The Big Red Rock
Door: Devils Uncle
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Paul
27 April 2011 | Australië, Yulara
Pukulpa pitjama Ananguku ngurakutu!
Welcome to Aboriginal land!
That's the welcome message when you arrive at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. You know, where that big red rock in the middle of Australia is located, also known as Ayers Rock (and the other one as the Olga's). When you enter the park, you enter the Aboriginal land of the Anangu (Arn-ang-oo), (as well partly the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunyjatjara) people, the traditional owners of the land of Uluru (Ool-or-roo) and Kata Tjuta (Catta-jaw-tah). I got delayed for about 3 years visiting this Aboriginal sacred land, but it was worth the wait.
Just one day after I returned from my Perth trip across the Nullarbor I was already back on the road. This time with my brother and his family. He had a very long weekend (long live the holidays system here in Australia, public holiday in the weekend? First day of the week off) and they wanted to visit Uluru as well, so off we go. First day to Coober Pedy some 600km from Whyalla and then the next day the other 700km to Ayers Rock Resort at Yulara, just outside of the National Park. About Coober Pedy later as we would stay at the opal capital also on the way back.
The way towards Yulara got me thinking, travellers that fly to Perth have the argument there is nothing to so along the way but the same people get a car to drive to Uluru without hesitation while there is even lesser to see than along the Nullarbor. Weird people I have to say. Yes the road between Port Augusta, Coober Pedy and Yulara is just only 1200km of Outback with almost only dry plains with a few wild along the road. The only interesting we've seen (which was also pretty unique to see) were 2 Wedge-tailed Eagles attacking each other while flying. For the remainder of the trip it was seeing some bird of prey or other bird once in a while, until we got pretty close to our destination. After our stop at the Mt. Conner lookout we saw some dromedary (but mainly known as a camel). Unfortunately it happened so quick we didn't even had time to realise it. We were also running a bit late to arrive at Yulara before sunset and believe me you don't want a dromedary in front of your car.
The 2 days we spend at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park were great. Did practically all the walks there were available except the one from the Cultural Centre to the Mala Walk and the actual climb. Due to the agreement between the owners and the government the climb has to stay open and people still climb it but my opinion is that people should respect the request by the Aboriginal owners not to climb the rock. After all you take of your shoes when you enter a mosque and don't dance on a graveyard do you? Taking photos is allowed at most parts of the rocks except for the sites that contain cultural significance to the people of the land. Places were even Aboriginal men aren't allowed to look at (or other way around), all having to do with the ancestors and creation time. You get fined $5000,- by law if you get caught, you can have a nice holiday for that money. Anyway back to the walks! The best walk was actually not at Uluru but at Kata Tjuta. The Valley of the Winds Walk (which we only walked to the second lookout) was the most impressive. Instead of Uluru, this rock formation consists of 36 step domes (the Aboriginal name for the rock formation means many heads) and thus has many bends, cracks, climbs, gorges and valleys to offer. The challenging walk showed us nice views and at moments made us feel very small. One fun thing about this rock formation is that when looking from a distance (under a certain point of view) and using your imagination you can actually see Homer Simpson lying on the ground.
Many people eagerly await for the sunset at Uluru because of the changes in colour while the sun goes down. We experienced it first at Kata Tjuta and the day after at Uluru. First when you are watching you don't really realise the changes in colour, but once you checked your photos while waiting for the final curtain call (the actual moment of sunset) you start seeing the colour change from bright red (almost orange) into the deepest red and that last part goes quickly! Quite impressing I have to say. Oh, and we've seen the sunrise at Uluru as well, but only while driving around the base to the Mala Walk carpark.
After 3 nights at Yulara (and meeting really nice people) it got time to return home, again via Coober Pedy. This town is world famous for its quantity of valuable opal in the ground. When driving in the area you see all kinds of small hills of sand and rock dug out of almost 250.000 mine shafts. Looks pretty weird in an area which is mostly pretty flat. The town has many dug-outs were you can actually stay in. They were used first as a shaft and later to live in and these homes became the origin of the town name. Coober Pedy in the Aboriginal language (Kupa-piti) means whitemans hole. We visited one opal shop which functions as a museum. During the one hour tour we got introduced to the history of the region and the world of opal. Before heading home I got myself some pieces of opal, although being potch and thus worthless (which is actually about 90% of the opal found), it is still opal for me.
One the way home we only had one last sightseeing stop at the big salt lakes near Lake Gairdner, which gave us some impressive views. And when arriving in Whyalla I was able to add another 2794km to my tally for the last 3,5 weeks.
https://picasaweb.google.com/paulvanderwielen/TheBigRedRock#
Welcome to Aboriginal land!
