Day 7: The Ghan/Uluru/Darwin. It was a BIG day!

Today was a huge day! 

The alarm went off at 4:30 AM. I was going to do some blogging before we had to leave for the sunrise, and this is when I discovered that my laptop was broken. The keys weren’t registering on the screen, so I couldn’t even get my password on to get in.

Devastated. Fortunately, I have my iPad, but I have to remember how to blog on it. It’s been a year since I was using it to blog when I was in the UK and Ireland. The laptop is SO much easier.

I moped my way out to the bus and we got to the viewing platform early, which gave us the advantage of securing our spots. we had just under an hour before sunrise.

The place filled up. I couldn’t help thinking about the school trips our school does here every year, with two or three coaches full of year 10 or 11 students. I thanked my lucky stars that we weren’t here during school holidays!

When the light started to appear, Uluru looked like this.

As the sunrise approached, it changed.

As you can see, we didn’t get the brilliant orange that sometimes happens, probably because there were some clouds in the sky that diffused the sun’s rays a bit, but we saw the Rock change colour regardless. 

I was getting a little bored with just standing there, so I zoomed in on some spots that looked like faces. This one has lost an eye.

This one is hanging upside down.

I snapped a few more on the way back to the bus.

Then we were back to the resort for breakfast. We had an hour’s turnaround before we were off to cover as much ground as possible in our one full day at Yulara.

First stop was The Olgas, or Kata Tjuṯa as they’re now called. The official name change happened in 1977, but Uluru has been adopted much more readily than Kata Tjuṯa, probably because it’s easier to say. The indigenous name means “many heads”, which makes sense as there are 36 identifiable domes.

To be honest, I have never given The Olgas much thought, but they were stunning.

We stopped for an hour to do a walk at Walpa Gorge.

The rock formations have their own microclimates, “so if it’s windy at Uluru, it’ll be blowing a gale there!” said Tracey. She wasn’t lying. There was a breeze blowing, but it helped to take the edge off the heat.

I enjoyed this walk. It was all across the natural rocks, with a few little bridges across difficult spots, but the rocks were very stable, so it was a far easier climb than the Rim Walk at King’s Canyon.

The rocks rose high above us on either side. It was a little awe-inspiring to see the evidence of how massive the forces of nature can be. These cliffs were pushed upwards far higher than they are now. Erosion is slowly working on them.

There were trees to my left, where I could hear a huge flock of finches “peeping” away at each other. A budgerigar flew past in a glint of iridescent green.

The waterhole at the end was a pleasant place to stop and have a rest before finishing the rest of the walk.

It looks like an extraterrestrial planet, doesn’t it?

This is a selfie, by the way.

The end point.

Like in the cathedrals of Europe, look up!

After the walk, we drove around to the other side to see The Olgas in their entirety. 

Sadly, my photos don’t show the details of how amazing they looked.

Though I did manage to snap this lovely one of the grasses as I made my way up the hill.

They certainly make you earn your way to the sights in this country! It seems like there’s always a hill to climb from the car park before you see what you came there to see.

Uluru was way over there, but that was our next stop. Lunch in the car park of the Cultural Centre! We had wraps, which are always a winner in my book.

While Colin and Tracey assembled lunch, we wandered through the Cultural Centre, learning about the stories and legends of the Arrernte people.

We weren’t allowed to take photos here.

Luckily for me, there was a gift shop, where I saw a painting that just had to come home with me. I wasn’t intending to buy another painting, but the movement in this one called to me. It turns out that the traditional paintings don’t really do much for me, but when the artist uses the elements in a different way, it grabs me.

This painting has depth. It moves.
Now, this second painting is rolled up in a huge tube, which is going to be a pain to drag around with me. I hope that this will deter me from buying any more art. I only have so many walls, and I’ve planned many more trips!

Next was the drive around Uluru, where we were able to get up close and personal with the Rock.

The lone tree up high, surrounded by rock, caught my eye.

Painting. “Only” around 500 years old.
This is in a cave where the men used to take the boys when it was time to learn Men’s Business. Unlike our culture, getting adult privileges isn’t a birthright. You had to prove that you were worthy to receive the knowledge.

