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!  

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.