Month: October 2023

We rise a little later after a long day yesterday, having the rental car is a boon. After a leisurely breakfast it’s time to enact our plan to travel out to the other monolithic rock structure on the horizon Kata Tjuṯa. The 36 domes that make up this collection of islands in a red desert sea are composed of Conglomerate (sedimentary rock rounded to gravel sized pieces-clasts ranging from a micron to the size of an apartment block). A conglomerate typically contains a mixture of finer-grained particles like sand, silt or clay that fills the air spaces between the clasts. These then are cemented by other minerals like calcium carbonate, iron oxide and silica all hardened by the clay. At Kata Tjuṯa the sedimentary rock consists of cobbles and boulders of varying rock types including granite and basalt bound by coarse sandstone. Kata Tjuṯa, that includes Mount Olga covers an area of 21.68 km² (8.37 sq mi). The highest dome, Mount Olga, is 1,066 m (3,497 ft) above sea level, or approximately 546 m (1,791 ft) above the surrounding plain 198 m (650 ft) higher than Uluṟu. Geology lesson over it is interesting to note there the indigenous people of this area recognise three distinct rock formations not two. The other being Mt Connor or as the aboriginals call it Artilla. Mt Connor remains in private hands so is not accessible to the traditional owners or the general public.

Our drive to Kata Tjuṯa takes 38 minutes, but by no means boring after recent rains the desert is alive with wild flowers. Low scrubby bushes look exceedingly healthy with new growth, flowers, seed pods and fruits. One particular bush the honey grevillea has a yellow wiry flower that oozes with nectar a favourite with aboriginal children who suck the flowers dry right from the bush. Sturt’s desert pea, although a South Australian state emblem also grows well in this arid environment.

On the way we stop off at a lookout that gives us a great panoramic view of the Kata Tjuṯa domes and surrounding landscape

Our walk today takes us into Waḻpa Gorge where two of the giant domes that make up Kata Tjuṯa come together at one end. The walk takes about an hour covering 2.6 kilometres. On our approach we spot zebra tailed finches flitting from one tree to another in a frenzy of chatter. We continue on an upward path, a gentle slope but a rocky one. You can clearly see rounded cobbled basalt stones embedded by clay along the red tinted pathway. There is loose gravel in places so one has to be careful not to slip as we progress along the entry. Either side the walls of these two red domes climb upwards to a brilliant blue sky. Some areas are sheer others have pockets in them like footholds that a climbing giant would need to make it to the top. Man made bridges allow easy crossing of gorges that would be hard to negotiate if they weren’t there. Watching where we put our feet and stopping frequently to take photos makes this slow warm work, the sun is still rising to its zenith with the temperature a tolerable 26c. As the temperature rises we contend with an increasing number of flies, other more prepared hikers have nets that sit over their head ware but we missed the memo on this useful tip. The great Aussie wave comes into play as we bat away the pesky critters while try not to breath in too hard for fear of sucking in some unwanted flying protein.

The gorge gradually narrows until we can go no further. We have reached a refreshingly cool shaded place where a viewing platform with benches allows us to take a break and take in the majesty of this place. In front of us the “V” that forms the point at which the domes meet opens from a narrow base high into the sky. The sheer walls of the gorge now a shady ochre against the brightest of blue skies. When we we turn around the whole gorge opens up before us.

The cool break from the sun is a pleasant reprieve and a chance to restore some energy for the walk back to the car park. Now down hill most of the way the going is a little easier.

The time comes to drive back to the resort where we have booked in for a dot painting course. Dot paintings tell a story from an aerial point of view using symbols to represent people, places and animals as well as Dreamtime spirits. The Dreamtime spirits are inevitably represented by giant versions of animals, like the Rainbow Serpent, tell the story of the creation of Australia, coming down the centuries through storytelling and song lines. After we arrive back at the resort we gather at the meeting point where Evelyn our aboriginal teacher tells us about the basic symbols that she uses in her paintings. As previously mentioned the locals are extremely shy and Michael a white assistant interprets her softly spoken words into clearer English. Evelyn paints in the red sand with her finger the symbols for Artilla, Uluṟu and Kata Tjuṯa with her house there to give us an idea of where she comes from in relation to these rock formations. Our mission is to create our own story using the same symbols of wavy lines, dots and concentric circles. I draw an aerial view of our house and garden but I think I miss the mark. I should have drawn the city of Adelaide, Mt Lofty and our houses relation to those with symbols for water and forested areas etc. My painting is far too ambitious and I can’t control the dot size but I do end up with something fairly identifiable, at least by me. Barbie’s effort is much better with dot structure and a neat layout I couldn’t quite manage. Once completed we are called upon to tell our stories with a story telling stick, pointing at the symbols and explaining how they relate to our story. All good fun, glad I didn’t take it too seriously! We are able to take our artwork with us but mine is no masterpiece, I’ll stick to painting the walls thank you!