At the bottom of the boys’ cave was this circular hole.
“I can imagine the boys peeping through this hole, watching the men going about their secret business,” said Colin.

The first stop was at a natural waterhole, where there was a rock cave with 5,000 year old paintings. Very unfortunately, a week ago an orange-robed man painted one of his religious mantras right across the paintings. Can you imagine? These paintings are still undergoing restoration a week later.

Imagine how delicate the work would have to be? To remove the graffiti without removing the ancient painting underneath. Some people deserve to be strung up and horse whipped.

Here’s the waterfall. Isn’t it beautiful?

The texture of the rock is so lovely, almost like bark on a tree trunk.

As we moved from place to place, Colin told the stories of Uluru. Some stories are not shared with anyone outside their community, but the stories Colin told, illustrated by the markings and features on the Rock, were fascinating.

See the rock in the foreground? It’s on a gentle incline and is Oh So Tempting for idiots to climb up to get their Instagram moment. There were heavy boughs laid across the bottom.

Colin said, “This is an indigenous signal that this cannot be passed. If you ever break down in the Outback and have to leave your car, lay a big branch across the bonnet and it won’t be touched. Some people desert their cars and so it gets stripped. But if this signal is there, you’re telling them you’re intending to come back. Your car won’t be touched.”

This cave was used for the women to cook and grind down seeds to make their version of flatbreads.

Here’s the stains from thousands of years of being used for this purpose.

The Elders who were killed by a spirit dingo in one of the legends Colin told can be seen on the cave walls.
Every now and then, there were signs asking for people not to take photos, as we were in front of a sacred men’s or women’s site. Of course, we respected this, even though some of the rock formations were fantastic. There were plenty of amazing photos to be taken everywhere else!

Cave paintings.

Look at us all bending down to see them.
Here’s some more:

Towards the end of the tour, the heavens opened and rain poured down. We were soaked! Colin said that this was very good luck. “We love rain, here,” he said.

I’ll take it as a good omen that the rest of the tour will be terrific.

There used to be little wallabies called Marla Wallabies that lived all around here. After Europeans arrived, they were hunted almost to extinction, mainly due to the feral cats and dogs that were introduced. When the remaining animals were gathered up m there were only 29 left. Now, after being placed in an enclosure where they’re protected from predators, there are now 400. The hope is that if they can get the feral animals under control, the Marla Wallabies can be released back into the wild.

Here is the place where tourists used to climb to the top of Uluru. Three of my kids have done this when they went there on the school camps I talked about earlier.

They’ve taken away the metal fences and chains, and filled up the holes that were left with small pieces of Uluru that were posted back by people who stole them, then experienced bad luck after they got home. They send back the rocks they stole in an effort to escape all the bad things that are happening to them.

The holes are filled, though there’s still a white mark left that the locals call “The  Scar.”

I can’t believe the kids climbed so high!

I’m sorry it’s not the clearest shot, but I was running for the bus to avoid getting too wet.

As we drove away, this is what the people on the right side of the bus saw.

God, I love Airdrop!

A quick drive back to the resort, a 45 minute Power Nap and a fruitless phone call to Georgia to see if there was anything I could do to fix the laptop, then we were off to see the famous Field of Lights.

Don’t mind if I do!

We were on top of a sand dune, being fed canapés and drinks, looking out towards Uluru and waiting for the sun to set to see the Field of Lights come to life.

This is a light installation by the same artist who did the ridiculous synesthesia thing. This one sounded more in tune with the environment, being meant to represent the wildflowers coming to bloom after the rains fall. 

Appropriate, considering the rainfall we had today.

Can you see the white in front of Uluru? That’s not spinifex. That’s the solar lights that we came to see.

I love the light on the tree.

After a while, when it got really dark, we were invited to walk down the sand dune and wander among the lights.

Here’s what the individual lights look like.

Did I like it?

I mean, I guess it was pretty…

But ultimately it was boring. Eve, Janet and I decided to take the short way through the field, along with everyone else on the bus, and we were back for a late dinner at the resort before falling into bed.

Tomorrow we travel back to Alice Springs and this part of the holiday will be done and dusted.

I have plans for my free morning in Alice Springs, though.

Dad Joke of the Day:

I looked up opaque in the dictionary, but the meaning was unclear.