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

Wednesday, 9/18/2019 - Uluru Sunrise, Uluru Base Walk, Sounds of Silence Dinner

Today was all about Uluru, the sacred Aboriginal monolith formerly known as Ayers Rock.

We rolled out of bed at 5 a.m. and met at the bush bus at 5:30. As we walked to the bus, we could see Orion and the Milky Way in the sky above us. There was a pleasant chill in the air.

Britney drove Eric, Allison, Danielle, Alison, and us to watch Uluru at sunrise. We saw a dingo in the road pretty much as soon as we left the hotel property. It was the only wild dingo we would see, and as it was only visible for a moment in the headlights, I was unable to get a photo.

We drove for around 30 minutes to arrive at Talinguru Nyakunytjaku, the sunrise viewing area. There were walking trails here so it was relatively easy to find some personal space in which to watch the sunrise. The just-past-full moon was visible above Uluru's silhouette in the indigo gray sky.

The sun was rising behind us, but some moisture in the air meant that the sun didn't create particularly vibrant colors on the rock face as it had at last night's sunset. Unfortunately, by the time the sun crested the horizon behind us, it was 7 a.m. and we had to return to the bus to meet Britney.

As we drove back to the lodge, we looked back to see the sun's rays peeking from behind Uluru, creating a halo effect. Absolutely breathtaking!

When we arrived at the lodge, we went into the nice indoor dining room for breakfast. We sat with the group at a large table. The buffet had many things to offer, including eggs, sausage, cheese, noodles, hash browns, breads, juice, and coffee.

Alison decided to give Vegemite another chance after an unpleasant first attempt during which she smothered it on bread. Someone had since told her the proper Aussie way to do it...lots of butter and very little Vegemite. She was a good sport and tried again...but decided she didn't like it any better!

We met at 8:30 at the bus for an Uluru walk. Britney drove us to the base of Uluru. It became more and more surreal the closer that we got to it.

We had been pondering which walk to do; there were two options. We could do the Mala Walk with Britney (a 0.6 mile walk covering cultural highlights) or we could do the entire Uluru Base Walk, a 6 mile circumambulation of the rock. Craig always wants to get the most out of every experience, and he naturally wanted to do the Base Walk. I had originally thought that it was a bad idea; that was a long walk if the heat was a problem. Plus with Craig's MS and my general intolerance for heat, it might take us a lot longer than expected. I didn't want us to be too exhausted to enjoy our big Sounds of Silence dinner tonight.

But as we arrived at the Mala Carpark, I began to rethink my position. Now that the rock was in front of me, I wanted to see it from all angles. The weather was warm, but not unbearable. It was obvious that the hike was quite flat. Though we would be exposed to the sun, we had the right gear.

Alison, Eric, and Allison were planning on doing the full Base Walk. We asked Britney what she thought about our ability to complete the walk, and she said that she thought that we would be fine. She said that we had 3 hours to do the walk before we would go to the Cultural Center, and she thought that would be more than enough time. We decided to take the plunge; we didn't want to have regrets.

We saw a sign saying that the Uluru climb was closed for the day. We were quite relieved to see this. Climbing of Uluru has long been controversial. A safety chain has been installed in the rock to assist people who want to climb the steep rock face. However, the Anangu, the spiritual guardians of this land for at least the last 30,000 years, have been against the climb.

In past decades, people may have been ignorant of the Anangu people's wishes. But today there is no excuse; the desire to prevent climbing has been well publicized for years. In fact, as of this upcoming October 26, the climb will be closed for good in accordance with their wishes. The climbing chains will also be removed, returning the rock to a more natural state.

What this means, however, is that there are hordes of people who selfishly want to sneak in a climb before the deadline, propriety be damned. This is beyond disrespectful. If the climb had been open today, there probably would have been hundreds if not thousands of people lining up to climb, like ants on a potato chip.

Today was very warm, and the heat started to get intense as the day progressed. As the sun became stronger, the red earth heated up and you could feel the heat from both above and below. But thank goodness for that heat, as it factored into the park's decision to close climbing that day. Two weeks later, on a day when the climb was open, we saw photos of the zoo that ensued when hundreds of climbers making their way up the rock. We are so glad that we were able to enjoy a peaceful visit to Uluru.

After yesterday afternoon's encounters with flies at Kata Tjuta, we remembered to bring our head nets with us today. And Britney had been kind enough to stop at a store and purchase nets for people who hadn't brought them from home.

