Eyeful

Eyeful
Eye to eye with a Great Horned Owl.

Monday, November 18, 2013

2013 Travel Dispatch #17 (Uluru, from Cairns)


























OK, this one is going to be fast and furious. A bunch of pictures and probably not much commentary. This post is going to be about our first day at the Ayers Rock Resort and most especially about Uluru (Ayers Rock) and our introduction to it. We're now in Cairns and actually have wifi in our room. Going to try to get caught up.

But before I begin that, I would just like to back up a bit to revisit the time we were able to spend in the company and influence of Hugh and Jo. Being able to visit a new and completely unknown place along with friends who live in that place is a very special treat and provides experiences and opportunities that would simply be impossible if we were here totally on our own. We had the connection with the monastery in Japan and then the time with Hugh and Jo and connections they facilitated with friends of theirs. It afforded us the gift of being able to see and relate to the reality of the place and not just the experience of a foreigner passing through a strange land. The times with the real people of Japan and Australia have made an already special trip that much more special. 

But as I said, not too much commentary so on the Uluru.

We, of course first say "the rock" from the plane as we flew in and could see it from our balcony once we checked into to our room. But the first real exposure to it was that afternoon and evening when we did the "Sunset Viewing." This is really big deal and probably one of the few things that pretty much anyone who visits "the rock" does and the number of people we saw there confirms. The evening we went was a good one. There were clouds but not so many that it interfered with the setting rays of the sun painting "the rock" a glorious red. You will note in the picture that will be appearing in this post and some following ones that there is a very distinct redness about the landscape there.




























As you can see, the light changes constantly which considerably alters the look of "the rock".

Did I mention that there were a bunch of people all doing the same thing?


















After the sun had done its setting, we were bused to a location by the Cultural Center and served a BBQ dinner.























The BBQ was fun, at least for a carnivore like myself, they were serving beef steak (cooked anyway you liked it), chicken, prawns and kangaroo. I had them all. So far I have had kangaroo, three times, camel and emu. They have all been good and I would eat any one of them again. They also served a big, lovely salad. Then we went home and went to bed -- we had been up since four that morning to catch our six o'clock flight to Ayers Rock Airport.

The next morning, up at four o'clock again, we went out to view the other side of "the rock" at sunrise.


















There were a bunch of people there for that too.





























Once again the sun succeeded in doing its thing and "the rock" just sat there and took it. To be honest, it is a pretty wonderful spectacle.

But I much preferred getting to know "the rock" a bit closer up and after sunrise we did get right up to and into it. Following are some of the snaps I got as we walked at its base.































One thing we did not do, or have any desire to do, was climb "the rock". Climbing is allowed, sometimes (see below), but it is also actively discouraged. The native owners of this land would rather it not be climbed as it is a holy place for them. But the agreement made when the land was deeded back to them (long story) included allowing "the rock" to be climbed. They are trying to reduce the number of people who climb. Currently, statistics show that about 25% of visitors climb or want to climb. According to some agreement, if that number can be reduce to 20% or less, "the rock" can be closed to climbing altogether.


You can see the route up "the rock" in this photo. If you look real closely, you can see the trail and the guide posts going right over the top. Every day a ranger makes a judgement about whether climbing will be allowed on that day. As you can see, the day we were there it wasn't. They take this very seriously and if you dast climb when it is forbidden it is a very bad thing -- something like a $5000 fine. And it's enforced. Would that they paid such attention in the High Peaks.

Might actually get caught up a bit. Today was a travel day (Uluru to Cairns) so not a lot of interesting photo ops -- though the sunset and moonrise from the plane were quite spectacular. Bed now, more later.

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