That's the welcome message when you arrive at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. You know, where that big red rock in the middle of Australia is located, also known as Ayers Rock (and the other one as the Olga's). When you enter the park, you enter the Aboriginal land of the Anangu (Arn-ang-oo), (as well partly the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunyjatjara) people, the traditional owners of the land of Uluru (Ool-or-roo) and Kata Tjuta (Catta-jaw-tah). I got delayed for about 3 years visiting this Aboriginal sacred land, but it was worth the wait.
Just one day after I returned from my Perth trip across the Nullarbor I was already back on the road. This time with my brother and his family. He had a very long weekend (long live the holidays system here in Australia, public holiday in the weekend? First day of the week off) and they wanted to visit Uluru as well, so off we go. First day to Coober Pedy some 600km from Whyalla and then the next day the other 700km to Ayers Rock Resort at Yulara, just outside of the National Park. About Coober Pedy later as we would stay at the opal capital also on the way back.
The way towards Yulara got me thinking, travellers that fly to Perth have the argument there is nothing to so along the way but the same people get a car to drive to Uluru without hesitation while there is even lesser to see than along the Nullarbor. Weird people I have to say. Yes the road between Port Augusta, Coober Pedy and Yulara is just only 1200km of Outback with almost only dry plains with a few wild along the road. The only interesting we've seen (which was also pretty unique to see) were 2 Wedge-tailed Eagles attacking each other while flying. For the remainder of the trip it was seeing some bird of prey or other bird once in a while, until we got pretty close to our destination. After our stop at the Mt. Conner lookout we saw some dromedary (but mainly known as a camel). Unfortunately it happened so quick we didn't even had time to realise it. We were also running a bit late to arrive at Yulara before sunset and believe me you don't want a dromedary in front of your car.
The 2 days we spend at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park were great. Did practically all the walks there were available except the one from the Cultural Centre to the Mala Walk and the actual climb. Due to the agreement between the owners and the government the climb has to stay open and people still climb it but my opinion is that people should respect the request by the Aboriginal owners not to climb the rock. After all you take of your shoes when you enter a mosque and don't dance on a graveyard do you? Taking photos is allowed at most parts of the rocks except for the sites that contain cultural significance to the people of the land. Places were even Aboriginal men aren't allowed to look at (or other way around), all having to do with the ancestors and creation time. You get fined $5000,- by law if you get caught, you can have a nice holiday for that money. Anyway back to the walks! The best walk was actually not at Uluru but at Kata Tjuta. The Valley of the Winds Walk (which we only walked to the second lookout) was the most impressive. Instead of Uluru, this rock formation consists of 36 step domes (the Aboriginal name for the rock formation means many heads) and thus has many bends, cracks, climbs, gorges and valleys to offer. The challenging walk showed us nice views and at moments made us feel very small. One fun thing about this rock formation is that when looking from a distance (under a certain point of view) and using your imagination you can actually see Homer Simpson lying on the ground.
Many people eagerly await for the sunset at Uluru because of the changes in colour while the sun goes down. We experienced it first at Kata Tjuta and the day after at Uluru. First when you are watching you don't really realise the changes in colour, but once you checked your photos while waiting for the final curtain call (the actual moment of sunset) you start seeing the colour change from bright red (almost orange) into the deepest red and that last part goes quickly! Quite impressing I have to say. Oh, and we've seen the sunrise at Uluru as well, but only while driving around the base to the Mala Walk carpark.
After 3 nights at Yulara (and meeting really nice people) it got time to return home, again via Coober Pedy. This town is world famous for its quantity of valuable opal in the ground. When driving in the area you see all kinds of small hills of sand and rock dug out of almost 250.000 mine shafts. Looks pretty weird in an area which is mostly pretty flat. The town has many dug-outs were you can actually stay in. They were used first as a shaft and later to live in and these homes became the origin of the town name. Coober Pedy in the Aboriginal language (Kupa-piti) means whitemans hole. We visited one opal shop which functions as a museum. During the one hour tour we got introduced to the history of the region and the world of opal. Before heading home I got myself some pieces of opal, although being potch and thus worthless (which is actually about 90% of the opal found), it is still opal for me.
One the way home we only had one last sightseeing stop at the big salt lakes near Lake Gairdner, which gave us some impressive views. And when arriving in Whyalla I was able to add another 2794km to my tally for the last 3,5 weeks.
https://picasaweb.google.com/paulvanderwielen/TheBigRedRock#
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