Our last event of the day is an exciting one indeed and a first for Mandy. We have booked a sunset helicopter flight that will take us around Uluṟu and Kata Tjuṯa as the sun descends on another day in the red centre. At the appointed time we walk the now well worn track to the Desert Gardens Hotel to wait for our shuttle to the Yulara airport. We are picked up by a young lady bus driver who looks like she just left high school. We soon find out that she is one of the helicopter pilots filling in as a bus driver after a day in the air with other like minded tourists. There is a shiny looking unmarked jet parked nearby when we arrive through the gates, the federal government’s conveyance for Mr. Anthony Albanese our prime minister who has arrived to give a speech in support of the referendum yes vote, the speech due to happen at sunrise tomorrow morning. We wait while our pilot driver closes the gates, she explains “to keep the camels out”. There are reportedly over 1 million camels roaming the desert out here, out numbering many of the indigenous animals, in fact out competing them for food and water. Our Helicopter pilots are waiting for us alongside their rides, Mandy, Barbie and I are greeted by Jake who tells all about the Bell 207 Jet-Ranger Helicopter we are about to ride in. It’s not long before we lift off in the direction of Kata Tjuṯa.

The 38 minute aerial tour of Kata Tjuṯa and Uluṟu is a stunning finale to our visit to the red centre of Australia. We have added greatly to our knowledge of aboriginal history and culture as well as the geography of the landscape that the Aṉangu consider a sacred place.

We are soon back at the Desert Gardens hotel and our room at the Emu Apartments before enjoying our last meal at the Mangata restaurant. Tomorrow we fly out via Sydney to Adelaide.

It’s 3.00am when the radio comes alive with the local news, this is our alarm to get moving. It’s pitch black outside and 4c. This will be our first flight since Covid hit three years ago so we are somewhat apprehensive. Qantas haven’t enjoyed the same level of popularity since virtually closing down the airline and sacking 17000 employees soon after Covid became a worldwide problem and Australia locked its doors. Not to mention that they continue to be embroiled in controversy over their CEO’s dubious business practices. Though within the law seemed morally corrupt given the high regard the flying kangaroo enjoyed here.

Amanda’s cousin Barbie arrived from Hurricane, Utah last Monday awaking us from our winter slumber, giving us the impetus for this trip to the red centre. After a week of city sightseeing dotted with the occasional wine tasting in the newest of south Australia’s wine districts the cool climate Adelaide Hill’s we ready ourselves for a visit to the monolithic natural rock formation that once known as Ayres Rock is now renamed Uluru. Indigenous Australians took control in 1985 signing a 99 year lease, declaring the area a sacred place, eventually ceasing the practice of climbing the rock that had proven dangerous and in this day and age certainly outside health and safety guidelines. Uluṟu doesn’t sit alone out there in the red desert just a few kilometres away is Kata Tjuṯa once known as the Olga’s a collection of rock formations that form islands amongst the red sandy sea. One of the most visited and remote places in Australia, Uluṟu and Kata Tjuṯa sit in the Ayres Rock National Park some 400 kilometres from Alice Springs.

By 4.15 am we have loaded our bags into the car and are on the road to the airport. A drive made easy by the lack of traffic at this hour, by 5.00am we are through security and looking for breakfast. We spot a coffee and muffin outlet with everything from savoury to sweet and settle in to assuage our hunger. Our flight time soon arrives and we are on our way through the night sky. Dawn greets us as we make our way east towards Sydney on the first leg of our journey with a gradual emerging stratified display of pink, grey and blue.

Crazy as this seems currently there are no direct flights to the airport that services the Yulara resort. The Yulara Resort sits just 1580 kilometres north of Adelaide while Sydney is 1375 kilometres east and Yulara 2838 kilometres west from Sydney. We long for the pre Covid days when life seemed now in retrospect so much less complicated.

