Uluru and Kata Tjuta

These places are otherwise known as Ayers Rock and The Olgas, named by European settlers.

We signed up for a special charter flight (with about 50 other people) direct from Melbourne to Ayers Rock Resort. We flew three hours into the center of the country and it was beautiful to see the barren desert landscape, but it made me glad we were flying over it and not driving through it for what would take approximately three days by car.

Uluru

We arrived just in time to check in, clean up, and eat a quick lunch before joining our 2:30 tour to see sunset at Uluru. We opted for a small group tour of 10. We were on the other side of the planet, in the middle of this vast country, and as this small world would have it, we sat next to a young couple from Fairfield! Jennie, our tour guide originally from Adelaide, drove us around Uluru, stopping various places to walk along the base. She told us some of the Anangu stories as we stopped at various caves, watering holes, and sacred spots. We were asked not to take photographs at places that were traditionally designated “women’s places” or “men’s places” so that there would be no chance of Anangu men or women to see these places kept secret from one another in their culture. Jennie explained that in Anangu culture, knowledge was shared in increments so she, and we, were considered small children, so we were only allowed to know beginning pieces of information.

Similar to Mount Shasta’s significance to the Hupa and other northern California tribes, all of Uluru is considered a sacred site by the Anangu people, the traditional custodians of that land. One of the major controversies of its time is whether or not to allow people to climb it. Visitors are strongly and repeatedly and in multiple languages encouraged not to climb both for reasons of spiritual respect and safety. We were told that there is a council that makes decisions about the park and all 12 of them have to agree to ban the climb. Currently there is one person who still wants to allow the climb and it’s the government’s minister of tourism. Our guide Jennie likened it to hundreds of strangers scaling the outside of one’s church. She told us that previously nearly 90% (of 300,000 tourists annually) climbed and today only about 27% do. Frankly I was shocked that even that many did. We saw mostly 20-somethings climbing when we were there, but I also saw a family with two young children and I wondered what the parents told their kids to justify that decision.

I had seen many pictures of Uluru before coming here. I started to write that it’s Australia’s iconic natural wonder, but honestly there are so many here it would be unfair to characterize it that way. Perhaps it’s the most iconic site in the red desert. But the postcard pictures in no way illustrate the massiveness or the varied textures of the surface of Uluru. There is generally just one side of Uluru depicted in tourism ads, but there are many cracks, crevices, and caves that you only see when standing in its shadow.

At sunset

You can google it if you want more details about the geographical history of Uluru but the basics are:

•   348 metres (1141 feet) high

•   3.6 km long (2.2 miles)

•   1.9 km wide (1.2 miles)

•   9.4 km or 5.8 miles around the base

•   covers 3.33 km sq. (1.29 miles sq.)

•   extends about several km/miles into the ground (no-one knows exactly how far)

More on Kata Tjuta and desert insects in the future posts.