We started our Base Walk at 9:07 a.m., proceeding clockwise around the rock. It was shady along the first stretch, known as the Mala Walk. The Mala Walk runs from the Mala Carpark (where we started our walk) to the Kantju Gorge.

Anangu creation stories are known as Tjukurpa. The Anangu prefer this term to Dreamtime, which is a term coined by anthropologists. They feel that the terms Dreaming and Dreamtime imply that their beliefs are not real / legitimate. In the Anangu consciousness, Tjukurpa is incredibly real, and informs their day to day life.

In Tjukurpa, ancestral beings created the world. These beings advise appropriate behavior, as well as how to travel from one place to another, and where to find food and water. Tjukurpa is passed down orally. It does not change over time and refers to the past, present, and future simultaneously.

Although Tjukurpa is the ancestral way of enforcing law and inflicting punishment, the Anangu have had to modify some of their traditional punishments since the coming of non-Aboriginal people to this area. However, they have also adapted non-Aboriginal law to incorpriate Tjukurpa principles, especially in the governance of sacred sites and laws around hunting and foraging.

There are some parts of Tjukurpa which can be shared with outsiders, and others which can't. During the creation period, Tjukurpa ancestors traveled across the featureless land, in the form of humans, plants, and animals. The sites at which these ancestors performed various creation activities are linked by paths called iwara.

The Mala Tjukurpa is associated with this first "Mala Walk" section of the Base Walk:

The Mala are Anangu ancestors who took the form of rufous hare-wallaby people, who traveled to Uluru from the north. Once arriving at Uluru, the men gathered in the Kulpi Watiku (men's cave) to make preparations for an inma (ceremony). Once the inma had begun, Wintalka men came from the west and invited the Mala to the Wintalka inma. The Mala declined, saying that they were in the midst of their own inma.

The Wintalka were offended by their refusal and created a devil-dog evil spirit called Kurpany to destroy the Mala inma. Luunpa, a kingfisher woman, was the first to see Kurpany, and she warned the Mala people. Unfortunately, they didn't believe her.

Kurpany killed some Mala men, and chased the rest to South Australia. Luunpa turned into a rock and continues to keep watch at Uluru. Kurpany's footprints are still visible on the surface of Uluru, heading southeast. The men who were killed remain in the Kulpi Watiku cave. You can see their forms in the rocks.

The moral of this Tjukurpa is that you should finish what you start, and that you should watch for and heed warnings of danger.

We saw the Kulpi Nyiinkaku (teaching cave), which was used by Anangu elders to teach boys how to survive and travel in Country. The boys were taught by their grandfathers, and were separated from the rest of their families for up to several years while they learned the skills that they needed to become men. The grandfathers would create cave paintings to teach the boys how to track and hunt animals for food. The rock would be painted with ochre, charcoal, and ash paints. Once this "classroom" education was complete, they would be taken into the bush to learn how Country can provide water, animals, and materials for food and weapons.

It was really amazing to see these cave paintings in Kulpi Nyiinkaku; such ancient history which ties the Anangu people to this land!

We were allowed to enter the Kulpi Minymaku (kitchen cave) in which the Anangu traditionally processed bush foods and distributed it to community members. There was a gorgeous view out at the desert and blue sky framed by the cave entrance.

We saw the Tjilpi Pampa Kulpi (old people's cave), which was also adorned with cave paintings.

We then entered Kantju Gorge. There is normally a water hole here, but it was dry at this time. The Anangu hunted at this water hole, but only when animals were retreating. When a flock of emu would walk away from the water hole, they would kill the last emu in line. This ensures that the other emu would not be afraid of the water hole, as they would not witness what had happened to their straggler.

There were large areas where you were not allowed to take pictures, because the Aboriginal Anangu people do not want these images to be viewed out of context. These are places of "women's business" and "men's business". You can see them in context with your eyes, but the images can't be reproduced. This actually worked well for me; it allowed me to pick up my pace, since I wasn't stopping to take photos every 5 feet!

One such stretch is the North-East Face Walk. During this longest stretch of the base walk, which runs from Kantju Gorge to Kuniya Piti, the rock formations themselves depict creation stories. These creation stories need to be observed in person, and are not allowed to be recorded via photographs or videos.

