Uluru

The main reason folks come to the Red Centre is to see the world famous Ayers Rock now known by its aboriginal name, Uluru. One can fly directly to the airport at Uluru (Yulara is the settlement’s name) or one can road trip there from Alice Springs. We had no desire to drive ourselves the almost 300 miles across the desert so we signed up for a three day/two night camping safari to Uluru, Kata Tjuta (also known as The Olgas), and Kings Canyon.

Tuesday morning, June 1, we were packed (small bags only) and ready for pickup by 6:30 AM. We were retrieved by a large, heavy duty bush bus/truck for what turned out to be only 11 tour goers. The seats were comfy although the bus was frigidly cold until the sun came out. Our driver and talkative guide was named Ben. He commented that there would only be three 90 degree turns between Alice Springs and Yulara and that we should see them as mystical moments.

After a couple of hours we had a short bathroom and snack stop at the Outback Camel Farm. It was a total surprise to learn that there are more camels in Australia than any other country in the world. They have a million feral camels but camels are also raised for both meat and for export. I decided that I wanted a camel ride more than a snack!

A bit later, we had a short stop to view from afar Mt. Connor, another large rock formation, and to see the nearby Lake Amadeus. Lake Amadeus is the low point in the Amadeus basin and given the desert’s unusually wet conditions it had water in it. We were treated (?) during the long bus rides to Ben’s own unique mix of music selections. We laughed at one selection and, of course, thought of our brother-in-law Duncan: “I love to have a beer with Duncan ‘cause Duncan’s me mate.” Cheers, Duncan!

Finally, we arrived at the company’s permanent camping site in Yulara. We had lunch and bused into the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. As we traveled, Ben had been telling us the aboriginal stories that are associated with Uluru. We stopped at the cultural center which retold those stories and finally began the walk around the base of Uluru. The entire base walk is about six miles. We walked about four. As we got to the various story sites, Ben would retell the story. As he said, Uluru is like a giant visual public library full of Tjukurpa, the oral aboriginal stories. Whites call these stories dreamtime or dreaming although aboriginals seem to reject that terminology. For aboriginals, the stories are deep, real, full of life-giving knowledge and morality. Uluru is a sacred place for the Anangu , the local people, and includes special places for “men’s business and women’s business“, as they term it. Aboriginals do not share most of the Tjukurpa with the uninitiated like us. They also request that people not climb Uluru.

After our walk, we bussed over to the sunset viewing area set aside for buses. We joined all the busloads of people for a sunset party which included sparkling wine and yummy appetizers and the taking of endless pictures of Uluru as the light faded. Back to camp for dinner.

The camping safari meant that we all pitched in on kitchen and dishwashing duties. It was a good crew--1 French, 1 Swiss, 3 Dutch, 2 Germans, 1 Aussie, and 3 Americans. Ben gave the assignments and seemed to be everywhere at once. There was lots of hearty food. After dinner and cleanup, we sat around the campfire a bit and turned in early to our permanent tent sites with cots and sleeping bags. I was toasty with the help of my hot water bottle despite the temperature dropping to the mid 30s.