Uluru: The Red Center

Today I felt the very heart of Australia beating.

My tour of Uluru, the iconic "Red Center" of this great continent, started in the darkness of night. I rose at 5:00 a.m. even though my alarm was set for 5:45, of course. Who needs sleep anyway?!  My bus was scheduled to pick me up at 6:15, so the little, extra "gift of time" turned out to be a blessing. It gave me time to grab a quick, invigorating, hot shower, which I hadn't planned on  doing considering I had already taken four baths since arriving yesterday.  That's right- *four of 'em*.  I've been making up for lost time!

The tour was titled "Sunrise at Uluru" and was scheduled to last six hours, including a nearly six mile clockwise hike all around the base of this mammoth, monolithic rock.  I wore appropriate shoes this time and felt much more prepared than I was yesterday.  We entered the national park, where over 250,000 visitors from all over the world come to Australia to experience the beauty and magic of Uluru. 

Our tour guide, Artie, a dark-skinned, round-faced, friendly young man of Aboriginal descent who told us as we approached the rock that we were in luck because he could give us (as a member of "The Animal People" as he called himself) a unique perspective on the cultural and historical significance of Uluru.

As we parked the van and prepared for the long trek around the base of Uluru, Artie passed out small backpacks to each of us with a small, simple breakfast inside for us to eat about ninety minutes into our hike. Our group was again quite small- only four others besides myself.  The winds at sunrise, he told us, are typically  very strong, so he warned us to secure our hats (a bandana in my case) and make sure nothing would blow away.

For the first half hour, we walked in the cool, cover of dawn until slowly the sun began to peek over the horizon and illuminate Uluru, revealing its distinctive, deeply-saturated, orangish-red sandstone surface.  Underneath, we learned later, the rock is actually grey inside.  The terra cotta exterior is only "skin deep" and caused by the oxidation of the iron ore found in the rock.

Artie cautioned us to remember that Uluru is not a recreational site; it is now and always has been a sacred site. There are many places along the 12 kilometer base walk that are considered "Sensitive Sites" in which photography is not allowed.  The native people feel that photographs take energy away, and each time a picture is taken- that energy is removed bit by bit.  So we made certain to respect those boundaries.

Without question, THE most thrilling portion of our day came right after breakfast. Artie was drawing a diagram in the sand when suddenly, the youngest member of our group, a boy about ten years old named Thomas (who was probably bored and not paying attention to the lecture about erosion and sedimentary rock), shouted out, "LOOK!!" He was pointing toward the base of Uluru.

What we saw next was like a National Geographic documentary. 

A solitary kangaroo was leaping and springing in enormous strides along one of the lower ridges of the rock at a very rapid, break-neck speed.  Following him was a very hungry, tan-colored dingo who was chasing him at an equally fast and frantic pace.  We all stood in amazement watching the dramatic scene unfold.  The dingo was incredibly fast and was beginning to gain ground on the desperate kangaroo, and I was sadly braced to see a kill. But equipped with some of the most powerful legs of any animal on Earth, the kangaroo cleverly moved toward a large gap in the rocks and sprang gracefully over a gap that must have spanned twenty feet leaving the dingo at the edge of the crevice disappointed and panting. Unbelievable!

I know as I look back on this trip to Australia, that scene of pursuit, survival and victory will be at the top of my favorite memories.

It's very difficult to adequately describe Uluru and do it justice, but the most obvious feature (aside from its unique color) is its mind-boggling mass.  It rises from the red ochre earth at a height of 1,135 feet, 95 stories high- nearly twice as tall as the Space Needle in Seattle.  Its surface is covered by textures of every kind- smooth, scaly - as if suffering from a rocky eczema, ridged, undulating waves, giant domes, crevices, colossal cracks and holes carved out by the relentless power of erosion. It was difficult for me to fully grasp Uluru's size and scale until I stood at its base and look upward. There was so much visual stimulation and eye candy to observe and photograph that throughout most of our trek my head was turned sideways or toward the sky as I walked.

Inside the many caves that we explored, there were dozens of ancient petroglyphs painted by the Animal People an estimated 20,00 years ago.  There were drawings of animals, body shapes, maps, items of clothing, handprints and all kinds of fascinating designs.  How amazing it was for me to be standing so close to these primordial works of art that have been preserved in these sheltered environments and survived over millennia under some of the harshest conditions on Earth!  I was transfixed! My first instinct was to reach out and touch them with my own hand and connect with the ancient ones who crafted these beautiful, intricate designs, but out of respect I resisted the temptation.

Four and a half hours later, after hearing stories of the Python People, the Aboriginal clan that still live in this region, picking wild berries and plums off the bush, inspecting Bloodwood trees that produce natural iodine that the nomadic people used for medicine, spelunking through caves, hearing the ancient "Dreamtime" or creation stories (think The Old Testament- only on steroids) of how the Animal Peoples' ancestors rose from the ground and created Uluru, my legs were slightly weary and our time at Ayers Rock/Uluru was over.  It was a day to remember forever. 

The heart of Australia, like I said, beating right in front of me...it doesn't get much better than that for me! Such a powerful, vivid moment to witness.  Kangaroos, dingoes, a real Aboriginal clansman and Uluru all in one day...and converging at the Red Center of Australia.