Our stopover in Sydney is brief, we have moved forward by 30 minutes and have a 60 minute wait for our flight to Uluṟu. Flying west again we will loose the 30 minutes gained on our flight from Adelaide plus another 60 minutes, the Northern Territory doesn’t do daylight saving time, something to do with upsetting the cows. This time we have a three hour flight into the red heart of the continent.

Onboard wifi allows us to track our path, as we cross the border back into the far north of South Australia the vast ground beneath us is a hazy ochre that fades into distant grey cloud cover topped with white before reaching a pale blue sky. The three hours passes by, passengers to the left off us have an aerial view of Uluṟu and glimpse of Kata Tjuta as we descend. The landscape is a canvas of bluey green low scrubby bushes, yellow spinifex grasses that form tufts that sprout from the red soil and blue grey spindly desert oaks. Once landed we take the shuttle the short distance to the resort and the Emu Walk Apartments hotel that we have booked for our 3 night stay. On our way we have our fist glimpses of the rock formations we are here to see. The day is pleasantly warm with a light breeze. After check in we walk into the town square to check out the restaurants, organise our rental car as well as browse the shops and the indigenous art gallery. A crowd gathers in an amphitheatre where a didgeridoo player is holding a lesson on the basics of playing this ancient instrument. Originating in the north of Australia around Arnhem Land and The Kimberley’s in Western Australia the wind instrument is now associated with Aboriginals all around the nation.

Our energy fading we find a restaurant and settle down to an early meal and a glass of wine. The sky turns a rosy hue as the sunsets while we stroll back to our room for an early night after an early start and a long day. Tomorrow we will travel into the Ayres Rock National Park for a close up encounter with these two giants of the landscape, Uluṟu and Kata Tjuṯa.

Another early rise today, it’s 5.00am and dawn is slowly breaking across the desert landscape that encircles Uluṟu. This is a desert that is putting on a grand show after three successive winters of heavy rainfall across Australia. The air has a chill that is only there when no clouds remain to keep yesterdays warmth from escaping overnight. we have awoken in a foreign land, this is the spiritual heart off Australia, Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Country, home of the Aṉangu people. Our passport a three day pass to Uluṟu-Kata Tjuta National Park.

The day starts with an early breakfast, a traditional buffet, but with some items that might surprise you. Like Bush tomato chutney to go with your scrambled eggs, Kangaroo sausage or wattle seed pancakes with lemon myrtle butter to wash it all down a nice cup of eucalyptus flavoured Billy tea or coffee.

Our breakfast is quick as we have a date with a park ranger at 8.00am. Once packed we are in the rental car, a small hatchback to make the 30 minute drive to Uluṟu for a 90 minute educational tour at the base of the rock along a track known as the Mala Walk. The Mala are a small native marsupial mole that in Dreamtime stories had a hand in creating the monolith Uluṟu. When the Aṉangu people came upon Uluṟu it seemed to them a garden of Eden. Plenty of water, an abundance of vegetation, edible fruits, grasses with seeds that could be ground to make a flour and bread. Animal life also abounded, kangaroos, lizards, emus, and bush turkeys. The Mulga tress that they needed to make utensils and weapons for everyday life also grew in abundance. As we walk our guide tells us of the gradual learning that the children would undertake to be able to survive in this harsh environment. How to make weapons for hunting for the boys and how to make utensils for the girls. How to differentiate between the different plant species, the edible and not so edible, animals habits and the best way to hunt them. Ceremonies would mark their progress as they developed into active community members. Their culture that spans nearly 60,000 years is handed down through Dreamtime stories and song lines, they have no written language. At the base of the rock there are caves that have acted as classrooms the walls covered in pictures painted in ochre, ash and charcoal. Places where the elderly sat and swapped stories, places that acted as a kitchen and places where men made there tools. Here there culture flourished until colonisation.

Our next stop is the Cultural Centre, here there are displays of traditional aboriginal art both in their distinctive aerial view dot style painting, mostly carried out by women. Then there is wood carving, weapons and tools made by men and utility items like bowls and open ended carrying cradles by women. The latter decorated by heating wire to burn designs into the wood. We stop for a gelato of Mango and roasted macadamias for me, Lemon and Desert Lime ripple for Amanda and Rosella flower and Raspberry for Barbie. The flavours are all so delicious we share them all. We catch a presentation by two Aṉangu women supervised by a white guide that enables us to touch and feel some of the cultural items. The Aṉangu are a shy people telling their stories in soft voices that at times cross over into their own language. Their are at least 350 different indigenous countries in Australia each with their own language and sometimes different dialects or accents. Our presenters speak several native languages as well as English. As we go through the cultural items some can only be handled by men, like a belt used to carry men’s tools made entirely of human hair.

