Uluru- Kata Tjuta National Park and Kings Canyon
outback. On the way to Ayers Rock, which take 6 1/2 hours from Alice, we got
a glimpse of another unusual monolith, known as Mt. Conner, which tourists
often mistake for Ayers Rock. At a stop near here, I bought a hat with a net attached to the rim,
because the bush flies are an amazing annoyance. I have been to
the wilderness in North America and experienced bugs before, but nothing
even remotely like this. These flies are obsessed and determined to get into
you eyes, nose, ears and mouth. I was really glad the whole trip that I had
bought this hat. From what I understand, they get much worse during the next
couple months when summer comes here. The early explorers were driven to the
brink of insanity by the little bugs, and I can see why.
We spent most of the first day at Kata Tjuta, or the Olgas, which are
large red sandstone mountains protruding in the middle of the desert. Kata
Tjuta, the aboriginal name means 'many heads'. Most of you are probably
familiar with Ayers Rock and it's red color, these are much the same color.
We took a 5-mile walk down into the center of these formations, an area
called the valley of the winds. The wind blowing through the valley was
refreshing on such a hot day, and it also carried the fragrant smell of the
plants all through the valley.
In the evening we stayed in a camp of permanent tents, just outside the
park. I didn't mind this, but most of the people on my trip didn't like it.
At night we were treated to the most magnificent display of stars I have
ever seen. The milky way was visible as were Saturn and Jupiter, as well as
the International Space Station. The shooting stars were also amazing, and I
enjoyed seeing constellations we do not see in the Northern Hemisphere.
The next morning we had to get up at 4am to witness the sunrise. The
Outback is hot during the day, over 88 all the days I was there, but like
most desert regions it gets cold at night, with temperatures as low as 35.
We made it to Uluru, the Aboriginal name for Ayers Rock a little before
sunrise and began our 7 mile hike around it's base to view the features up
close. Many people climb the rock, even though the Aborigines ask you not
to. Only two from our group did climb, and the reason I didn't was because
the walk around seemed more interesting. And interesting it was. When you
see pictures of Uluru, it is impossible to tell the number of unique
markings on it. There is one crater in a side that looks like someone
pressed a brain into the side of the rock, and the Aborigines have a story
about the formation of the rock that relates to this marking. There were
also many other scars and features on the rock which were very interesting,
and we viewed some Aboriginal rock paintings and some water holes around the
base. There was a visitor's center a little ways from the base, and we spent
an hour or so there. The center is divided into an Aborigine section and a
white section with information about Uluru. It was a good center, but the
Aboriginal section was lacking a lot of information, as they do not believe
they can share their culture with white people, because in their eyes we are
children. Not my words, theirs.
The next day we also rode early for the trip
to Kings Canyon. The Olgas and
Ayers Rock were impressive, but this is my favorite sight of the ones I
saw
in the outback. The canyon itself is massive, and really hard to
describe,
but it is in such a beautiful area, with rugged, worn limestone cliffs
all
around, making for the most dramatic of landscapes. The canyon is 150
meters
high at it's highest point, and with the help of wooden staircases, we
were
able to descend into the valley and view an area of lush vegetation
known as
the garden of eden. Although in the middle of a desert, these plants are
able to grow on run off into the canyon from rain, and have adapted to
the
conditions so that they are able to stay alive during the dry times. The
hike up and over the canyon wall was grueling, and made worse by the 95
degree heat, but I loved every minute of it, and was glad to have my net
hat.
I liked the tour very much and would recommend the company, Sahara
Outback Tours to anyone who can take sleeping on a cot in a tent, and
not
everyone can. One of the things I take away is how green the area we saw
actually was. When I heard 'outback' before this trip, I always thought
of
the vast red areas. The outback goes through cycles where it receives
more
rain than usual, and this was one of those times. There was still a lot
of
red sands, but it was much greener that expected, with more shades of
green
than I thought possible. The outback also makes you feel very small.
These
sights are amazingly touristed, which is understandable, but with the
expense and distance from Alice Springs makes it a little bit hard to
believe. They are, however, an essential part of Australiana.