Uluru

Uluru, 8th February 2005
Years ago, flying back from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur Uluru waved me bye-bye. It was a until-we-meet again. That next meeting is now, walking around the rock on slippers, wearing shorts.

It is still early morning, a bit too early of a morning when the walk around Uluru begins. Starting early is the only way to escape the heat. A walk at sunrise will give you spring like weather.

Before I had an image in my mind of Uluru as a hot, bold rock, in the middle of an empty desert. The image is wrong. The rock is bathing in the sun, but does offer shade to its environment. There are green trees and bushes around the rock.

So, instead of a endurance it is a very pleasant morning walk. And it is on a convenient track too. Walk clockwise on the track, starting in the sun and walk into the shade as soon as it gets warmer.

The walk starts surrealistic. It is like a walk through a park, a pleasant forest with lots of shade. Uluru welcomes its visitors and is a good host, taking care of its guests. The image of a bold, hot rock in the desert is so wrong.

The rock shows many faces. At some points lightning has struck. It looks like bullet holes, wounds of a living creature.

Uluru has many shalow caves too. Many of those cases are sacred places for the Aboriginals. Visitors are welcome to watch them from a distance, but it is strictly forbidden to take pictures or enter them.

When the sun gets stronger the shadow side of the rock is in view. The path is here just alongside the rock. The various layers of the rock are visible, as a patchwork of tiles. These tiles feel soft. Is this really a rock is some kind of animal from dreamtime?

The environment is more wet now. It is truly like a forest. The bit of rain here does not evaporate so quickly. At some spots the water accumulates to small water holes. One of them is the home of Wanampi the ancestral water snake of the Anangu.

It is a environment full of life, completely different from what I expected, yet I like it.

There are only a few days left of this holiday in Australia. I do hope the aircraft flies across Uluru, so I return the waving.

Till next nut,
Nut