We have one last trip in us to end the day, the Muṯitjulu Waterhole.

We arrive at the car park and are immediately accosted by newspaper journalist from the Sydney Morning Herald. Can we spare a few moments to talk about our trip? Yes we reply! With the referendum just around the corner that will decide if the indigenous community will be recognised in our constitution. Also to allow them to form an advisory committee to the government on issues that pertain significantly to them. The journalist tells us that the prime minister will travel to Uluṟu to confirm the government’s commitment to a yes vote tomorrow. Where do we stand on the issue and why have we chosen to visit the area at this historic moment? The Uluṟu Statement from the Heart started here in this sacred of aboriginal places. A document that asks the Australian people to recognise the social gap that exists between mainstream Australians and the indigenous peoples and to make a commitment to closing that gap. We support them in this effort that ultimately will have great benefit for them and Australia as a whole. The journalist takes our photo and we part ways.

The base of the rock is a 10 kilometre walk with a lot of sheer red walls rising above you. The faces of which are of arkose, a coarse sandstone containing iron that gradually rusts and flakes off leaving patches of grey sandstone beneath. The culturally significant areas around the rock are of most interest to us as mere tourists, focusing on these today is our goal and the waterhole is one of them. The area surrounding the waterhole is particularly lush and shady due to the constant presence of water there. Bird life abounds and occasionally wallabies can be seen amongst the grasses but today the midday temperature has creeped up to 32c so the wallabies are resting up under a shady tree, out of sight. Occasionally all is still, the sound of silence is deafening, leaving a peaceful tranquil setting, a perfect place to sit and contemplate life. One of the many benches that are to be found all over the park made from large polished natural timber tree limbs sits nearby just for that purpose. On a nature walk one notices the smallest things, the wild flowers, the colour of the eucalyptus bark, a butterfly that flutters by. This time it’s a small brightly coloured black and red beetle that scuttles across our path minding his own business but drawing attention to him or her self with its bright coat contrasting against the ochre pathway. After posing for a flurry of snapshots the beetle scuttles on into the surrounding bush.

Time to return to the resort for a break before dinner tonight that takes us to an elevated viewing point to watch the sunset over Uluṟu.

The dinner is named the field of lights dinner after a huge installation of 50,0000 solar powered coloured lights that gradually power on after the sun has set. A one off installation by artist Bruce Munro has outlasted its original 6 months tenure and now lights the equivalent of seven football fields nightly. So popular is the installation that turning off the display is continually put back.

Once we arrive we are welcomed with a glass of champagne and bush inspired canapés. Barbie tastes her first Kangaroo meat, rolled into a flat bread and cut into bite size pieces. We settle in to watch the sun go down, the suns last rays reflecting on Uluṟu giving the monolith a pink tinge until finally the sun disappears behind Kata Tjuṯa behind us. We move on to another level just over the red sand dunes where immaculately set tables sit with white table cloths, gleaming cutlery and light reflecting glassware. The air is warm and still as we are seated in tables of ten. Our group of three has extended to four as a lovely lady of Indian heritage from England joins us. At the table we also have two young girls from Sydney two couples from Melbourne, Barbie from the US and Mandy and I from Adelaide, quite a mix. As the light gradually fades a single cube of light illuminates our table. In the foreground of Uluṟu lights begin to fill the landscape, colours of ochre, deep violet, blue and gentle white appear across a seemingly vast area gradually pulsating with their own rhythm. Tales of the days adventures are told around the table, the energy of the young girls clearly apparent as they tell us of their Segway tour around the base of the rock, their visit to the camel farm and subsequent ride to the rock base and an adventurous plane ride over Kata Tjuṯa and Uluṟu. Quite a one day itinerary.

After the completion of dinner again showcasing bush produce the table lights are extinguished we are plunged into darkness. Looking up the night sky is filled with the stars and planets the Milky Way clearly visible as a cloud of stars that arch across the sky above us. An astronomer joins us taking us on an Astro tour of the galaxy, pointing out with a powerful laser pointer the clearly visible planets Saturn, Venus and Mars along with the stars of Alpha Centauri and Sirius.

Finally we take a twenty minute stroll through the Field of Lights on our way back to the bus. Wandering through a maze of illumination that is both dazzling and fairylike.

Another wonderful day of new experiences for all.