A chilly, rainy, lazy day in the desert

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 

 Because both our Ayres Rock tours were crammed into one day, we had a "day of leisure" yesterday in which we did laundry and mostly just laid around.  John had a hairspray explosion in his suitcase which soaked a few layers of clothing, so the chance to wash it out was welcome.  It was a drizzly chilly day, temps probably in the 50'sF, the last thing we expected here in what is purported to be desert.  Two years of unusual rains have made the desert green and today we have much colder weather than anyone, even the Aussies, expected.

I love the flora and fauna here.  We see things we don't have at home in the States.  I looked this up in a book on the train, but have forgotten what it is. It might be a Banksia, but I'm not sure.  If you know, please comment!  But how unusual to have the flower and the seed pods at the same time.

More gorgeous seed pods

A rackety flock of these birds was perched outside our room for a little while in the afternoon, another thing I can't name.

Uluru at sunset, and a glorious evening

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 

We returned to the bus in the late afternoon and were taken to the place where you have the best view of Uluru at sunset.  Wine, nibbles, and spectacular red colors as the setting sun hit the rock, a sight exceeded only by the glorious sunset skies.

It was interesting to watch the colors of Uluru change as the sun sank lower.  This was taken early in the process.

And this was taken when the sun was almost down.

Wow!

Bus again to the place where a BBQ had been prepared for us.  Wine, steaks, shrimp, kangaroo meat, lamb sausage, and much more.  We felt it was a well earned special meal to top off a long very special day.  Before we boarded the bus for the last time, the lights were all extinguished and we were treated to a talk about the amazingly starry sky.  Truly, I have never seen so many stars.  The Milky Way was thick and swirling with millions of them.  We saw the Southern Cross by which navigators in the southern hemisphere have steered for centuries, and many more constellations that all seemed brighter and closer to earth than anything we see at home.  I wish my camera were up to taking a picture of that sky.  Since it was not, go here to get an idea of what we saw.  You really had to be there, however.  This alone was worth the trip.  What a way to end the day!  

Kata Tjuta

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 


After our busy morning at Uluru, we went back to the resort for lunch and then boarded a bus going back into the park in order to see the other huge outcropping, Kata Tjuta.  While Uluru is a monolith with a single form rising from the plain, Kata Tjuta means "many heads" and has seven or nine humps, and covers an area ten times the size of Uluru.  White Australians don't know very much about the sacred nature of Kata Tjuta or even whether that is because it is less sacred or so sacred that the aboriginal people have simply kept their secrets to themselves.  What everyone who sees it does know is that Kata Tjuta is impressive and beautiful. 

We drove to a place where we could photograph Kata Tjuta from a distance.

This is the rocky path that led through the Walpa Gorge (Valley of the Winds) between two peaks.  we walked between the two huge outcroppings.  The path was more uneven than it looks here and required a fair amount of vigilance to keep from falling.  

See the little people?  This is a majestic place and well worth the walk.

We walked about 90% of the trail but turned back after hearing from people who were returning that it became more rugged and narrower, but was basically more of the same.   By this time we had come to a place where a pretty stream was running and had formed a pool that seemed like a sanctuary of sorts.  Nice place to call it a day and turn around. 

Not much of a steam, but that made it special.

Kata Tjuta is truly beautiful, and added a new dimension to our visit to Ayres Rock and the Uluru-Kata Tjuta national park.

A closer look at Uluru

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 


Our tour continued with a walk around part of the base of Uluru, during which we were told a good deal about the natural and mythic world we were visiting.  One such story is the legend of Kuniya, the Woma python, and Liru, the poisonous snake.  Go here to read more of this fascinating story, that like other Aboriginal stories, is used even today to teach their young people the values and history of the local Anangu people.  

This is a marker in a series relating the story.

Even without the legends, this is a magical place.  There is just something about it that makes it easy to see why it is a sacred site for the local people.  The grandeur and beauty of Uluru speaks for itself.

