Thursday, June 30, 2005
Uluru
Soundtrack: “Just Like Blood” by Tom McRae
Wednesday 22nd June. We were up at 5am so that we could get to Uluru in sufficient time to watch sunrise. The colourplay through the sky was breathtaking, as was the way the Rock changed colour as the Sun gradually rose above the horizon. It was pretty bloody cold, though, and it didn’t help that I was surrounded by idiot tourists and disenchanted twentysomethings born under the constellation of Sky satellites. Therefore, there wasn’t any spiritual feeling or anything, but what would I expect? I’m not an Aborigine, and anyhow, an Aborigine wouldn’t be moved in the way that I am if they took a trip to Liverpool Cathedral.
Vic took us to the cultural center after that, and we all ended up deciding that we didn’t really give a shit about what the Aborigines thought, and we were going to climb the Rock. Then we got to the foot of it, saw the steep, gripless incline, and decided that a walk around the base was a much better idea if we didn’t want to die. We did see a lot more than if we’d climbed it, though. Julie, Stefan and I managed to get separated from everybody, and we got really worried because we thought that everybody had finished before us and that they’d be sending out a search party. As we walked along, I thoroughly enjoyed the amazing rock formations, making Stefan laugh at the eccentricities of my character, and getting Julie worked up because she couldn’t take photos of yet another sacred place at the foot of the Rock. Incidentally, we were third back, behind Jeff and Meredith, and then Keiko and Haruka.
A relaxed lunch, then a trip into the town (it’s just like the centre of Erinsborough), firewood collection, then back to the Rock. Vic told us a little bit of the history and folklore, then we drove out to sunset viewing spot. It was basically sunrise in reverse, but I preferred it for a few reasons. Firstly, it was warmer. Secondly, from where we were, you could see the Sun setting beside Kata Tjuta as well, which was lovely. Finally, there were less people, which somehow made things seem a lot more special. The reason for this was because everybody stayed down in the carpark either for barbecues, or in the case of the more upmarket tours, for Champers mit Lachsfisch or whatever.
Wednesday 22nd June. We were up at 5am so that we could get to Uluru in sufficient time to watch sunrise. The colourplay through the sky was breathtaking, as was the way the Rock changed colour as the Sun gradually rose above the horizon. It was pretty bloody cold, though, and it didn’t help that I was surrounded by idiot tourists and disenchanted twentysomethings born under the constellation of Sky satellites. Therefore, there wasn’t any spiritual feeling or anything, but what would I expect? I’m not an Aborigine, and anyhow, an Aborigine wouldn’t be moved in the way that I am if they took a trip to Liverpool Cathedral.
Vic took us to the cultural center after that, and we all ended up deciding that we didn’t really give a shit about what the Aborigines thought, and we were going to climb the Rock. Then we got to the foot of it, saw the steep, gripless incline, and decided that a walk around the base was a much better idea if we didn’t want to die. We did see a lot more than if we’d climbed it, though. Julie, Stefan and I managed to get separated from everybody, and we got really worried because we thought that everybody had finished before us and that they’d be sending out a search party. As we walked along, I thoroughly enjoyed the amazing rock formations, making Stefan laugh at the eccentricities of my character, and getting Julie worked up because she couldn’t take photos of yet another sacred place at the foot of the Rock. Incidentally, we were third back, behind Jeff and Meredith, and then Keiko and Haruka.
A relaxed lunch, then a trip into the town (it’s just like the centre of Erinsborough), firewood collection, then back to the Rock. Vic told us a little bit of the history and folklore, then we drove out to sunset viewing spot. It was basically sunrise in reverse, but I preferred it for a few reasons. Firstly, it was warmer. Secondly, from where we were, you could see the Sun setting beside Kata Tjuta as well, which was lovely. Finally, there were less people, which somehow made things seem a lot more special. The reason for this was because everybody stayed down in the carpark either for barbecues, or in the case of the more upmarket tours, for Champers mit Lachsfisch or whatever.
