A quick Google search yielded a very descriptive and succinct description of the area: "Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is a massive sandstone monolith in the heart of the Northern Territory’s Red Centre desert, 450km from the nearest large town, Alice Springs. It’s sacred to indigenous Australians and believed to be about 700 million years old. It’s within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which also encompasses the 36 red-rock domes of the Kata Tjuta (colloquially “The Olgas”) formation."
The capstone of our time in Uluru was a sunrise viewing of the rock and a guided walk around its base. While the walk is only about 6 miles in distance and flat, we opted to split up and do the tour on two separate days since it reached 100 degrees by about 9am and would be way too hot for JohnPaul. Although we would rather have been together, it was spectacular to finally lay eyes on this Australian landmark and learn about the aboriginal people and how their culture is still actively integrating into the relatively new western settlements (Did you know that an aboriginal feasting on a traditional bush tucker diet consumes less sugar per year than is found in one soft drink? Not surprisingly, the rate of diabetes among the native population has surged in direct relationship to western influence.) While not on our respective tours, we enjoyed evening walks under the desert stars, taking JohnPaul swimming for the first time and appreciating the dry heat that reminded Jennifer of summer time travels with her family in CA and the Southwest USA.
We feel very fortunate to have experienced the Australian Outback first hand and had an amazing time in Ayers Rock!
 |
| Flying into the Outback! |
 |
| We were surprised to see so many trees! |
 |
| Family picture from one of our evening strolls. Check out that red dirt in the background! |
 |
| Sunrise! |
 |
| The first rays of morning light created a beautifully soft effect on the face of the rock. |
 |
| Here you can see the unique texture of the formation and a sign indicating that photos are prohibited in certain locations that are sacred to the aboriginal people. |
 |
| "I'm ready for the pool!" |
 |
| JohnPaul was somewhat unreactive when he first entered the water :-). |
 |
| Post swim "snuggles"??? |
 |
| That's more like it :-). |
 |
| Another sunrise! |
 |
| John lays eyes on Uluru! |
 |
| The base walk wandered both near and far from the rock, offering a variety of perspectives. |
 |
| Pictographs by the aboriginal population. Some of these markings are very old and some were done recently. |
 |
| John captured this amazing shot of a bird in flight with Uluru in the background. |
 |
| Fly nets were both recommended and handy on the walk. |
 |
| Uluru rises up dramatically from an otherwise flat landscape! |
The picture of Jennifer kissing JohnPaul by the pool is just precious! Looks like a great adventure minus the flies :(
ReplyDelete