It was so amazing to be so close to such a massive and imposing sacred site. The sandstone monolith is 348 meters (1,142 feet) high, rising 863 meters (2,831 feet) above sea level. Most of its mass is actually underground. Its total circumference is 9.4 km (5.8 miles).

The rock dates back half a billion years. It is made of arkose (sandstone with a high concentration of feldspar) and conglomerate. Several hundred million years ago, the whole rock shifted position by 85 degrees, which means that what appear to be vertical stripes are actually sedimentary striations which are exagerrated by the rivulets of water which follow those paths during rainstorms.

The surface of Uluru looks quite weathered when you see it up close. Its surface is pitted, and layers of rock are flaking off, giving it a mottled appearance. The rusty color comes from a patina of oxidation in the iron-rich minerals. In some areas, seeds have taken root in cracks in the surface, causing vegetation to emerge from the rock.

It was not quite wildflower season yet, but we did see many desert oak (kurkara) trees. The juvenile trees are narrow, directing rain to their root system so that they can reach deep down to the water table. Once the roots meet the water table the tree is no longer solely reliant on rain and its branches and leaves spread out. This means that the juvenile tree barely resembles the mature tree. Other vegetation included spinifex grass and the sticky hopbush.

When we reached Kuniya Piti, we met up with Alison, Allison, and Eric. This, among a few other spots on the trail, is where water fountains are available, and people can sit on a bench and wait for help if they are having problems preventing them from continuing along the trail. Alison took a group selfie here.

We continued from Kuniya Piti toward the Kuniya Carpark. We chatted with an Australian mother who was hiking around with her hubby and kids. When she found out we were from the USA, she said that if she ever makes it to the USA, she wants to visit Tulsa. She admitted that she realized that this is not a popular destination for international travelers, but it is the birthplace of the guys in the band Hanson, and she is a big fan of theirs.

Bicycles and Segways are allowed on Base Walk trails. Bicycles weren't much of a problem, but the Segways were annoying, despite their cute logo: a road sign of a kangaroo riding a Segway. There are some spots where the trail is narrow, and one of these is where we had to wait while a dozen Segways drove through in the opposite direction. They seemed very out of place here; it didn't seem like the proper place for motorized vehicles.

The next part of the walk is the Kuniya walk, which runs from the Kuniya carpark to Mutitjulu Waterhole. The angle of the sun meant that we were in the shadow of the rock for a short distance. we took advantage of this to get out of the sun. We touched the rock face here. It was so peaceful and spiritual.

We reached the water hole, which is situated in a crotch of the rock. This waterhole is more reliable than others, and it contained water today. We met up with Eric and Allison there, and wound up taking a break sitting on a bench for a few minutes enjoying the shade that the foliage afforded. We would have liked to have stayed longer, but since we knew that Britney had only allotted 3 hours for the entire Base Walk, we knew that we couldn't linger longer. We had already been on the trail for 2 hours and 45 minutes, and there was still quite a ways to go.

The Tjukurpa of Kuniya

Kuniya the woma python came from the east with her eggs strung around her neck like a necklace. She rested at Kuniya Piti and left the eggs on the ground. She camped at Taputji, and there are grooves in the rock which formed as she entered and left the camp.

Her nephew's enemies, a group of Liru (poisonous snakes), came to Uluru to get revenge on him. As he was resting at the base of the rock, they threw their spears at him. The spears pierced the rock face and left a series of round holes still visible today. The young python was killed, and his aunt Kuniya rushed to Mutitjulu Waterhole to confront one of the Liru who had killed him. She hit him twice in the head with a stick, with immense force. These blows formed two deep cracks in the western wall of the rock. The Liru died, and after his shield fell, it was transformed into a rock.

Kuniya is now a sinuous black line on the eastern wall, and her spirit combined with that of her nephew and became Wanampi the water snake. She has the power to control water. The Anangu would chant "Kuka kuka" to entreat her to release water into the waterhole for them.

Near the Waterhole was the Kulpi Mutitjulu (family cave). Anangu families would camp here. Men would hunt, and women and children would collect bush tucker. Families ate in the cave, telling stories around the campfire and illustrating lessons to their children via cave paintings. There are many concentric circle motifs, which represent waterholes, campsites, or other places of significance. Multiple of these concentric circles linked by lines could represent a journey.

