One of the iconic natural landmarks of Australia is Uluru. Also known as Ayers Rock, the puzzling monolith is a massive figure in the desert landscape of the Northern Territory. And as I've mentioned before, I made it out there this past weekend. In March, Dave and I had decided to give it a shot and threw together what we hoped would be a cheap trip by using Tiger Airways.
This meant we'd have to fly from Sydney-Melbourne before boarding the Tiger flight to Alice Springs, then drive roughly 430 kms southwest to get to Uluru, a national park of Australia and a World Heritage Site. Last Thursday, we got an early start, leaving SUV at around 6:45 AM. Ilya came with us, and we were meeting another friend Devin in Melbourne for the flight up. It was going to be a long day, but I had prepared myself mentally (or at least tried to) for the 9 hours of travel. Compounding things was the fact I felt a bit sick the day before, having a sore throat and runny nose. Congestion makes flying much worse for those never unlucky enough to experience such misery.
Despite the illness, the flights went relatively smoothly. As we descended upon Alice Springs, I was once again reminded of the desolation of Australia. Red soil greeted us upon landing on the single-strip airport that actually lay 10 km of the town centre. We had rented a car from Budget in order to complete the overland part of the journey, and soon after disembarking we had the rental. It was a manual, and considering I was the only one familiar with driving stick, I soon realized I might be doing the majority of the driving - although I love driving stick.
Before heading straight to the rock, we popped up to Alice Springs, grabbed some supplies at Woolworth's, ate lunch at Pizza Hut, and started the drive. The four hours passed pretty quickly, although night driving through the Outback isn't my favorite thing. Plus, Kangaroos were everywhere alongside the road, so I laid on my horn to scare them away. We made it to Yulara, the resort 20 km away from the actual rock. I was pretty tired at that point, felt like crap, and passed out in our swindle of a room. It was quite chilly at that point as well. I managed some sleep, although we were getting up at 5:45 AM the next morning for the sunrise at Uluru.
The morning came fast. The four of us were ready in short time and made the short drive to the rock. The park entrance fee was $25 per person (sucks) but the large, dark monolith that soon greeted us was surreal. I have never in my life seen anything so big, so imposing, and so real. It was like something out of a movie. The pictures I'm posting don't come close to doing the size of the rock justice.
It was quite cool in the morning, and I felt pretty terrible, so I stayed in the car as the sun crept over the horizon, slowly coloring the rock. It was impressive, despite the fact we were joined by about a hundred other tourists. But what would you expect from a place that gets over 400,000 visits a year?
After the sunrise, we headed back to our accommodation and I passed out for a few more hours. We decided to rest up before returning for the six mile walk around the circumference of the rock. Not feeling good while walking around in the hot desert isn't the best feeling in the world, but I sucked it up, knowing the chances of returning here are slim.
Once we had eaten lunch, we drove back over to the rock. Stopping at the cultural centre, we took time to learn a little but about Uluru and what it means to the Arnangu people, the Aboriginal people who along with the Pitjantjatjara and the Yankunytjatjara find the place holy. It baffles me a bit at the thought of putting a sacred meaning in a rock, but it was interesting nonetheless. They asked you not to climb the rock, and I had no intention of doing so, considering over 35 people have died trying to do it.
The walk began after driving a bit closer, and instead of trying to describe the grandeur of it, here are a few pictures to look at:
I managed to feel alright through the duration of the hike, but by the end I was pretty spent. We had around an hour and a half before sunset, so we drove to the spot the park has set up and parked, waiting for the sun to set upon the rock. What greeted us was an interesting sequence of events, namely a changing coloration as the sun went down. Dave took a number of pictures and made them into a time lapsed movie:
The whole day now over, I once again felt pretty terrible, although excited and in awe of the enormous natural structure that I had encountered. Question upon question piled into my head over the significance of the rock in relation to the world, the traditions the Aboriginals believed, and how that all fit into my own faith. As you might tell, it made my head spin, trying to figure that out. I came to no conclusion, although glad that I've been able to see something like that and to think about it. The existence of the rock makes me hard to share the beliefs of those who think the earth is 6,000 years old.
Theological discussions aside, the next day we woke up for the return trip to Sydney via Alice Springs and Melbourne. It had been a crazy journey, but one that made me appreciate a different culture, expose me to a number of Aboriginal people (there were loads walking the streets of Alice Springs), and getting to see one of the world's greatest natural wonders. It was a quick, get-in, get-out trip, something I recommend to everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment