We had set our alarms for Sunrise today as we very much wanted to go and see Uluru as the sun rose over it. However, as it happened we had set our alarm clock far too early as there was no Sun nor anyone else around for that matter. That was only at first anyhow, there was still quite a while before the Sun was actually ‘rising’ so we waited, as the crowd grew, with bated breath! I must admit it turned out to be not the greatest of spectacles but it wassail very watchable and to be fair, compared to many of the other ‘unmissable’ sunrise sights, this was probably one of the best we had seen on our travels.
We then drove towards the rock itself and carried on a bit further round it to a car park at the rock’s base to start on the walk and if we could take in the free guided walk – the Marlu Walk! The guides were two of the park’s rangers, an indigenous guy called Paul and a trainee and as they walked along telling us stories we followed along behind. The walk was quite informative but it was a strange kind of informative in that some of the things about the rock and how it interweaved with aborigine life Paul could tell us, whilst others are secrets of the tribe and these could not be told due to the laws of the aborigines. One of the stories that he alluded to actually took place over several locations, of which Uluru was but one but the only portion of the story our guide could relate was the part about Uluru itself as here we were, the other parts of the story could only be told at the appropriate location. I actually really liked the thought of that, parts of a story being told at the particular place that relating to the story so you could soak up the vibe as it were. A story that would literally get you on your feet because if you do not go then the story stops – brilliant really! Paul also told us that some of the stories he had could not be told were because of gender, others because they were simply ‘lore’ that a person learns these as they grow and they cannot be told to others. It is truly amazing in this day and age where everybody seems to want to share every iota of their lives – good and bad – over the internet that these people hold onto their stories as being so very precious. It is as if the stories are the embodiment of their history and indeed what they themselves are and they really do seem to hold this true in their hearts.
As we walked, Paul talked and it was about when talking about the rock that his speech became most poignant. You could not climb up the rock presently because the chain that you can use to pull yourself up had been vandalised and the authorities had no idea who the ‘vandals’ were. Paul said that whilst it was up to the individual whether or not they wished to climb, the indigenous people themselves regard the place with the same sanctity that we would a religious building, say like St Paul’s or a mosque or possibly Stonehenge and they ask that we ‘outsiders’ respect the place too. For me it was the fact that Paul had given us glimpses of what could be told and what could not that made me feel that this is not a game to the Aborigines and I think this, more than anything he could have actually said which made me feel that the rock would not benefit from having my dirty great ‘plates of meat’ (= feet) running up and down its face. This is their culture and I think that although we all seem to spend a lot of time trying to be so very similar perhaps we should see good in the differences there are in cultures too and champion these and respect them too. I told you, this travelling is getting me in touch with my more hippy side!
We thanked the rangers and we continued to walk around the base of the rock on our own. The walk does not keep you close to the base all the time, sometimes it moves away from the rock to lead you away from those portions of the rock which are more sacred to the indigenous people. The walk also, at places, has signs requesting that no photos are to be taken, again to preserve the sanctity of these shrine areas. We did respect the wishes the signs conveyed to us and so kept the camera stowed well away.
It was quite a struggle in the heat as the walk was quite a distance at 10.6km and as the Sun shone brightly so the rock (and our faces!) seemed to redden. Finally though after what seemed like us trudging on for an age we could once again see our little white van there in the distance, at the car park where we had left it – hoorah. Good old Suzy seemed none the worse for our walk but we had taken a bit of a beating both physically and perhaps mentally … lol! I am not entirely sure that we realised just how tired we were when we finished the walk but we went straight to the cultural centre and once there we started watching a film about how the indigenous people have retrieved the land and the rock from the government and during it we both started falling asleep … gosh!!
So it was that we decided to call it a morning and return to the campsite to try and grab a few zzz’s before we would be having our afternoon’s entertainment – a helicopter flight around Uluru! No sooner though that we had laid our heads down then we were awoken by the helicopter tour folk ringing us, to ask if we could be ready in the next half hour for our trip – so much for us sleeping BUT our wake-up call incentive was that as well as Uluru that they would take us and the other couple in the group to Kata Tjuta – the Valley of the Winds.
We jumped up out of our makeshift bed and soon enough made ourselves ready and by the time the guides rolled up we were chomping at the bit. In the van already were a young German newlywed couple who would be joining us and soon enough the van whisked us away to our waiting helicopter!
As you can imagine the flight was absolutely brilliant and the scenery stunning as well. First we flew towards Uluru and although they only allow you so close, this is still enough to get a much better feel for just how big the rock is, it is absolutely huge and then from there it was on to the ‘Olgas’ to go and see one side of them. The reason you cannot do the full circuit is that the other side is where the men do their ‘business’ and so it is not to be seen by outsiders.
From up here you can get more of a feeling why Uluru and Kata Tjuta are both so revered by the aborigines, it what looks a very desolate and flat landscape they stand out just like a couple of skyscrapers would in a small village the difference is that great. It was a fantastic tour and a great hoot, the Germans were really enthralled by our travelling story too which was very nice – and possibly very polite – of them.
When we parted at the end of the trip we wished them the very best of times together and waved them off. It had been a great experience to share with them especially with the unexpected upgrade, sometimes we are just too lucky for words!
Flight done, we were dropped off once more back at our camp where we grabbed a quick bite to eat before going back out in the van to go and see the Sun over Uluru one last time but this time to see it’s setting. The setting was a bit better and we quite enjoyed the photo opportunities it presented but by the time the Sun had said goodbye it was time for us to be leaving too as we needed our beauty sleep.
So it was back in the van for us and back to the camp to actually hit the hay this time, where we made like lights and were out in an instant.
Our Excellent Adventure! 