After a little less than 5 hours of sleep, Lisa and I crawled (literally) out of bed at 5 in the morning, and attempted to wake ourselves up enough to not be complete zombies on the bus ride back out to Uluru to see the sunrise. Driving there was incredible. The sky paired with the silhhouettes of the land around it made it look like you could just walk off the edge of the earth straight out into space. It was absolute craziness. When we arrived there were some hot drinks (like coffee and hot chocolate) but we didn't want to drink them because we were told that the tour we were on wouldn't have a bathroom for a few hours, and we didn't want to risk it. "Breakfast" was some biscuits (cookies) which I was fine with cause I do that all the time anyway, but Lisa was a bit disappointed it wasn't something more.
We walked out to the lookout and found a clear spot to watch the sunrise. It was just as gorgeous as the sunrise, and the sky behind it looked incredible. You could also see Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) in the background to the left of Uluru, and they were looking very mysterious with the way the light was hitting it. It was definitely a little chilly, but it was so pretty we didn't really care. When the sun had finally come up over the horizon, we had to get back on the bus, where we met up with our tour guide for the day, Ryan. He was really cool, and knew a lot about what he was talking about. He'd come out three years ago to visit his aunt who lived here, and never left because he fell in love with the area. He's friends with a lot of the Aboriginal people in the area who have been teaching him about their culture, so he was perfect for explaining all the different significances and stories Uluru has for Anangu people.
As we drove to the base of Uluru, he taught as a couple words in the Anangu language, Pitjantjatjara (pronounced pit-jan-jah-jah-jarra). The first thing was Paleya, which means "hello". It's kind of like "aloha" in the sense that it can be used as a greeting, as well as a goodbye. Dreamtime is what the Aboriginal people believe as their spiritual basis, which means time all exists at once, so the past, present and future (Tjukurpa, pronounced 'chook-orr-pa') all happen at once, which is pretty cool. Tjukurpa is the creation period when the world was created, where their religion, existence, and daily life comes from, providing answers to questions and rules for behaviors. Tjurkurittja refers to the evidence they have to support their various creation and ancestral stories, which can be found all over Uluru, which I'll go into more later.
When we arrived at the base of Uluru (which, by the way, surprisingly doesn't have any meaning to it in the Anangu language, but is simply the name for the rock) we were told not to take any pictures, as we were in a "sensitive site". There are a couple of these places around Uluru that are very important to Anangu spiritual beliefs, whether due to their creation stories, or because they are areas either restricted to Anangu male or females, depending on the area. For example, the Kata Tjutas are forbidden to Anangu women because that's considered "men's business" for male only ceremonies, while the males are unable to enter certain areas of Uluru, which belong to the women only.
When we arrived at the base of Uluru (which, by the way, surprisingly doesn't have any meaning to it in the Anangu language, but is simply the name for the rock) we were told not to take any pictures, as we were in a "sensitive site". There are a couple of these places around Uluru that are very important to Anangu spiritual beliefs, whether due to their creation stories, or because they are areas either restricted to Anangu male or females, depending on the area. For example, the Kata Tjutas are forbidden to Anangu women because that's considered "men's business" for male only ceremonies, while the males are unable to enter certain areas of Uluru, which belong to the women only.
In this first area, he told us the story of Kuniya. Kuniya is known as the "Python Woman" as she was a giant python, who could also turn into a woman when she needed to. She traveled all the way to Uluru to lay her eggs, and left them on the rocks. Unfortunately, she soon heard about the death of her young nephew, and went to the other side of Uluru to avenge him. She didn't know that her nephew had been hunting on Liru land without permission. The Liru had then gone and thrown spears at him, as punishment for crimes in Anangu culture is a spear through the leg. They managed to get him, but missed several times and hit Uluru instead, which is how several large holes in the rock are said to have formed. In their culture, even though the punishment is harsh, you are then supposed to take care of them, get them food, and ensure the wound does not get infected. But the Liru did not do this for Kuniya's nephew and he died. Kuniya was outraged, so she came to the other side of Uluru to avenge him. Kuniya did a dance of immense power and magic that poisoned the ground in the area forever. Her anger at the death of her nephew was so intense that she hit him twice on the head with a stick. Because punishment is supposed to be dealt by the gender of the accused (so men are punished by men, women by women) Kuniya had to flee the area, turning into a snake again and leaving her eggs behind. For this reason, the section of rock where we were at to start is considered sacred, because that's where the eggs are said to be left, seen on the side of Uluru. The Anangu believe as part of Dreamtime that as soon as you take a picture, that thing is no longer in it's original spot, but has been taken back with you. This is why you can't take pictures of the eggs, because if you do, the eggs come back with you and Kuniya won't be able to find her eggs when she finally returns. I think it's an incredibly cool idea. We were able to see all the other major areas of the story in the rocks, including a rock that looks like a snake, which they believe to be Kuniya when she turned into a snake before fleeing. You can also see her path on Uluru, a giant S shape that goes down the side. The two blows from her stick can be seen on the side of Uluru as well, two large gouges. It's very cool, I took pictures of the things I was allowed to, so I'll try to point out what is what (but that'll have to wait until I can get a new camera cord). In the picture to the right, you can see the rock that looks like a snake, though, directly above the bush to the left. The little indent is the snake's eye. Ryan also said that they've tested the area the poison was supposed to have been dispersed, and they've found it's the only area around Uluru with the deadly nightshade plant. Pretty cool.