From a distance, Uluru looks smooth.  Up close, the view is quite different.  The rock gets its red color from the high concentration of iron in the material it is made from which oxidizes when exposed to air and moisture.  You would think that in this desert area moisture would be lacking, but quite even in very dry times, reserves of water lie under the soil, and they say the rock acts like a giant sponge, wicking it upward and releasing it in occasional waterfalls and pools.

Parts of Uluru are so sacred to the local Anangu people that visitors are not allowed to photograph them.  Separate sites on opposing sides of the rock are dedicated to men and to women.  This is not one of them, but both, especially the women's site, feature cave-like formations similar to this.  For us, they are a reminder that erosion plays a strong role in what we see today and will see in the future when much of what is "set in stone" will change.

You can see where water has flowed down from the top of the rock.  At the very bottom, you can glimpse a bit of the large pool at the base of this section.

Our guide illustrated the Mala legend with traditional symbol drawings in the dirt, much as elders tell these stories to their children.  Here is a recounting of the Mala legend.

This is our guide's rendering of the story.  The concentric circles represent watering holes or camps, the lines are the paths of the people, for example.

The local people have traditionally used paintings on the sheltered walls of shallow caves to more permanently illustrate their stories for the children of the tribe.

This shows some of the traditional symbols used to tell a story.

In the past, many Westerners climbed Uluru, and some of them died in the attempt.  Today, a condition of the partnership between the original stewards of the land and the government is that climbing is allowed in only one place, and it is discouraged even there.  On the day we visited, the climbing site was closed due to high winds

This is the only place on Uluru where climbing is sometimes allowed.  That faint vertical line on the rock is a railing that people apparently us in their supposedly arduous climb.  I have NO idea why anyone would want to do this, but I suppose the answer is, "because it is there."

On to the cultural Center where we heard more stories from a local Anangu man/artist, Vincent, and saw some of his art.  Other artists were working in other buildings there, paintings, bowls, carvings, etc.  No were photos allowed there, unfortunately.  Here is more information about the Anangu culture, the cultural center, and local art.

Ayres Rock - Uluru.

NOTE:  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website. 
Up before dawn today, normally hard for me, but since my body has NO idea what time it is, not so bad.  Bus to Uluru and then a wait until the sun rose.  A little longer wait for the sun to clear the clouds near the horizon.  Possibly a less dramatic and less red result since the angle of refraction was higher than it should have been, but a lovely sight in any case.   They have had so much more rain than usual this year that the desert, often called the Red Centre here, is green and gorgeous.  The dark trees and shrubs, the red earth, the pale gold of the grasses blowing in the strong wind, and then the mammoth rock rising in the distance.

Uluru in the light but before the sun struck it. 

Waiting for sunrise, with Kata Tjuta in the distance, both easily visible but neither touched with the sun yet.

This was the problem--that low-lying cloud bank the sun had to clear.

From our vantage point, Kata Tjuta began to glow first.

And here is Uluru, at last touched by the rising sun.

Australia - arriving

We have just returned home from a terrific journey to Australia, Singapore, and Thailand.  I was unable to blog in real time because I didn't have access to free wifi and was too cheap to buy minutes, but I will share my journal and some pictures with you now, if you'd like to follow along.  If you would like less narrative and more pictures, please visit my website.

MY JOURNAL - first installment:

It is Monday evening in Naples now, but in Australia it is Tuesday morning.  We've been traveling for about 36 hours, rising Sunday at 6AM to catch our first plane from Ft Myers to Charlotte.  Then Charlotte to LA and LA to Sydney.  Somewhere along the way we lost Monday, but we'll get the day back when we have two Fridays on the way home three weeks from now.  At the time I wrote this, we were in the Sydney airport waiting for our last flight, the local to Ayres Rock.  We have nothing much planned once we arrive at the resort, so MY plan is to rest, read, and veg.

