Here in the Never Never
Trip Start
Jul 29, 2005
1
8
11
Trip End
Aug 16, 2005
Uluru,
Australia
Thursday, August 11, 2005
We're in the heart of Australia, in the middle of a mars-like landscape. The place is unbelievable. Besides the resort near the park where we're staying at, there is no city or town within a days drive. All you can see is the sacred rock, Uluru and the lesser Olgas. The National Park is owned by an aboriginal tribe, who still lives and worships on the land. The rock itself tells of the dreamtime creation story of these people. According to them, their people came from inside the rock. Not only is it the center of aboriginal culture, it's also the heart and center of Australia, both figuratively and literally. The rock sits as a massive obstruction in a vast flat nothingness. It's colors change with the sun, contrasted with the cloudless blue sky above. At sunset, the rock begins to glow red, and increases in intensity until the sun goes behind the horizon, and the rock turns a dark brown
Around Uluru
. It's comparable to watching the sunset on the grand canyon, only here there is a spiritual aspect. This isn't just nature, or a piece of history. It's a living connection to a belief and culture that has been here for over 25,000 years. Perhaps the longest surviving people in the world. The tribe does a spectacular job managing the park. They respectfully invite others into their home and into their religion. It is a shame that so many people don't return the favor and refrain from climbing the rock (which would be like walking into Notre dame during mass, jumping over the alter, climbing up the crucifix and siting on the cross, for the view)...The first day here we spent the afternoon doing the 6 mile hike around the base of the rock. We then enjoyed a sunset before calling it a night. In the morning we got up before dawn to head out on a sunrise camel tour (there's actually wild camels roaming this desert) and traditional outback breakfast of billy tea and beer bread. That afternoon we went to the aboriginal cultural center where we took a class that taught us about the traditional dream time art of the tribe. This is an art form that can be found on the walls of uluru and is still being done today. In fact, aboriginal art is the hot item now, and their making a mint off of it as it's being sold in galleries around the world (a more traditional way of making money than building a casino you could say). The class was taught by two tribal artists in their language and interpreted to us through a ranger. After learning the history and stories of the paintings, we were given the opportunity to paint our own 'dream time' art and then to tell our story to the group. It was a remarkable experience, learning a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation for nearly 25,000 years.
We hope to get pictures up before we get back, but at $2.00/10 mins of internet time, I think we'll wait until we get to Sydney.
Visit Klenske, Ink.
