Australia Adventure Part III

 Northern Territory: Alice Springs Uluru, Yulara

After a 3-hour flight from Melbourne we arrived in the very middle of  Australia in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, unusually green after unseasonal rains. Desert, with spectacular red rocks, gorges, sunsets.

My first purchase was a black fly net after getting a fly in my eye right off the bat at the airport. Not too attractive or comfortable!

We visited Alice Springs' Telegraph Station, the first white settlement in Central Australia from 1870-1932, home to the Arrernte who had met here for 1000's of years for ceremonies. In 1870-2 a 3,000 kilometer telegraph line with 12 repeater stations was established, first between Adelaide and Darwin which was Australia's only connection to the outside world.

From 1832-1960, it was the home of the "Stolen Generation," indigenous/white (mixed race) children who were taken from their families and lived and attended school in the "Bungalow."

   I fell in love with the colorful rich Aboriginal paintings and textiles, enjoyed throwing a boomerang, and swimming in the beautiful pool at our hotel in Alice Springs, population 25,000. Here are a few pictures.

April 1, we took a walk through the stunning Simpson's Gap which pierces the West MacDonnell Mt. Range (once enormous as Antarctica and New Zealand shoved upwards but much eroded over the millennia) with Michael and our new bus driver and naturalist Jordan (from Brisbane but has lived here a long time). We walked along the rocky and rough path beside a small river which is normally dry. The Japarina range looks like a caterpillar, thus the name.

The bright green buffle grass is lush, but when it dries, there will be fire danger. Fire singes the bark of the eucalyptus in preparation for new growth.We saw 2 almost hidden wallabies. Hermann wanted to bring 2500 sheep (a two year trip) but not suitable, which saved the land for the indigenous who own it, whose culture has existed here for 58,000 years.  

We then drove a short ways to Standley Chasm, named after Ida Stanley who first taught only whites, then Aborigines, who revered her and considered it a sacred place for women. I  got so many ant bites on my feet and lower legs I could hardly sleep for a few nights.

After lunch we visited ANZAC Hill, honoring Australians who first followed Britain in her wars, then the US. Along with Australian (stars for the states: Tasmania, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia) and Northern Territories flags flies the Indigenous red (land), black(people), yellow(sun) flag.

In the evening we drove through Desert oaks out to Earth Sanctuary Nature Center for a BBQ, talk, sunset, and stargazing.

In a 1977 vote for a new national anthem which became Sons of Australia, Waltzing Mathilda came in second.

The song narrates the story of a swagman (itinerant worker) boiling a billy (pot) at a bush camp and capturing a stray jumbuck (sheep) to eat. When the jumbuck's owner, a squatter (grazier), and three troopers (mounted policemen) pursue the swagman for theft, he declares "You'll never catch me alive!" and commits suicide by drowning himself in a nearby billabong (watering hole), after which his ghost haunts the site.On the long 6 hour ride to Yulara, Michael and Jordan told history, played & explained many popular and often protest Australian songs. We saw some of the camels brought to Australia mostly by Afghans in the 1840's for inland exploration and transport, they were released in the 1930's following the rise of motor vehicles. Australia has the world's largest population of wild dromedary camels, with over 1 million roaming the outback. We saw a runway for the Flying Doctor Service, important in this isolated land.

After arrival in Yulara we headed to the famous Ayers Rock/Uluru, massive gray sandstone covered in red sand, sacred to the indigenous Anangu who believe they are direct descendants of the python, emu, a blue-tongued lizard and a poisonous snake who formed the land during the creation period. Rising more than 1,100 feet above the surrounding plain, Uluru is one of the world's largest monoliths. Because it is sacred, it is not to be climbed.

Sacred pool and water source (Kapa Mutitjulu). There is a cave for men and another for women and one for boys (5-12) where they prepare to be men. In the evening we drove out to Uluru for yummy snacks and to watch the sunset along with busloads of other tourists.

and the next morning for the sunrise and then on to another sacred,  but conglomerate rock formation called Kata Tjuta where we took another hike (Olga Gorge) over relatively smooth red rock with bridges, green grass and bushes...very pretty!

Karen took this amazing panoramic photo of Kata Tjuta (many heads).
Back at the small town Yulara hotel, I attended an aboriginal food class and a fun class to paint Australian animals. I did an echidna and koala.

We said goodbye to our new friend Jordan and left the next morning for a 2.5 hour Quantas flight to Cairns, Queensland where we would stay four nights at the Peppers Hotel at Palm Beach.