Not a bad idea since tomorrow we will set out ninety minutes before dawn to watch the sunrise at the fabled Ayres Rock.  More later after we arrive at the resort, but meanwhile, I'm happy to report that the sleeping pill my doctor prescribed worked well enough that I'm not totally exhausted.  That said, it would be so much better if we had spent the night in Los Angeles.  From now on, that will be the only way I'll do one of these long trips.  We're too old for marathon journeys with little or no sleep.

This is the Quantas Airbus 380 we flew from LA to Sydney.  Two full stories of seating, but it loaded surprisingly quickly and was a pretty comfortable flight, even in coach.  Food and service are a cut above US airlines, even on international flights, as well.

Later.  We arrived at the Desert Gardens Hotel at Ayres Rock Resort, Uluru--along with a few hundred other travelers.  From the looks of things, two planes arrive here within minutes of each other, and then we are all loaded onto buses to be distributed among the several hotels that comprise the resort.  John is in a long line waiting to register, and I am sitting with the luggage.  Bit of a cattle call, but things will settle down soon.

Meanwhile, the glimpse we've had so far of the surrounding desert is beautiful.  This is not only the rainy season but they have also had unusually heavy rains for the last two years, so the vegetation is lush for desert.  The temperatures seem very pleasant as well.  Sunny and breezy so far.  I'm almost afraid I've packed wrong.  The jeans I've been traveling in are my only long pants.  I was sure it would be hot here!  

This is the view from our room.  Scrubby vegetation, bright red-orange soil, and so surprisingly green!

One unusual thing has already occurred.  We had to set our watches back (or maybe forward) thirty minutes after leaving Sydney.  Seriously?  Yep.  This will be our time for all of Australia since we are traveling through the country in a vertical line.  Half hour increments are something we've never heard of!  

New wrinkle.  It's 1:30 here and none of us can get into our rooms until 3.  I'm sure this is a daily occurrence.  Too bad the planes don't arrive an hour later in the day.

A white car just drove up covered with red dust.  The soil here is bright red-orange.  People who live here must spend way too much time on cleaning and laundry.  The young men who work here are all wearing shorts and sturdy, dusty work boots.  We were told by our bus driver that spiders and snakes abound here.  No going off into the desert at night on your own, or even straying off the paths at any time.  Luckily, we are on a tour and will probably be sufficiently programmed to stay safe from wildlife.  [NOTE:  written later. On our flight to Adelaide, I was sitting next to a pilot from the Royal Flying Doctor Corps, who told me that just a day or so earlier they airlifted out a man who had been bitten by snake ON the paths at Ayres Rock Resort.  I was glad I hadn't heard that until we were safely gone.]

Holy cow.  Four more buses just arrived.  I wonder how many flights actually arrive here daily.  This resort is a major destination in Australia.  In addition to Ayres Rock, there are all kinds of activities that appeal to active families, including camel rides. 


Later.  Exorbitant prices here, we think.  We spent a little time at the grocery buying breakfast food to avoid the charges--$28 per person for a continental breakfast and $34 for the hot breakfast.  That was so outrageous that even I balked.  We just got home from a very light dinner--pizza and a beer.  The beers were $8 each.  I've heard that prices are high in Australia.  Clearly true.  The locals are used to them.  Lots of families enjoying the resort.  There is no tipping in Australia, which makes the prices less atrocious.  Their minimum wage is nearly $15/hour, far higher than ours.  I much prefer to think that service people of all kinds are paid a living wage than having to depend on handouts as they do in the US.  Far more civilized, and I'd pay higher prices if we could make the switch.  I can't imagine that would ever happen, however.  Our system is too ingrained in us.


Apparently we are lucky with the weather.  Someone told us that last week temps were over 100.  It was probably no more than low 70s here today.  We've been told it will be quite chilly tomorrow at dawn.  I guess I'll wear my jeans and BOTH jackets.  Meanwhile. I can hardly keep my eyes open.  Good night.