We saw the more claustrophobic Kulpi Nyiinkaku cave, where boys would hide while hunting for animals at the waterhole as part of their training

As we walked around, I couldn't help but think of Azaria Chamberlain, the 9 week old infant abducted by a dingo while camping here in 1980. The Chamberlain parents have petitioned to have a comemmorative plaque installed, but the park has not done so. Therefore I am unsure exactly where she was abducted, since things have changed so much since 1980. After our walk, I would compare our photos of the rock to news photos from the time. My best guess is that the campground was located near the Mutitjulu Waterhole.

The sun got very hot at around 11:30 a.m., and it started to reflect back on us from the red sand. It became a bit uncomfortable, as we were being baked from above and below.

Once we got past the water hole, the sand got deeper, softer, and harder to walk through as well. The last portion of the walk is the Lungkata walk, which goes from the Mutitjulu Waterhole back to the Mala Carpark.

The Tjukurpa of Lungkata

Lungkata was a blue-tongued lizard who arrived in Uluru from the North. One day, when he was hunting at the southern base of the rock, he encountered a wounded emu who had been struck by another hunter's spear. Even though Lungkata knew that it was wrong to kill and eat this animal which technically belonged to another hunter, he did it anyway.

The two hunters who had injured the emu saw the smoke from Lungkata's fire, and approached him to ask if he had seen their emu. He hid the meat and said that he had not seen it, but they later found the emu's tracks and knew that he was lying.

Lungkata gathered up his meat and ran westward toward his camp, accidentally dropping pieces of meat along the way. The emu's thigh is still visible at Kalaya Tjunta. The dropped meat was like a breadcrumb trail, and it was easy for the two hunters to track Lungkata. They lit a huge bonfire under him as he struggled to climb up to his high camp. Lungkata was burned by the flames and suffocated by the smoke. He rolled down the face of the rock. His flesh came off, leaving stripes on the rock face, until he was nothing more than a small stone.

Above this stone, you can still see the stain left by the smoke and ash on the side of Uluru. The lesson from this Tjukurpa is that you should not be dishonest or greedy, and that climbing Uluru is very dangerous. This Tjukurpa is testament to the fact that the Anangu have never approved of climbing Uluru; this taboo is woven into their very creation stories!

We completed the hike at 12:37 p.m., exactly 3.5 hours after we started. We were a bit surprised that we took 30 minutes longer than Britney's conservative estimate. We felt we had kept a steady pace. The others finished only about 5 minutes before us; we kept up with them pretty well. [Since returning home, I have seen on several sites that the official time estimate is 3.5 hours. That made us feel better. We probably would have been more comfortable with 4 hours, giving ourselves more time at the caves and water holes, as well as a bit more time to rest in the shade.]

By the time the five of us were done with the hike, the rest of the group had moved on to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre. Britney had brought them there but had come back to pick us up. She drove us there, but we only had about 15 minutes before we had to leave to drop off some group members for helicopter tours.

I was hot and achy and spent that time buying cold drinks and ice cream bars for myself and Craig. By the time I got through the line, it was time to go. Eric and Allison had been intrigued by an Aboriginal artist who was doing a painting demonstration. They really wanted to stay, so Britney said she would pick them up in an hour. She asked if we wanted to stay as well. Craig was a bit torn because...fear of missing out. We very rarely bail on any optional activity during a trip. We want to see everything. But I knew that the hike had been stressful on his body, even if adrenaline was still carrying him on its waves at this moment. I reminded him that we have the highly recommended (and pricey) Sounds of Silence dinner tonight, and we don't want to put that in jeopardy by overdoing things this afternoon. I suggested that we go rest and recuperate in the air conditioned room.

As soon as we got to the room, it became apparent that this was the proper decision. We cranked up the air conditioning and we took showers to soothe our aching backs and feet. I backed up some of my photos onto my computer and posted to Facebook.

At 5:30 p.m., we met the group out front. A bus from the Sounds of Silence picked up guests at each hotel. We got onto the bus and it drove us to the secluded outdoor area where we would have our bush dinner experience. When we got off of the bus, we were led to an outdoor patio with a bar, benches, and a view of Uluru in one direction and Kata Tjuta in another.

Servers circulated with champagne; they never let your flute go empty. They served us bush tucker-inspired canapes as we watched the sun sink in the sky and make both rock formations glow. The delicious canapes consisted of kangaroo sausage on crackers, crocodile and carrot croquettes, caramelized onion and feta tarts, prawns, and sweet potato in phyllo.

