As you drive towards Uluru, you find yourself peering off to the left, hopeful for a glimpse of the iconic rock. Your first sightiung of Uluru as you drive towards it is exciting. There is something captivating and enchanting about this place.
We had met people the previous night who had been here thirty years ago. They were disenchanted by what they found on their return visit - they felt the site was over priced and over managed. It was hard to know what to expect on our visit.
We checked in for a couple of nights at the Yalara Caravan Park. After dropping off the camper, it was time to get up close and personal with Uluru
Our first up close look at Uluru
After our first photos were out of the road, we headed to the Cultural Centre. The Cultural Centre did an excellent job of explaining the Dreamtime stories associated with Uluru. By sharing these sories, it enabled us to enjoy it as more than just a geological marvel, but also as a sacred site.
It was then time to get close to the rock itself,
From a distance the rock looks uniform and smooth, but up close the sandstone takes a distinctly mottled texture. The side of the rock is textured with caves, overhangs, and crevices. Many of these features are explained in the Dreaming stories, and we appreciated the interpretive signs that pointed these out to us.
There are areas around the rock that were impotant for men, areas for young boys and areas for women. Access to the caves is no longer allowed - but with nearly half a million visitors a year coming to the site, you can appreciate they have to draw the line somewhere. When we heard what some of the vandalism to these caves was, it is a wonder that we're allowed as close as we are!
Uluru has a series of rock pools that fill when it rains on the rock. Given enough rain, these cascade into waterfalls. Kunyia Waterhole on the southern side of the rock is one of the most reliable waterholes coming from Uluru, and hence it is a haven for wildlife (and therefore traditionally hunters). Whilst we were standing there, it started to shower. Whilst I can't say it 'rained on the rock', it sure changed our perspective of Uluru, settling the dust and washing the rock clean.
Well satisfied with our exploration of Uluru, we returned to camp and planned our next day's activities. Our plan was to walk The Valley of the Winds walk at Kata Tjuta (The Olgas).
Kata Tjuta is some 50km west of Uluru, and from a distance it's 36 domes ask for further investigation.
They might not look much from here... but wait until you're up close to them
Whilst Uluru is comprised of a relatively consistent sandstone, Kata Tjuta is a rough conglomerate. It has eroded over the past 330 million years to form giant domes, and we enjoyed the morning walking among them. The walk was rough underfoot, but rewarded with some amazing views.
The Valley of the Winds Walk is around 7.2km, and we were pushing the Little Helpers for the last kilometre or so. For some reason Jo had brought only three Caramello Koalas, and when she announced that the last person back to the car would miss out, the re-energised boys made short work of the last part of the walk.
On our return to Yulara we visited the Camel Farm and got up close and personal with the orphaned Milkshake. We didn't partake in camel safari on this visit having made the most of our time riding the camels on Cable Beach, but we all learnt a great deal about camels in the Camel Farm's information displays and memorbilia on display.
Most of the camels working on the farm have been captured from the surrounding desert county. The reason no one breeds camels is that they take around 8-9 years before they can be broken in. Milkshake was simply adoreable and loved any attention he could get.
It was then time to check the fridge was stocked with the requisite wine and nibbles and we headed down to the sunset viewing area. It is one thing to sit and watch the sun set over the rock, but with good friends and delightful snacks, it was simply fantastic. The colours changed as the sun sank lower in the sky, and whilst we didn't get a classic red sunburnt sunset, in the end it didn't really matter. We were at Uluru.
The following morning we bade farwell to Kylie, Jim and George as they commenced their return home. Their leaving caused us all to feel more than a little homesick. We really do live in a wonderful little community - and we do miss all our friends and all the happenings that have been going on.
We decided to stay at Yalara one more night before returning to Kings Canyon to complete some unfinished business there. There was a stack of free activities to do, and we needed to tick some goals on the schooling front. The activities aligned very closely with our stated objectives written before we left, so we got stuck right in.
Jo went off for a Native Plants and Bush Tucker walk through the Desert Hotel Gardens. This allowed us boys a little extra time to get brekky sorted before we got stuck into the serious business of the day - boomerang and spear throwing. In no time at all, a huge gaggle of kids were throwing spears in all directions, however the boomerang throwing was more managed, as the boomerangs had a nasty habit of occasionally coming back!
We spent the whole day in the 'town square'. After our boomerang and spear throwing, we listened to a bush yarn on male hunting equipment. A couple of questions and we found the talk going for over double its programmed half hour. Later we learnt how to play the Didgeridoo and then participated in a dance workshop, learning a male dance (Kangaroo) and a female dance (emu). Whilst being a lot of fun, the activities really opened our eyes up to the finer details of hunting, dance and song in the Aboriginal culture.
The blokes who took the workshops were fantastic and we really appreciated their low key approach to sharing their culture with us. A good sense of humour also helped.
Whilst you may feel tourism exploits these people, in a way it has proven to be one thing that provides meaningful employment whilst helping to keep their culture alive and relevant in the modern world. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Yalara and Uluru, and felt enriched by our time here. It really was a fantastic place for us to stop and spend a few days and look beyond the postcard image of Uluru.
The following morning whilst I packed up, Jo and the boys did a dot painting workshop. They disappeared for the morning and learnt about the symbology used in the local artwork. They all constructed stories on their tablets, based on our trip around the country. I worked like a trojan and just managed time for a cuppa at the cafe before we rendezvoused and pulled out of town to return to Kings Canyon and the famous Rim Walk.
Spectacular, words cannot do justice I am sure but your pics come close! I look forward to sharing with my girls in the near future :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Lilypilli - I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
ReplyDeleteCheers