ULURU
Alice Springs, Australia
February 2015
The last trip my mother took was to Uluru, Alice Springs,
Australia in the spring of 1997. After
that, she was too ill to ever travel again.
She was an artist so when she came home, she painted Uluru (Ayers Rock). The painting hangs in my sister’s house and I
have looked at it for the last 18 years. Those pink hues at sunset linger in my
mind as I book a trip to travel to Uluru, the sacred rock of the Aboriginals.
6:00 AM- I am
picked up at my hotel. It is still dark as
I board the bus. The other passengers are sleepy. The driver/guide, Tony, hands me a plastic sandwich bag, “G’day Miss. Breakfast for ya, hope you enjoy it.” I take my seat and stare out the window,
determined to make the most out of today.
Tim and Tony are our guides for the day. They are chipper and good hearted but the
crowd is not with them at the moment. It
is too early to be social.
7:30 AM - “These
are desert oak trees. They are
magnificent and they are magical they are,” Tony tells us with a tone of
admiration.
9:30 AM- Our
first stop is at a site of 30,000-year-old sand dunes. Before we get off the bus, Tony tells us, “we will stop here for ten minutes and then we
will leave. I hope you will be with us
when I take off.”
9:45 AM- Back on
the bus, he continues with his monologue.
“The aboriginals have some unusual beliefs. But I think all cultures
do. Look at us; we have a story that
someone walked on water. That’s a wacky
story isn’t it, mate?”
10:00 AM- Tony
reminds us, “You need to drink water all day.
Lots of it. But don’t tap your
water at the taps in the park. It tastes
like shit.”
10:30 AM- The
scenery doesn’t change but it is mesmerizing. The subtle tints of celery
colored grass against the intense hue of the rusty sand distract me with
pleasure.
11:00 AM- Tony’s accent
is so different from mine that I can’t understand much of what he says which is
unfortunate because he just told us to be very careful about encounters with
some sort of creature. “It’s a dangerous bugger”, he emphasizes. He continues with another important warning. “Keep your eye out for …(?) They
can get nasty. We aren’t seeing as many
as we normally do but watch out for them”.
Noon: “3 minutes
and 7 seconds until we get our first sighting of the rock. Get ready. Get your cameras out.” As we get even
closer, he tells is to look to the right so we all strain our necks in
compliance and anticipation. Then he
laughs, “Ha, ha. I’m joking; it’s on the left.
He then continues with more warnings of who or what could
harm us today, “It’s important to stay on the paths for one reason,
snakes. We have the deadliest snakes in
the world. If you come across one, stay
still. You move quickly and they feel threatened. 99.9% of the time, they will just slither
by. If you get bit today, tell us what
it looked like and we can tell if that was a venomous snake or not.” Then he
laughs.
“Camels can be dangerous too. So don’t pet one if you see one. And no
matter what, don’t squeal like a Shelia.”
“Have a lolly, mate,” Tim offers as he strolls down the
aisle of the bus.
12:05 The rock
comes in our view and we jump up from our seats and bump into each other as we
all attempt to capture that award-winning photo of this beauty.
12:15 PM There is
an air of superiority from this massive rock that has been here longer than
mankind. Its massive presence demands
our respect. It is so large that I
cannot get a complete sense of its size.
We drive around but the access roads are purposely limited to keep us,
the tourists, away. It does not belong
to us and so our boundaries are clearly defined. That being said, it will take
four hours for us to see all that we are allowed to see.
Clearly laid out, well maintained pathways make it easy to
explore and understand the magnificent of this rock. Its history is steeped in mythology and
practices that are foreign to me.
1:00PM- every
angle, every nook and cranny catches my attention. There are cracks and caves and crevasses,
thousands of years old. And while the rock holds my attention, I am also lured
into observing the desert, this lush desert that has more lush green plant life
that I have ever seen. There is mint and
spearmint and celery colored grasses. There are blue green bushes and dark
green trees. There are lime colored
leaves and sea green vines. And while
others are listening to tony, I wander off just to the perimeter of the pathway
and reach out and touch all 50 shades of green in hopes that my hands will
become permanently indelible with these wonderful hues.
I am so grateful for my fly net. This thin membrane of netting is exactly what
I needed to keep these pesty flies from running my day.’
2:00 PM- Years
ago, my mother showed me a photo of her as she was painting with one of the local
Aboriginal artist. This woman was wearing nothing more than a sarong around her
ample belly. Her long, bare breasts adored paintings of the moon and the stars. My mother
wore long sleeves, long pants, a wide brimmed hat with a fly net. I made a snide comment and told her she
looked ridiculous, so American. She
ignored me and commented on the woman’s attire. “Ridiculous, ridiculous, my
mother responded with a tone of indignation, “she let someone paint all over
her breast.”
