Day 1 @ The Outback

After visiting Canberra, we flew out to Ayres Rock from Sydney. The flight gave us our first glimpse of Australia’s Red Centre – an expanse of endless flaming red arid plains. One could almost draw an analogy to a red coloured heart that had brown and rust coloured veins streaking across it. It was an amazing sight, to see the desert stretch out for miles and miles below us, and the sheer redness of it was something you cannot believe until you see it. At the Ayres Rock airport we were met by the people from Wayoutback Desert Safaris. Wayoutback is a 4WD adventure tour specialist operating in Central Australia since 1999. It is also the only advanced eco-tourism accredited Tour Company based in Alice Springs and operating in the Red Centre. (This is the highest acknowledgement for environmental understanding, operational practices and cultural representation.)
We loaded our luggage onto the 4WDs and made our way to the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park. This UN world heritage site comprises of the desert area around Uluru (Ayres Rock) which is probably the world’s most famous rock, and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) which is a set of 36 domes, west of Uluru. These two sites are an area of spiritual significance to Anangu, the local Aboriginal people whose belief system (Tjukurpa) is closely linked to the landscape. The national park also reflects a system wherein the government has included the indigenous community as part of the land management system.
We were handed out our entry tickets, and browsed through the Cultural Centre to learn about the local Aboriginal law and religion (Tjukurpa, or the creation period). The Anangu speak Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara. They lived as nomads in the desert for tens of thousands of years ago. According to their Tjukurpa (law and culture), they believe that the world was created by heroic ancestral beings who created paths (Iwara) which today are an important element of Anangu belief and culture, both as means of travel and social connection and as a spiritual link to the past and its stories. As Anangu travel the iwara, they recount ancestral tales in the form of song cycles that take days to sing. The knowledge of tjukurpa is maintained and passed on through oral narratives, song cycles, ceremony and art. None is in written form.
After lunch we were addressed to by one of the park rangers who told us more about the region, the Anangu people, their culture and way of life. She also mentioned how the surge in tourists is affecting the landscape adversely.

From there, the group chose to undertake the full base walk of Uluru – 9.4kms. Rising 1,100 feet (348 m) above the Australian desert, Uluru (Ayres Rock) is easily the world’s most famous rock. However there has been considerable debate on whether or not it is a monolith at all and the world’s largest at that. Inspite of such debates, the fact that Uluru extends further below the ground than above it gives you some food for thought! The sandstone monolith gets its distinctive rust colour because of an outer coating of iron coating. Walking around the base of the rock was more an exercise of constantly gazing up at it, and marveling at the way it’s red colour contrasted against the clear blue sky. There were parts of the rock which spoke of ancient Anangu tales, and there were sacred sites for men and women. There was also a particular cave where we saw rock painting. We finished the walk just in time to see the sun set, and as we drove away from Uluru, the landscape was bathed in hues of red and gold. I’m pretty certain Lawren managed to capture that beauty in his camera, however he is still to upload his photos!

We made a stop at Curtain Springs Cattle station for some delicious dinner – the bread, soup, rice and vegetables were probably the best that the vegetarians had had in days! We also heard the history of the station, how Peter and Dawn Severin arrived there in 1950s, how they survived the initial years of isolation and drought, and how they diversified from the cattle farm to providing petrol, groceries, snacks and even liquor to the ever growing number of travelers frequenting the region. We were also told of how Peter was involved with setting up of most infrastructures in the area, including the chain used to climb Uluru. All in all, it was a very informative talk, given by a family that welcomed us warmly when we were pretty fagged out, and that meant a lot. Additionally this was also where we celebrated Bron’s birthday!

From there we finally drove to our campsite, where somehow we managed to set up the swags. A swag is a waterproof canvas sleeping bag type thing which comes with a foam mattress and you place a pillow, normal/traditional sleeping bag and blanket in it, and then have a snug sleep. And it truly does keep you warm. And yes, the millions of southern stars that gaze down upon you are a sight to behold, as are the shooting stars which just add to the charm of the whole experience! You could go on wishing upon a star all night….
-Soumya