Craig noticed a rather dapper man wearing a suitcoat. He mentioned to me that all this man needed was a cane to finish his look. The next thing I knew, Craig was walking over to say hello and tell him so. In the meanwhile, Danielle said to me, "Is he making cane friends over there?" I answered that yes, indeed he was.

I walked over to them and Craig introduced me to his new friend Roger, Roger's wife Dorothy, and their friends David and Michael. We had a very nice chat with them. Roger says that oftentimes he does in fact use a cane, however today he hadn't felt that he needed it.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, we were summoned to dinner. We walked along a path down a small hill to a clearing which contained round banquet tables set with bright white tablecloths (in this red dust?) Somehow we had ended up at the end of the queue, and most people were seated. Forrest waved us over to the table where the majority of our group was seated (it turned out that Peggy and Kay sat at a different table to be further from the fire pit).

Along with Brad, Mary, Pam, Gail, Sydney, Forrest, and Danielle, we sat with Aussies Amanda and Linda. It was a great table and we had many laughs. A server came over to us and took our drink orders. I had red wine and Craig had Hahn SuperDry 3.5 beer. The server told us to just motion to her whenever we wanted a refill.

As an entree (starter), we were served a bowl of delicious bush tomato soup with wild thyme. A didgeridoo player, who had been playing off to the side, came to a nearby table, planted his instrument on the tabletop, and played up close and personal.

One by one the tables were called up to the buffet for our main course: barramundi, kangaroo with quinoa, crocodile salad, pasta salad, and lamb. We dined by candlelight and everything was absolutely delicious.

Once everyone had finished the main course, there was an astronomy talk. They turned off the table lights and pathway lights. The effect was entrancing. We could see more stars than I have ever seen before with the naked eye. We do try to stargaze when we travel, but cloud cover and/or light pollution always seems to interfere. In this dry, clear, desert environment, hundreds of miles from the nearest city, star visibility was absolutely amazing.

The resident astronomer used a laser pointer to draw our attention to various heavenly bodies. We were amazed by how well the laser pointer performed under those circumstances. I didn't expect it to have that much range.

We had a great view of the Southern Cross. The Southern Cross is interpreted by Aboriginal people as a stingray, a quandong tree, or, in its negative space, an emu. The season in which it is seen denotes the proper time for hunting/harvesting.

We saw three "shooting stars." Our astronomer was only to hapy to burst the crowd's bubble by telling us that it was probably just space junk.

At the conclusion of the astronomy talk, they turned the lights back on. They had set up a dessert bar, and they had two Celestron C8 telescopes set up a short distance from the tables. One was fixed on Saturn, and the other was on Jupiter. They invited everyone up to take a look through the telescopes. I had never looked through a telescope before. Craig was familiar with the C8, as it was the same type of telescope that his brother Steve had used during their teen years. However, this was a modernized version, which can be set to automatically continuously track objects.

We decided to look at the telescopes before having dessert. We first looked at Saturn, and I was amazed at the clarity with which I could see its rings from an 8 inch telescope. There was no doubt about it...that was Saturn, just as you would see it in a text book. We then moved to the other telescope, through which we could distinctly see Jupiter and four of its moons, all in a line. I was blown away!

When we were done with the telescopes, we got out dessert. We enjoyed bush lime cheesecake, a quandong tart, chocolate cake with vanilla sauce, tea cake, hot chocolate, and port wine at the table. We really had great table-mates, and enjoyed our time together very much.

Before we knew it, they were announcing that it was time to board the buses back to our hotels. The evening had passed so quickly! We said goodbye to Amanda and Linda, and wished them safe and happy travels.

When we got onto the bus, everyone seemed happy and a bit punchy. They certainly had not been stingy with the alcohol, which is usually a rarity when it is all-inclusive. It had been an amazing evening. It spanned slightly over 4 hours from pick-up to drop-off. The price had not been cheap, but considering that it included unlimited alcohol, canapes, a delicious three course meal, live music, an astronomy demonstration, and door to door transfers, it was worth every penny! We had been worried that it might be a bit too touristy (like a massive hotel luau in Hawaii), but it was absolutely lovely and quickly became one of the highlights of the trip. We highly recommend it to anyone and everyone who visits Uluru!

What a lovely way to end our time at Uluru! On to Melbourne tomorrow!

Uluru Sunrise Viewing Area

Uluru Base Walk

Sounds of Silence Dinner