At this moment, I take a look at me. I am wearing long pants and long sleeves on
this very hot day. I have a hat with a
mosquito net and I slowly realize that I have become my mother. In desperation, I look around for someone,
anyone who can paint the moon and the stars and the sun on my breasts.
3:00 PM- Suntan
lotion and salty sweat drip into my eyes.
I have to keep one eye closed and squint with the other as I gingerly
make my way down the rocky trail, back to the bus.
3:15 PM- The
flies are a menace. I am so grateful for this unflattering net.
3:300 PM- It’s
hot, draining hot. Tim wants us to get off the bus and see a cave and I want to
stay on the bus and crank up the air conditioning.
4:00PM- We walk
pass the Cave of Women, a sacred place of fertility. We are not allowed to take photos and we must
walk in silence. Aboriginal women came
here to pray and fix their problems of infertility.
500PM- Tim tells
us we are going to walk to the waterfalls, “Like no other waterfall you have
ever seen before, “ he tells us. And he
is right because this waterfall has been dry for a long, long time. “Back in its day, this was the prime source
of water but that was hundreds of years ago.
Then he asks, “Now, does anyone want to see an aerial view
of the rock?” We all eagerly say yes. “Then go on Google Earth when you get make to
your hotels and you will see a beautiful view.”
He laughs and leads us on the next site.
5:30PM- We take a drive around the
perimeter of the entire rock. I try to
video the ride but my hand gets tired of
holding the camera. And I realize I am
not in the moment as I try to capture the moment. I put my camera away and just sit back and
become mesmerized by the size of this rock.
It is larger than life.
5:45 PM- All day long we have been instructed to drink lots
and lots of water. We complied as we are
sweating profusely. But just now we are given a toilet stop break and told to
make the best of it. “We won’t see
another toilet until 10 o’clock tonight”, Tim warns us.
6:00PM- We drive
to the sunset viewing parking lot. There
is a specific lot for the sunrise and then one for the sunset. I become
concerned that we are at the wrong lot because the sun is setting away from the
rock. Tony tells me that we have not
come to watch the sun set but rather to see how the sun changes the color of
the rock as it sets. Then he hands me a
glass of champagne and a chair and I settle in for the light show.
Most of the group sits together but I go off a little way to
what I think is a better view. A woman
from Sydney comes over and sits next to me.
She is a dentist who travels to different schools in the country. Right now, she is spending a month in Alice
Springs, offering services to aboriginal kids.
“They are very different. They have a different concept about
money. It isn’t important to them.” She
tells me.
“What is important to them?” I want to know.
“Their families and being together and being outdoors. They
love to be outdoors”, she nods her head as she replies.
That statement answers my questions I have had since I
arrived in Darwin. In Darwin and now in
Alice Springs, I have only seen them in packs of people, of all ages, gathered
outside on the streets and in parks, just sitting and chatting with each other.
Every five minutes I take a photo of the rock. As I watch the sun go down, I don’t see any
differences in coloring. But when I go
back and look at my photos, I see dramatic variations.
7:00 PM- Tony has
gathered up everyone chair but ours. My
dentist friend tells me that we should return ours as well. “No”, I tell her. “He will come get them when
it is absolutely necessary. Don’t
surrounded a moment of this time to view the rock. I may never be here again.” She is relieved to have a defiant partner
with her so she just sits back and clicks another photo.
7:15 PM_- “OK
ladies, you are the last ones, come on, I need your chairs.” I turn around and look and most of our group
is back on the bus. And that is when I
notice the sunset, the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. It is blue and gold and it takes up the
entire sky. Now I turn to the rock again
and it too is now covered in these magnificent hues. I begin to hyperventilate in excitement and I
can’t snap enough photos of this moment.
Tony comes back to me and tells me to hurry up and get on the bus
because he wants to take me to one more place before the sun sets. At that moment, I believe him. But once inside the bus I realize he has only
said this to get me on the bus quickly.
Within minutes, the sun is gone and everything is black, black,
black. Nothing more is visible outside
my window.
7:20PM- “OK people, we have a long ride ahead of
us. Sit back and take a nap. If we hit anything don’t worry, it’s just a
kangaroo, that’s all. No need to worry”. And for one
fleeting moment, I think to myself, “I hope we hit a kangaroo, I’ve never seen
a kangaroo in the wild.”
10:00 PM- I look
out the window and see nothing. There are no cars on the road. There are no streetlights and there are no
houses for hundreds of miles. We are the
only ones and the only light is coming from our dim headlights. It is dark, very dark.
12:30AM- The bus
pulls up to my hotel. I gather my things
and waddle down the aisle. Most people
are asleep. Tony bids me goodbye and the doorman greets me as I stumble off the
bus.
“Welcome home, did you have a good day”, he cheerfully asks?
“Yes, yes I did and now I am very tired.”
