Australia 9/2/2019 - 9/22/2019

Tuesday, 9/17/2019 - Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park

Today was a day we had been eagerly anticipating: we would be going to Uluru, a place we have always wanted to visit. It was this desire that led to our choosing the timing of the trip.

Because of the potential extreme heat in the Red Centre of Australia, we chose one of the relatively cooler months. It would still be hot, but not debilitatingly so. But one drawback of going off-season like this is that there are no direct flights from Cairns to Uluru. We would need to fly to Sydney, and then transfer to a flight to Uluru. In order to maximize our time there (the itinerary only allows for staying two nights), we had to get an early start. As in leave the hotel at 4:30 a.m. As in wake up at 3 a.m.

Our alarm clock had been acting a little strange yesterday, so we didn't trust it and set my phone alarm as a back up. It was a good thing that we did! Sure enough, the alarm clock crapped out on us and didn't go off at 3 a.m. But my trusty phone worked fine, and we woke up on time.

We all groggily checked out of the hotel, and the hotel provided us with breakfast boxes. Alison informed us that she bought a didgeridoo yesterday! We were glad that we weren't the only crazy ones. She's our kind of gal!

Lest you think that getting to the airport at 4:45 a.m. would be early enough to avoid crowds, you would be mistaken. When we got to the Cairns airport, we found a huge line at the check-in for the Sydney leg of the flight. Everyone was in the same line. Everyone was on the same schedule. There was no group check-in, and although some in our group tried to check in online, it didn't work. The airport staff insisted that we would all make the flight, and that we shouldn't worry.

As promised, we all made it, though Craig and I got pulled aside for extra security screening. The 3 hour flight to Sydney was uneventful, but the weather was bad when we landed. Our flight to Uluru was delayed, but we couldn't begrudge Sydney this much-needed rain.

We took advantage of the delay to get an early lunch at Pete's Pies: a beef mushroom pie and a steak and pepper pie. We truly can't get enough of these Australian pies...why aren't these a thing in the US?

Our flight finally boarded. We were seated next to some friendly Norwegian students. Craig was seated at the window. Before long, we had passed out of the relatively green east coast and into a vast expanse of red desert. There wasn't a whole lot to see except for the occasional road. As we got closer to Uluru, we could see salty Lake Eyre and surrounding salt flats where landspeed records are achieved.

We were thrilled to have a view of Uluru from above as we approached the airport. It is more massive than you can comprehend without seeing it with your own eyes.

We landed at Ayers Rock Airport 45 minutes later than expected. Though the airport still retains its Anglicized name, the rock itself is once again known by its Aboriginal Anangu name, Uluru.

The airport is about a 10 minute drive from Yulara, the town where visitors to Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park find accommodation. In the past, there were motels and campgrounds very close to the base of Uluru. This had a negative impact on the environment, so in 1976, Australia's Governor General established the township of Yulara outside the boundaries of the national park, and plans were made to relocate all accommodation there, 18 kilometres (11 mi) by road from Uluru and 55 kilometres (34 mi) from Kata Tjuta.

The first phase of development of Yulara completed and became operational in 1984. Also in 1984, ownership of ther national park was transferred to the local Indigenous people, who leased it back to the Parks Australia for 99 years.

Originally, the various hotels and restaurants in Yulara were individually owned, but this ultimately failed and the businesses were consolidated into a single resort and operated by the government and a venture capital firm.

In 2011, Ayers Rock Resort was sold to the Indigenous Land Corporation which operates the resort under its subsidiary, Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia. They provide a range of accommodation ranging from campgrounds to 5 star hotels.

At the baggage claim area, we immediately saw a poster warning "Be prepared for dingoes and wild dogs! Dingoes are wild dogs. Do not treat them like domestic animals" with a variety of other warnings in 4 languages.

This of course immediately brought to mind the Lindy "the dingo's got my baby" Chamberlain case from 1980. As a teenager, I had become morbidly fascinated with this case. I read the book "Evil Angels" by John Bryson, which inspired me to take a forensic science course in college. When the Chamberlain family was camping near the base of Uluru (then called Ayers Rock) in 1980, their nine week old daughter Azaria was abducted from their tent by a dingo.

The baby was not recovered, and in a tremendous miscarriage of justice, Lindy Chamberlain was found guilty of murdering her. This was due to a variety of factors, including prejudice against the family's Seventh Day Adventist religion, bad police and forensic lab procedures, and biased so-called experts.

