Trekkin’ to the Outback-Uluru!
During the two-week Easter break many of my friends travelled all over Australia, and to New Zealand and Fiji. I was excited for my parents to come, but it also brought up a bit of frustration. I really wanted to explore Australia during that time, but I also wanted to be my parents’ tour guide and show them how I’d been living for the past two or three months. I expressed these feelings to them, and they offered to pay for a trip during the first week of the break, and for the second week I would accompany them to New Zealand. This felt like the best of both worlds, so I set out to plan my trip.
My goal was to get to Uluru, a rock sacred to the Aborigines in the direct center of Australia (pronounced Ooh-lah-rooh. Also known as Ayers Rock).
If you can't read it, the small yellow thumbtack with text next to it is Uluru.
Uluru--stunning ain't it?
I headed to the campus’ travel agent and queried about flights and costs and such. Turns out that a return ticket to Alice Springs, the city that one must fly in to to see Uluru, cost between $750-800 Australian dollars during the break. With the two-night tour costing $450 AUD, it was a bit overboard.
I decided to reschedule for a different weekend, one that was in less of a holiday time-frame, which would bring the flight prices down. That different weekend is next weekend. I leave on May 22 and return May 25. I depart from Sydney at 9:50am and arrive in Alice Springs at 12:45pm. I then spend the night in Alice Springs and head out to Uluru the following day.
The following is the Itinerary…
HIGHLIGHTS
- Aussie swag’ option is available for passengers wishing to “sleep under the stars”!
- Full rim hike and camp oven dinner at Kings Canyon
- Uluru sunset with sparkling Australian wine
- Uluru sunrise and Uluru base walk
- Permanent campsites at Kings
ITINERARY
Day 1 – Alice Springs or Uluru to Kings Canyon
Departing Alice at 12.00noon, we travel through a variety of outback scenery including vibrant red dune country and the craggy ranges of Central Australia. One of our rest stops is the Aboriginal-owned Mt Ebenezer Roadhouse with its excellent art gallery. Settle into our secluded campsite near Kings Canyon with comfortable permanent twin-share tents (yes, we do have decent toilets and showers out there!) and lend a hand as we cook up some top tucker tonight (dinner)! An ‘Aussie swag’ is available for those wishing to sleep under the stars!
Meals: Dinner
Day 2 – Kings Canyon to Uluru
The full 6km Kings Canyon rim walk takes 3 plus hours (and requires an early start!) led by your knowledgeable driver-guide. Admire the sandstone domes of the Lost City, sheer cliff top views along the North and South Walls and the almost tropical Garden of Eden. Our journey to Uluru passes the table-topped Mt Conner and a break at Curtin Springs Station Roadhouse, the only service point on the 300km drive from Kings Creek to Yulara. Lunch is en-route and the late afternoon takes in the Cultural Centre followed by sparkling wine at the Uluru sunset. Our campsite at Yulara also offers excellent facilities including permanent twin-share tents (swag option also available) and all that we need to prepare another tasty dinner.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 3 – Uluru & Kata Tjuta
Up nice and early for Uluru sunrise, followed by a choice of base walks (recommended) or the climb (the Anangu traditional owners request visitors not to). Of special interest are the many sacred sites around the Base, notably the Mala & Mutitjulu waterholes – small springs supporting life since the Dreamtime. We then hike and explore amongst the many sandstone domes at Kata Tjuta.
Either finish at Yulara at 12 noon (B) or stay aboard and arrive back in Alice Springs in the early evening (accommodation drop offs available).Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
From http://www.travelaust.com.au/adventure/nt/asp008.html
Now, I don’t want to talk too much about Uluru is because I would like to cover that in the posts post-Uluru, but I’ll give you some info here, a la wikipedia. Uluru is a ‘large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia.’ It is pretty strikingly remote, with the ‘nearest large town (being) Alice Springs; 450 km (280 mi) by road.’ It is also listed as a ‘World Heritage Sight’. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uluru).
Uluru is one of Australia’s most recognisable natural icons. The world-renowned sandstone formation stands 348 m (1,142 ft) high (863 m/2,831 ft above sea level) with most of its bulk below the ground, and measures 9.4 km (5.8 mi) in circumference. Both Uluru and Kata Tjuta have great cultural significance for the Aṉangu Traditional landowners, who lead walking tours to inform visitors about the local flora and fauna, bush foods and the Aboriginal dreamtime stories of the area.
Uluru is notable for appearing to change colour as the different light strikes it at different times of the day and year, with sunset a particularly remarkable sight when it briefly glows red. Although rainfall is uncommon in this semiarid area, during wet periods the rock acquires a silvery-grey colour, with streaks of black algae forming on the areas that serve as channels for water flow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uluru).
