Day 6: The Ghan/Uluru/Darwin.

Here it is!
But I’m getting ahead of myself. This was later in the day.

We had to make an unexpected stop first thing in the morning. One of our guys, Lou, has an artificial foot and he’d developed a blister on his stump. Pretty painful stuff. We stopped in at the medical centre to borrow a pair of crutches for him. He was so relieved when he came back to the bus.

We set off again on our way to Kathleen Springs.

Ten minutes later an ambulance passed us and flashed its lights to make us stop. This photo is of the screen showing what’s going on in front of the bus. Because Lou hadn’t been examined by a nurse, they were taking the crutches back. Seriously, the man limps in with a prosthetic leg and the bureaucracy still isn’t satisfied. Poor Lou had to wait until Uluru to get his crutches.

Kathleen Springs is a short drive from Kings Canyon Resort. Like Alice Springs, it’s misnamed as they’re not springs at all, but rather natural puddles that form when the sandstone underneath is saturated with water and so the surplus water rises to the surface.

It’s an easy walk, thank goodness. When I first stepped boldly out, my right knee gave a twang, but after that I was ok.
I think I hurt something when I nearly rolled my ankle yesterday straight after the Rim Walk.

The water lies at the end of a canyon. Towering cliffs lay on either side as we walked.

On the way in, I walked with Janet and Toni, stopping to take the odd photo and then catching up with them again. The cliffs were so pretty and you can see where the layers of sediment have been pushed up from the ground millions of years ago “on a Friday afternoon at 4o’clock”, as Tracey would say.

The indigenous hunters would use this place to lie in wait. As the kangaroos, emus or whatever would go in to drink, they’d lie in wait for them to come out.

When the animals emerged, the hunters would let most of them go past unscathed, but then they’d kill the stragglers. This served two purposes: they only ever killed enough for their needs, plus if they’d killed the front runners, every animal in that herd would forever after associate that place with danger and would never go back again.

Clever.

The water is surrounded by cliffs at the back and sides and reeds growing at the front. It’s a lovely little spot.

Colin was telling us about the hunting and also about why the snow gums had hessian wrapped around their branches.
“Sometimes idiots come along and carve their initials into the tree. They don’t realise, or don’t care, that this damages the tree’s protective layer and can eventually kill it. The rangers wrap fresh bark over the wound and cover it with hessian, hoping that when it rains, the hessian will keep some moisture in for longer. Over time, the hope is that the tree will recover.”

I walked back by myself, happily looking around and enjoying the scenery. A magical moment happened.

Birds started singing. First, some whip birds, then finches. I kept walking, surrounded by birdsong. I was swept back in time to when I was walking through the streets of Pyongyang in North Korea during the marathon in 2018. It was quiet, and off in the distance I could hear the sound of the crowd cheering at a soccer match at the stadium. It was the same feeling.

Off to my left, I saw a small black and white bird on the ground. It flew up, then circled right around me and flew off.

What a beautiful birthday present!

Yes, this is why I’m away at the moment. Last year I made a vow to myself that I will always be away for my birthday. 

My 60th was spent in the middle of London with Scott and Corinna. This year, I’m going somewhere that’s the complete opposite. 

(Next year, I’ll be on a ship on the way to Greenland.)

We spent morning tea at a camel farm, which had a fabulous gift shop.

I bought a travel bag, subtly coloured as you can see, along with a fold up bag to keep in my handbag. 
Feral camels are a huge problem up here. Camels were brought in when they were building the overland telegraph back in the late 1800’s. When the work was completed,the cameleers were told to shoot their camels. Of course, after working with their camels for so long, the cameleers had become fond of them, so many of them simply let them go, probably assuming that they’d die off naturally and that would be that.

Who would have thought that a desert animal would thrive in a desert? Now we have millions of them and they do a lot of damage to the environment.

Out here, if you catch a camel, it’s yours. This farm has a one-way gate that leads to water. The camels wander in to grab a drink, then can’t get out of the yard. When they have enough camels, they load them into a truck and off they go.

Australian camels are in big demand overseas for racing, food and, strangely, for camel beauty contests. The prize money can reach ridiculously high, with contestants being disqualified for having Botox injections to make their lips droopy. 

We drove towards a cattle station called Curtin Springs. As we were driving, we saw this.

No, it’s not Uluru. It’s called Mt Connor. It’s almost as tall as Uluru, but it’s longer. It’s on Curtin Springs’ land. The owners used to allow people to visit it, until their Mum’s grave, at the base of Mt Connor, was desecrated by tourists. After that, they fenced it off, obviously deciding that enough is enough.

Now, thanks to those idiots, we can only view it from a distance.

The owners of Curtin Springs served us lunch and gave a talk about what it’s like to live and work on a farm like this. The short answer is – it’s hard. See the structure we’re under. This served as the house – with no walls – for 3 years while the current owner’s parents were working to establish the cattle station.
They’ve been able to survive by diversifying from just cattle and diving into tourism (accommodation, meals) and paper making.

I know that sounds weird, but they make beautiful paper from the native grasses. The gift shop has bookmarks, jewellery, magnets, notebooks… everything you can possibly think of. People were shopping up a storm. 

I really wanted to buy something to support them, but I’ve made a rule NOT to buy anything unless I fall in love with it. Nothing there leapt out and grabbed me.

The paper was beautiful, but I couldn’t see how I would use it. The lesson in how she makes the paper, as well as seeing how her daughter makes jewellery from it, was interesting though.

Shielas and Blokes.

What I particularly liked was that they were originally painted with apostrophes, but then someone has come along and discreetly painted over them. It was probably an English teacher on holidays. It’s a pity they didn’t spell Sheila correctly.

As we drove along, we saw The Olgas, otherwise known as Kata Tjuṯa. Look at the shape!
I’m suddenly very interested in seeing them tomorrow.

Soon after, we saw Uluru, as you saw at the top of this post. It was such a deep satisfaction to see the heart of Australia with my own eyes.

We had a couple of hours at the resort before we had to assemble to be taken to “The Sound of Silence” show, where we’d be watching the sun set at Uluru.

I raced into town to try and find some artwork. As I did in England last year, I found a framed picture and wrapped it up well so I could bring it back in my carryon. It looks a bit like a quilt, doesn’t it? I’ll probably hang it in my sewing room.

Happy birthday to me!

The Sounds of Silence was good. We were dropped off at a big sand dune, fed canapés and lots of alcohol while we watched the sunset.

Afterwards, we walked around to where there was a space where we had a gourmet 3 course dinner as night fell around us. A didgeridoo player welcomed us as we arrived. You know you’re in Australia when you hear a didgeridoo!

All in all, not a bad birthday. I’ve seen Uluru, which makes me feel like a REAL Australian.

Tomorrow we get to go close up and personal with Kata Tjuṯa and Uluru. It’s going to be a long day, starting at sunrise at the Rock.

The Moon and Venus. Just perfect.

Dad Joke of the Day:

Did you hear about the lumberjack who cut down too many trees ?

He saw too much.