Eventually, the baby's blood-covered jacket was found buried near a dingo's den at Uluru, and Lindy Chamberlain was released from jail after four years in custody.

Thirty-two years after Azaria Chamberlain's death, her official cause of death was changed to "abduction by a dingo" in 2012.

I re-read the book this summer in preparation for this trip. It had been 20 years since I last read it. It was a much different experience this time. When I first read it, I was very interested in the procedural aspect of the investigation and subsequent inquests and trials. Now, as an adult, I am absolutely mortified by the miscarriage of justice, and how much this family suffered at the hands of authorities after an already unbearable tragedy. It is a travesty of prejudice, media frenzy, and outright lies. It is terrifying that this was allowed to happen, and that this kind of thing still happens today.

After we collected all of our luggage, we went outside. The Resort offers complimentary shuttle buses between the airport and Yulara. We loaded our luggage and boarded the shuttle bus. We took the short drive to the ring road which connects all of the Resort properties. The town also has a "town square" which contains a post office and some restaurants. Guests are free to eat at any of the resorts, and a complimentary shuttle bus makes the rounds of the ring road.

The bus dropped us at the Outback Pioneer Lodge. This is a more budget-friendly option when compared to the other hotels on this tour. There were various outbuildings and it had more the vibe of a summer camp than a hotel. Britney collected the keys from reception and asked me to distribute them. Since our flight had landed 45 minutes later than scheduled, our time was abbreviated. Britney was determined to ensure that we still got to do everything on the itinerary. So she made preparations for the afternoon's activities while we deposited our luggage in our rooms.

The room had cinderblock walls and was modestly appointed. But the air conditioning was quite effective, and the bathroom was modern. After freshening up, we met Britney in front of the lodge. Some folks had grabbed a quick bite for lunch, but we weren't hungry yet.

Britney led us to our mode of transportation for the next two days: the bush bus! It was less posh than our Cairns bus had been, but it was also better suited to these Outback conditions. We knew we were in for an adventure. The air conditioning wasn't all that powerful, but we opened the windows to let in a frash breeze and we were comfortable.

We drove into Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, toward Kata Tjuta. Along the way, we had a view of the massive Uluru through the bush bus windows. I had to pinch myself to realize that I was really here! ALong the way, Britney taught us about the geologic and human history of the area.

After around 30 minutes, Britney parked the bush bus in the parking lot for the Kata Tjuta Dune Walk. Kata Tjuta means "many heads," a reference to the 36 dome-shaped rocks rising from the desert. It is a traditional place for men's business of the Aboriginal Anangu people. European colonists named the formations the Olgas.

Both Kata Tjuta and Uluru were formed by the sediment deposited by an alluvial fan around half a billion years ago. According to Wikipedia:
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 Uluru)
We walked up a path to a vantagepoint which gave us a very nice view of some of the domes. We could also see Uluru rising out of the desert in the far distance.

We were assaulted by flies, and had to try very hard not to inhale them. Alison was the only one smart enough to have brought a head net. Craig and I had brought them from home for just this purpose, but hadn't thought to unpack them today. Maybe it was because we have been up since 3 a.m. Anyway, the situation made us all return to the bush bus pretty quickly once we had finished admiring the views and taking photos.

Britney then drove us a short distance to Walpa Gorge. Because of our late flight arrival, we only had 30 minutes here to take a short hike into the gorge (which normally takes an hour) if we wanted to catch the Uluru sunset. The red color of the rocks was accentuated by the low late afternoon sun. The ground was extremely dry and dusty, punctuated by spinifex grass and desert oak trees. The weather was quite hot, even in the late afternoon. We did not have time to complete the entire walk, so we went as far as time would allow and then turned back.

We got back into the bush bus and Britney drove us to our sunset viewing spot. There are designated sunrise / sunset viewing spots to reduce the environmental impact of tourists in the national park. We parked in the large parking lot.

Britney had been pulling a small trailer behind the bus, and when she parked it at the sunset location, she opened the trailer and started extracting gear: an "Eski" (Aussie for cooler, probably short for Eskimo), a table, three bottles of champagne, cheese, crackers, and hummus. We made our way to an area where there were some benches and tables, as well as a view of Uluru in the distance, largely unobstructed. Britney set up here little table and laid out the cheese, hummus, and crackers. She popped the cork on a bottle of champagne, and poured the champagne into honest-to-God champagne flutes. She had carried these on two flights this morning! We were impressed!

