I apologize for my short siesta. I nowfeel a bit refreshed, and without expectations that held me back (I felt pressured to finish the Uluru trip). I hope that now the reading experience for you is that much more enjoyable. Again, if you have not yet done so, this is part of the Uluru series, so you should start at the post “Alice Springs.”
Monday the 7th was the earliest rise for us. The first activity of the day (after breakfast) was to see the sunrise on Uluru, and especially because of how flat the outback is, this meant a 4:30am wake up time for me.
The sunrise itself wasn’t until after 6:30 am, but we had several things to accomplish before heading out: We had to get up in time for a 4:55 breakfast, and to avoid a rushed breakfast that meant that I wanted to pack up my sleeping bag, and swag before then. After packing up, I prepared myself for the day (cold gear because it was probably around 10 C, or colder, during the sunrise – or 50 F – and a hike immediately following that).
Breakfast was cold cereal and toast with Vegemite. Like Marmite in Britan, Vegemite is the Australian yeast spread that is loved by many Auzzies. On the day before, while driving, we were instructed through a Get-To-Know-Each-Other session by Justine, the tour guide, and during it one of the questions we had to answer was whether or not we liked Vegemite. It seems that you must like Vegemite if you are to be a true Australian. Having had Marmite before and not liking it, I was hesitant to try. But I did and found that, in moderation (ie very very small quantities) it does add to a dry piece of toast.
On our way to the sunrise we took a short break at a lookout point on the Western side of Uluru. In this way we got to see the first rays of the sun behind Uluru give a very beautiful silhouette of the amazing rock formation!
Then we got to the Eastern side, jumped out of the bus and took our positions, among a large number of other tourists, and josteled for space to watch and photograph Uluru as the sun rose behind us.
I expected this to be one of my, if not THE, favorite parts of the trip, but I was bound for a bit of a let-down. Although it was beautiful, I think the Sunset was even better. However, I have to admit that the decision may be affected by the lookout situation: for the sunset, we had enough room to get an unobstructed view of the rock, but for the sunrise, the lookout was actually a straightaway of the road as it took you almost directly away from the rock. Because of this angle it was extremely difficult to get a clear shot (both just your own view, but even harder for a photograph) without someone (or a road sign) in the way.
After the stunning sunrise, we jumped back in the bus and headed closer to Uluru. Once at the base, we jumped out and started our 2 hour walk around the base. Some people of the group had wanted to climb Uluru, but at that moment the trail was closed (probably due to winds a little too strong), but that would later change before we left – which was still too late for those who had wanted to climb.
I had been debating whether or not to climb for the past 24 hours or so, leading up to the evening before. I had been told by Dustin that it is offensive to the Aboriginals for people to climb Uluru, but the government allowed it. I had tentatively decided that I did want to climb it because I would probably later regret not doing so after traveling so far to get there. However, the evening before I had to make the decision, Justine stated in more depth that it was considered an ethical crime to the Aboriginal People to climb the rock.
Then and there I decided that I wanted to respect the beliefs of the Aboriginal People and not climb it. As Justine put it: although it does not look like what we call a church, doesn’t mean it isn’t. I may not believe the same things as all other people and faiths of this earth, but I think that it is a common courtesy that they deserve as humans to show respect to their beliefs.
I would quickly like to explain about the photos; although they all look pretty similar, I promise that walking around the base, each face and each ripple in the surface of the rock was beautiful and unique.
(Note for those the Weber and Overby families. I am including the above photo for two reasons: 1) because it was funny and the memory deserves inclusion here, and 2) because this in one method I'm using to not let Laura forget it. First off you need to know that I like playing the game of occasionally taking photos of people who are taking photos (of other things, usually not of me). Laura generally doesn't like that (if it actually annoys you Laura, let me know and I'll stop), and I think out of revenge she was taking a photo of me as I was taking a photo of Uluru. However, I noticed and looked over at her, posing for the photo. This not being how she wanted the photo, she waited for me to look away - the problem for her is than not only did I not look away, but I took some photos of her from my knee without her realizing it. )
After the 2 hour self-guided base walk, we met back up with Justine and the rest of the group at the base of the Climb trail (also the main parking lot). From there Justine led us on a much shorter walk in which she led us and stopped many times to tell us about some of the features and beliefs surrounding the history of Uluru.
One note that Justine explained was that the rock itself is actually a light grey/white stone, but the high iron content in the surrounding sand (giving the sand the red look) clings onto the stone. This iron then corrodes, or rusts, when in contact with water and oxygen. This rust is what gives Uluru its colour (yes, the “u” is intentional), and is one of the types of erosion affecting Uluru (which is VERY VERY slowly wittling away at it)
I won’t try to tell you any about the beliefs and rituals that we heard about the Aboriginal People from Justine. This is because I am afraid to mis-represent their beliefs, and because I don’t think I can spell the names to even be phonetically correct. But believe me, there was a lot of info to absorb, and I really enjoyed getting to hear it.
This post is long enough. I will finish the day’s events in my next post…
Cheers!
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