Respecting the wishes of the local aboriginal population, the Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara people, we chose not to try and climb Uluru aka Ayers Rock. As of October 26th no one will be allowed to climb the sacred rock, but for now it looked like a bad day on Everest. A line of rule breakers clung to a cable running up the precipitous trail, with some starting out in full 90 degree weather. Absolutely nuts. Several people have died trying this and the attempt to conquer the peak is absolutely wrong.
We chose the walk around Uluru to view it up close an personal after viewing sunrise with hundreds of others. Some in pajamas and one guy in his bathrobe but all there to capture the moment.
As we learned from the Cultural Museum, several highly significant events occurred on and around Uluru in local Ananga legend. The marks of ancestral spirit pythons versus poisonous snakes are on the walls, the vanquished snake is now a huge boulder. The holes potmarked the surface, some created by the ancestral Minyma Itjaritjari mole.
We walked counter-clockwise for three hours to get a close up view of the rock, taking a view detours into a couple of gorges with sheltered watering holes, one still retaining water in this dry season. In both gorges Michele and I had quiet moments to listen to the space around us..before more tourists found the spot.
How anyone makes it on these walks during the Australian summer is a mystery. Temperatures reach 107 degrees? Just stepping inside one’s rental car would be excruciating. In the cool of one evening, we joined others to watch an art installation, the Field of Lights.
In the cool of one evening, we joined others to view an art installation, the Field Of Lights by Bruce Munro. As we enjoyed beers before the show and as the sun tinted Uluru, another couple regaled us with their last four days and nights in the bush, sleeping in swags under the stars. Knowing they would be going to a canyon where Prescilla in the Desert was filmed, the mate had purchased an outrageous outfit on eBay complete with size 14 red, high heeled shoes. Once at the site, he decked himself out in full regalia and showed us photo documentation on his phone. The Show must go on so we downed our beers and headed out into the dry warm night wandering through the vast field of stars fallen to earth.
Whittoons 