothing compared to what we would be gazing upon later today. This is because we were off towards Uluru/Ayers Rock later in the day. We found our way onto the smooth concrete Stewart Highway and were off at high speed.

It didn't take long to arrive at Yulara, the small resort town near the famous big red monolith known as either Ayer's Rock or by its spiritual Aboriginal name: Uluru. While we're on the subject of its name, I insist that the name Uluru be used instead of the 'white man's' name. Uluru was sacred to the Aboriginals for god knows how long and since they're been around for at least ten thousand years it would be fair to assume that theirs is the right to keep the name. Mind you, the renaming of all the Aboriginal sacred sites seems to pale in comparison to the discrimination, genocide and the classification of Aboriginals as 'local fauna' by the ever xenophobic white Europeans but it's still worth thinking about. So Uluru it is then and don't you forget it!

We had a quick lunch at the campsite in Yulara where we would be sleeping and then we headed off towards Uluru. We took some photos from a distance before heading off to the base to walk around it and admire it up close. Later we were going to be viewing it from a distance but right now we were going for a walk.

Now I've met many pessimists and naysayers who think that Uluru is just a big dumb rock, and I'm not just talking about my mollusc brained roommate back in the Melbourne hostel. To any imbecile who dismisses this natural wonder despite having never seen it, ignore them and cut them out of your life. Uluru is not good, nor is it great, it's absolutely incredible. The overwhelmingly beautiful nature of this stunning place cannot truly be conveyed using words or even pictures but I'm going to try anyway.

First things first, the scale of this place is beyond description. From a distance it dominates the horizon, up close it utterly blows your mind. First you have to remember that this giant rocky mesa in slap bang in the middle of a flat and mostly featureless desert. This alone seems to amplify its significance. You also can't tell from photographs alone just how absolutely gargantuan this place is. The sides are extremely steep and at some point the walls are sheer cliff faces that tower over you as you walk past. You almost get vertigo just looking up from the bottom.

Another striking feature of Uluru is that there are hundreds of things to see as you walk round. From every different angle you seem to be able to spot something new. Up close the rock formations on the side are different everywhere you look and as the sunlight changes the shadows and colours constantly create new things to see. In some places the rock face is smooth, gentle and wavy, then you come across an area that is jagged, craggy and menacing. In other places there are dozens of circular holes embedded in the side, then you go round the corner and you find a big cave shaped like a massive wave. One area looked like a giant honeycomb that had melted, causing a bizarre ripple effect.

Then there is the colour of the place, it depends on the time of day but right now, in the early afternoon, it was glowing with a fantastic golden brown, similar to the brilliant fiery colour displayed by leaves in autumn. These colours change even more during sunrise and sunset and this was next on our agenda. We drove to the sunset viewing area and got ready for the show. Bathed in the glow of dusk, Uluru glowed with a ferociously intense deep red colour that can hardly be described with words alone. We all watched in awe as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon and the light slowly faded from the surface of Uluru. During our visual feast our guide Daniel had been preparing dinner and we were delighted to find hot dogs on the menu. We ate and then returned to the campsite at Yulara. The campsite was packed and despite the refreshing presence of showers, flush toilets and sockets to charge our cameras I found myself wanting to be out in the bush again. I'm sure we would have camped out at a quiet spot near Uluru if we had been allowed but camping is not allowed in the area, in fact the park closes at night. This is for the best though, if anyone could just turn up then the place would quickly become littered and overcrowded.

As I retired to my faithful old swag I reflected upon the spiritual significance of Uluru, I'm not at all surprised at how sacred it is to the indigenous people of Australia. I'm also glad that the land is protected and considered Aboriginal land by the government. I really think they deserve it.

Uluru: it's NOT just a rock!

Day 96 - 4th May - Outback Safari - Day 8

Although yesterday we had marvelled at the display of colours displayed by Uluru during the afternoon and sunset we were going to see it today in different light again. We awoke horrendously early and had ourselves a bushman's breakfast. Now a bushman's breakfast consists of getting up, scratching yourself, packing up your swag and hitting the road. We would eat after sunrise, now we had to get out to the sunset viewing area. We were first to arrive at the entrance, in fact we had to wait ten minutes before the gates even opened. Once we arrived at the viewing area we waited for the sun to show up.

The dawn light show was even more impressive than the dusk one. It was extremely satisfying to watch Uluru turn from a shadow on the horizon to a burning, glowing mountain of fire. After sunset we took a scenic drive around the area that we had walked yesterday. With the sun shining from the opposite side to was yesterday we were treated to a completely different spectacle.

After breakfast we headed off to a nearby area that was located on the same national park, a place called Kata Tjuta. This means 'many heads' in Aboriginal and it is a range of large dome shaped rocks that seem to be made from the same colour rock as Uluru. These huge mountain sized rocks tower over the landscape in a manner just as impressive, if not even more so that its nearby and more famous neighbour. After taking some photos from afar we parked up close and took a walk through one of the gorges between the rocks. Kata Tjuta was an unexpected surprise, I'd never heard of it before but it was a worthy companion to Uluru, just as impressive yet completely different. We took a walk through one of the gorges between the many rock domes. Although not quite as special as Uluru, Kata Tjuta was still an awe inspiring place. The steep sides of the gorge rose up to absolutely dizzying heights on both sides, definitely an impressive sight. After we finished we returned to Yulara to do some souvenir shopping, though I tried not to spend too much.

Tonight at camp we had another barbecue, this one over our massive campfire. We also tried our hand at making some bread in the campfire. We had seen this some nights ago at Iga-Warta when our Aboriginal host made some bread in the traditional style. This involved sticking the large clump of dough in the campfire, buried in sand under the hot coals. We didn't quite have our technique perfected so we used tin-foil to wrap the bread but it still turned out pretty good. Also downed a few beers that we had acquired earlier and ate our burgers.

Great food, great times!

Kata Tjuta: 'meany heads'

gathering firewood at sunset