Hello again. I would like to now finish the events of the day that was started in the post “Sunrise and Base Walk”
During the walk I mentioned that Justine took us on she told us many things, and for the most part I have skipped those, but I realize I do want to mention the “caves” that she showed us. As you may have seen from the photos, there are a lot of divots in the surface of the rock. Justine referred to some of the bigger ones (perhaps the ones with more spiritual significance?) as caves.
Although I would not consider them caves, they were pretty spectacular. Looking at the photos, you can see a more accurate colouring of the stone itself which isn’t actually red. These caves had significance for the Aboriginal People who lived here for a few reasons. Most, if not all, had some sort of spiritual significance with the belief that some gods lived in them or somehow used them. Uluru itself was believed to be one of many gods who roamed the earth and made it what it is today (creating the geological features that we know), and when its work was done, it settled down and became part of the earth.
Another significance of the caves is that they, or some of them, could be used for shelter. In one case that we saw, a cave was used as a nursery. The children could be corralled into the cave where just a few adults – perhaps Justine even said they could be unaccompanied? – could take care of them and watch them while the rest of the adults were hunting and gathering.
After the walk and a little more looking around, we reconvened and left for the long drive to Kings Canyon.
I think it was part of this drive (I think the drive was a couple of hours long) that we were introduced to Slim Dusty. Slim is a music artist that seems to be a folk comedy/kids artist; the type of artist that the Australians of my generation the one before me grew up on his songs. I wouldn’t exactly call them kids songs, but they have that feeling to them. There was a fun song about drinking with “me mates,” but the one that got on EVERYONE’S mind was (I think) called “G’day, G’day.” It had a very catchy tune, and it was all about the Australian greeting: “and it’s spelled with a G apostrophe a D-A-Y.”
It’s a great song. You should check it out, but just be sure you are ready to have it stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
I would like to take a second here to mention an amazing tree we learned about. In this photo you may notice two trees on the left in the foreground (the older looking tree in the middle distance is not what I’m talking about). They are both Desert Oaks at different stages of their lives. The one on the left looks younger (fewer branches), however we were told that that is not necessarily true. These trees establish a deep root system before they grow above surface. They don’t look established until their roots find a permanent water source. If it is bigger it is not necessarily older, it just reached a permanent water source sooner.
As we drove away from Uluru we passes (for the second time) Mt. Conner and took a short break to view it from a distance. It is sometimes called Fooluru because it looks a little bit like Uluru, and supposedly some people have driven from Alice Springs, saw Mt. Conner (which you pass on your way to Uluru), though it was Uluru then turned around and went back.
On the other side of a sand dune in the opposite direction from where we stopped there was a salt lake, so we climbed the dune for a quick look.
At dinner time we arrived at our camp: the Hilton... Ok, it would be funnier if I could remember the real name, but suffice it to say that the campsite was called (Something-or-other) Hilton. Justine (with help) made dinner while the rest of us lunged around. The five of us decided to go climb some rocks not far away to see the sunset.
After a delicious dinner, we did some more lounging and camp hangout stuff. Alex, Laura and I made some s’mores (as best we could – some cookie-crackers, some chocolate bars, and some flavored marshmallows). At some point Justine taught us how to find South by the stars (which were amazing! And so many shooting starts too!). Every now and again people would make quiet outbursts as they spotted a dingo just outside of the ring of firelight (in a good way – most people liked seeing them). If you left them alone, they left you alone. We did have to make sure we left nothing out like backpacks or shoes, because they might steal them during the night. They just seemed to be shy dogs. Then we set up our swags and went to bed at the late hour around 9pm. Yep, we were able to stay up late because we were looking forward to a bit of a sleep in, in the morning.
I’m feeling a little sleepy now. Perhaps I should make some dinner before I fall asleep. I might have a little trouble getting to sleep tonight, though; I can’t stop thinking in my head… “G’day, G’day! And how ya goin’? What d’ya know, well strike a light…”
Cheers!
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