9/12: Transcendent Uluru

 Walked back to the ‘town centre’ in the moring to pick up our car rental and Steven very ably drove, on the left hand side of the road no less, toward Uluru Kata Kjuta National Park so we could go on the 2 hour ranger led Mala Walk tour of Uluru. The Mala Walk is the only walk available ranger tour at Uluru and is held daily throughout the year regardless of weather. While waiting for the tour to begin, Steven chatted with the people beside him on the bench who happened to be from Windsor – Colorado that is, not Ontario – so just up the road a bit from us!

Driving in from the airport yesterday afternoon, the shuttle bus driver said that no one could enter the park on one of their shuttle buses unless they had with them a liter bottle of water. Dehydration is not to be fooled with while hiking in the national park or anywhere in Australia’s vast Outback where temperatures has reached 56 degrees Celsius. We learned that’s not only the lack of water that contributes to it but also the wind, the absence of humidity and the UV rays in the southern hemisphere.

Uluru coming up - yeah!

Shelter and bench, Outback style, Janina!

Our park ranger, Steve, told us that before white people came to Uluru, it was estimated that there were 250-300 languages and 500 dialects spoken by the aborigines. In 1976, PM Fraser signed the Aboriginal Land Rights Act which meant that aborigines could then apply to have their land returned to them from the Land Commissioner. Steve explained however that it wasn’t til 10/26/85 that the land was finally given back to the Anagul, the local Aborigines.

Their goal is to teach visitors the right way to learn about and appreciate the park.Throughout the 2.5 hour guided walk(it lasted 30 minutes longer than planned, Steve stressed how the Anagul feel personally responsible when visitors get hurt or die while on their land. He compared it to how we would feel if a visitor to our home were to be hurt. They relate to white people as being part of their family too as relationships are incredibly strong to them. An aunt for example is considered also to be your mother, not just your birth mom, Steve explained.

Even with all the signs,we saw a steady stream of people climbing up the very steep rock and noticed some having to come down backwards.There is a huge controversy concerning the protocol about climbing the Rock. The Mala would say there’s nothing interesting up top, only down below,our ranger told us.

Steven in front of a Ficus Ili (aka fig) tree: the fruit are about the size of a dime and grow for such a short time in this arid climate that they dry very quickly on the vine if not picked right away. If they do dry, Steve indicated that the figs have to be re-constituted with water.

Saw these black vertical ribbons in many places throughout the walk all around Uluru as well, They  indicate the paths water take down the mountain.

Men’s Cave:  We really needed some help figuring out that the reliefs  below were actually depictions of 5 elders and not mountains; Steve showed us where to look carefully so we could better discern their eyebrows, beards, etc.

The guide shared how easy it is to know when to show respect for instance when entering a religious institution; before entering a mosque, you know to remove your shoes. But it is not so evident to know how and when to show respect in nature. We were shown a number of sights of powerful significance to the Anagul people, and only knew they were because of the signs prohibiting photography and because Steve told us.

We were very fortunate to see lots of examples of Rock Art on our hike with Steve. 

White painted Ili made from white pipe clay; The ochre colored paintings are from iron oxide and the grayish one were made with ash. The Mala people paint not only on sandstone but also on bark as well as decorating their bodies.

Amazing seeing a small pool of water in such as arid area.

There are only 2 water sources in and around all of Uluru - this was one. You can see from the color variation how high the water has reached the rock in the past. There are 220 ml of rain per year round here at Uluru.

Taking a much needed break close to the end of the Mala Walk.

Wattles, wattles everywhere

Ranger Steve with Steve(n)!

We decided to go on a hike by ourselves after the Mala Walk; originally we'd planned to hike the 10.6km Base Walk but it was after 12:30 by then and way too hot, so we took the shorter Kuniya Walk instead which was a perfect substitution.
Photos of our walk below:

Kangaroo Grass

Red River Gum Trees

The second water source at Uluru located a huge distance from the first.

Ili: the Native fig tree

Very unusual seeing so much vegetation on the rocks.

Steven has been to Africa albeit years ago but  this 'savannah' was very familiar to him and what I have long imagined much of Africa's bushlands might look like.

After completing the hike, we drove to the Cultual Centre that we had not made time to stop at when we entered the park in the morning because of wanting to participate in the Mala Walk.

No photos were allowed at the Cultural Centre but I wrote down a few things you may find interesting to read:

‘We (i.e. the Anagul) custodians of this place are really happy for you to come and look around our country. Now a lot of visitors are only looking at the sunset and climbing Uluru. That rock is a really sacred thing. You shouldn’t climb it. Climbing it is not a proper part of this place. We, the traditional owners, have a duty to safeguard visitors.

We feel great sadness when a person is hurt or dies on our land. Anagul do not like to be photographed and we ask you to respect this wish. In Anagul tradition, people take great respect for the info they are given. Please show your appreciation of Anagul by following our respect.

Do not take pieces of rock away as souvenirs. We would like you to leave the land as undisturbed as possible.’

A register was available for those willing to sign stating ‘I did not climb Uluru.’

We returned close to sunset, at 6:35, so we could see Uluru change colors. How glorious was that!

Yup, we were't the only ones there!

How lucky we were to have viewed Uluru, one of the Wonders of the World, at least in our minds it is.