There were many other tourists here doing the exact same thing. Creative photo angles and cropping made it look like we had the place to ourselves as we posed for photos clinking our champagne flutes. We gazed toward Uluru to the east as the setting sun cast its light upon the massive monolith, changing its colors. Though it is spring here, the sunset color palette was distinctively autumn-like, with the rust-colored monolith rising up from a sea of golden spinifex grass and olive green desert oaks.

In the opposite direction, we could see the setting sun itself, turning the horizon orange.

Some spinifex pigeons (they look like they have mohawks and the attitude to match) patrolled the area looking for any crumbs which might have fallen.

After thoroughly enjoying the champagne sunset experience, we packed the gear back into the trailer and headed back to the lodge. We all had different plans for the evening. Some people were going to an astronomy talk. Others were going to Field of Light, an art installation by Bruce Munro consisting of a field of over 50,000 solar-powered lights illuminating the surface of the desert.

We opted for a low-key night. We had been up since 3 a.m., and we were planning to be up early to watch sunrise in the morning. Although we could take the complimentary shuttle to any of the other hotels / restaurants, we wanted to do something rather quick so that we could get to bed at a reasonable time.

Our lodge had one fancy indoor restaurant offering a rather expensive pre-fixe meal (we had seen a meat smoker outside, and the dinner featured the smoked meat of the day). We weren't in the mood for a multi-course meal. So we looked for other options. As I mentioned, the lodge has a summer camp / campground vibe. There was a pool and a large outdoor pavilion with picnic tables. There was also a store which sold gear as well as souvenirs, but it had been closed for the day by the time we arrived.

There were several alfresco food choices, including The Pioneer BBQ and the Outback Pioneer Kitchen. We chose the latter, which was basically fast food. Craig went to the bar to get a beer while I ordered the food. They gave me a buzzer to let me know when our food was ready. Craig got a beer (James Squire Hop Thief American Pale Ale), but soon the taps ran dry. We realize that this place is remote (the nearest large town, Alice Springs, is over 200 miles away), but there were plenty of people staying here, even in the off-season. And the bar also functioned as a bottle shop!

We were surprised that they weren't better supplied. I guess this explains why earlier in the evening the bar staff had been giving preference to folks staying at the lodge. If you couldn't show a lodge key, you couldn't have a second beer. It's because they were running out!

We sat at a picnic table. My buzzer went off and I collected our food. Craig had a chicken sandwich, and I had a small Hawaiian pizza. Both of them were pretty bland.

What wasn't bland was the entertainment. Craig Atkins, a musician from Byron Bay, New South Wales, was in the midst of a residency here. He played acoustic guitar (sometimes with a mean slide!) and didgeridoo. He did a mixture of originals and Aussie covers. Highlights were an acoustic version of Men at Work's "Down Under" with an extra verse about Uluru, Paul Kelly's "How to Make Gravy", and "Beds Are Burning" by Midnight Oil (or "The Oils" as he he referred to them, in an oh-so-Aussie manner).



Craig Atkins performing "Down Under" and
"How to Make Gravy"


Danielle joined us at the picnic table to eat. She had gotten BBQ chicken from the Pioneer BBQ. She looked at the chicken skeptically. "If you don't see me at sunrise tomorrow, assume I got salmonella." We didn't understand her mistrust of the cook until she explained that the Pioneer BBQ is do-it-yourself. She was the cook! "Why didn't I choose beef? I know when that is done cooking!" She also said that it was pretty expensive condidering she had to cook it herself.

As we walked back to the room, we could see stars in the clear sky. Normally we would have stopped to admire them, but we were exhausted. When we got back to the room, we noticed how much red dust had accumulated on our shoes and the foot of Craig's cane. We went to bed and set my phone alarm to make sure we were awake before sunset!




Entrance to Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park



Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park

First glimpse of Uluru

First glimpse of Uluru

Alison and Uluru

Alison and Uluru

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta

Walpa Gorge, Kata Tjuta

Walpa Gorge, Kata Tjuta

Uluru at sunset

Cheers!

Uluru at sunset

Uluru at sunset

Uluru at sunset

Uluru at sunset

Uluru at sunset

Uluru at sunset

Sunset champagne and appetizers with a view of Uluru

Sunset champagne and appetizers with a view of Uluru

See all photos from September 17





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