For this trip I spent a large amount of money for a relatively short time, but I know it will be worth it. Many people never get the chance to get this far into Australia (even the locals!). This is the definition of ‘Outback’. Red rock, scorching sun, flat for miles; it will be like nothing I have ever seen before. I am extremely excited! Gotta stock up on memory cards and get a small, portable camera tri-pod! Oh, and look for a post or posts the following week after the trip.
Here are a few more interesting tidbits to leave you with…
Following text taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uluru.
Aṉangu continue to hunt and gather animal species in remote areas of the park and on anangu land elsewhere. Hunting is largely confined to the Red Kangaroo,Bush Turkey, Emu and lizards such as the Sand Goanna and Perentie.
Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park flora represents a large portion of plants found in Central Australia. A number of these species are considered rare and restricted in the park or the immediate region. There are many rare and endemic plants at Uluru and Kata Tjuta.
The growth and reproduction of plant communities rely on irregular rainfall. Some plants are able to survive fire and some are dependent on it to reproduce. Plants are an important part of Tjukurpa, and there are ceremonies for each of the major plant foods. Many plants are associated with ancestral beings.
Trees such as the Mulga and Centralian Bloodwood are used to make tools such as spearheads, boomerangs and bowls. The red sap of the bloodwood is used as a disinfectant and an inhalant for coughs and colds.
The park receives an average rainfall of 307.7 mm (12.1 in) per year, and average temperatures are 37.8 °C (100.0 °F) in the summer and 4.7 °C (40.5 °F) in the winter. Temperature extremes in the park have been recorded at 45 °C (113 °F) during the summer and −5 °C (23 °F) during winter nights. UV levels are extreme most days, averaging between 11 and 15.[8]
Local Aboriginal people recognise five seasons:
- Piriyakutu (August/September) – Animals breed and food plants flower
- Mai Wiyaringkupai (November/December) – The hot season when food becomes scarce
- Itjanu (January/February/March) – Sporadic storms can roll in suddenly
- Wanitjunkupai (April/May) – Cooler weather
- Wari (June/July) – Cold season bringing morning frosts
There are a number of differing accounts given, by outsiders, of Aboriginal ancestral stories for the origins of Uluru and its many cracks and fissures. One such account, taken from Robert Layton’s (1989) ULURU: An Aboriginal history of Ayers Rock,[10] reads as follows:
“Uluru (Ayers Rock) was built up during the creation period by two boys who played in the mud after rain. When they had finished their game they travelled south to Wiputa ..Fighting together, the two boys made their way to the table topped Mount Conner, on top of which their bodies are preserved as boulders” (Page 5)
Two other accounts are given in Norbert Brockman’s (1997) Encyclopedia of Sacred Places.[11] The first tells of serpent beings who waged many wars around Uluru, scarring the rock. The second tells of two tribes of ancestral spirits who were invited to a feast, but were distracted by the beautiful Sleepy Lizard Women and did not show up. In response, the angry hosts sang evil into a mud sculpture that came to life as the dingo. There followed a great battle, which ended in the deaths of the leaders of both tribes. The earth itself rose up in grief at the bloodshed, becoming Uluru.
The local Aṉangu do not climb Uluru because of its great spiritual significance. They request that visitors not climb the rock, partly due to the path crossing a sacred traditional Dreamtime track, and also due to a sense of responsibility for the safety of visitors to their land. The Aṉangu believe they have a spiritual connection to Uluru, and feel great sadness when a person dies or is injured whilst climbing.
On 11 December 1983, the Prime Minister Bob Hawke promised to hand back the land title to the Aṉangu traditional owners and agreed to the community’s 10-point plan which included forbidding the climbing of Uluru. However, the government set access to climb Uluru and a 99-year lease, instead of the previously agreed upon 50-year lease, as conditions before the title was officially given back to the Aṉangu.[16]
Climbing Uluru is a popular attraction for visitors. A chain handhold added in 1964 and extended in 1976 makes the hour-long climb easier, but it is still a long (800 m/0.5 mi) and steep hike to the top, where it can be quite windy. An above-average level of fitness and a high tolerance to desert conditions is required. Climbing Uluru is generally closed to the public when high winds are recorded at the top. Over the years there have been at least 35 deaths relating to climbing incidents.
The Aṉangu also request that visitors do not photograph certain sections of Uluru, for reasons related to traditional Tjukurpa beliefs. These areas are the sites of gender-linked rituals, and are forbidden ground for Aṉangu of the opposite sex of those participating in the rituals in question. The photographic ban is intended to prevent Aṉangu from inadvertently violating this taboo by encountering photographs of the forbidden sites in the outside world.[17][8]