Ryan also told us a bit about how the Anangu survive on the land, which is barren and doesn't have too much in terms of survival. The trees in the area, Mogula trees, which are very short and thin, are used to make boomerangs and anything they need as house supplies. More importantly, however, honey ants can be found underneath the tree, which is a type of ant who's back half is filled with a honey nectar that you can eat. The Anangu are nomadic and have lived in this area for at least 22,000 years, maybe longer. Ryan told us some horrendous stories about the way they've been treated over the year. Besides being moved out of their land for about 20 years so they wouldn't be an "embarrassment" around tourists, as I talked about yesterday, they also were considered animals by law until 1967. Prior to a referendum that took place in this year, the Aboriginal population of Australia was considered part of the "flora and fauna" category. This meant they had absolutely no rights, could be paid whatever their employer wanted (meaning nothing), and could legally be shot, killed, raped or punished in any way without any legal repercussions at all. On top of this, the government at one point attempted to "breed out the black" when scientists said the white gene was dominant and the black gene recessive, creating programs where they attempted to weed out the darker skin color. Due to general uproar and protest, the programs were terminated. Pretty horrible. Nowadays, the Anangu are the proper owners of the land here (though Ryan says they don't like to call themselves the owners, but the caretakers), and hold a majority on the Board of Majority for any decisions regarding the park (4 Anangu females, 4 Anangu males, and then 3 federal representatives with 1 state representative). They occasionally close down different walking trails or part of the park when a ceremony is taking place by the Anangu, which is great.
We walked along Uluru from the western side to the eastern side, and Ryan explained how it was formed. Over 500 million years ago, a mountain range called the Petermann Ranges formed here, and were about the size of the Alps, or the Himalayas. Today, you can only see the roots of this once mighty mountain range. Because the mountain had no plant cover, it eroded very quickly, and the sediments were moved by river into a giant inland sea. The sandstone that makes up Uluru was dumped at the bottom of the mountain range. Around 400 million years ago, the sands of Uluru were so far down that they changed from sediment into rock, and were continually being further and further compressed. The deformation of the mountain range ultimately ended up flipping Uluru onto its side, so that the horizontal layers of the stone are now vertical. The cool thing about this is that because it's flipped onto its side, when you walk from one side to the other, there's about a 50 million year difference from the rock on the western most side (the oldest) to the eastern side. Also pretty cool, the red color it is known for is actually not it's actual color. The actual rock is a light gray, but due to rusting of the iron in the rock after hundreds of thousands of years, it has rusted into that deep red color. Due to rain and wind, it has eroded into its current shape and form.
There are quite a few caves we got to see around Uluru, which are used by the Anangu to teach (the grandparents are responsible for teaching their grandchildren). This meant that several of them have really incredible cave drawings, used by the Anangu to aid in the lessons their teaching. Ryan knew what some of them meant, including one that was their version of the bogey man, out to get children who didn't listen or went out after dark, but a lot of them were mysteries, as even though he's friends with lots of the Anangu, they say it's not for him to know. They're understandably protective over their knowledge, and say that they tell him what he needs to know, not what he wants to know. He pointed out one of the drawings that one of the older members of the Anangu told him his father drew almost 70 years ago. Incredibly cool. They have no way of knowing how old some of the drawings are, because carbon testing is not possible on the pictures, because the materials they use to make the paint have absolutely no carbon in them, making it impossible. You can see layers and layers and layers, like a chalkboard, of drawings, so some of the oldest ones probably go back thousands of years, with newer ones placed on top of it.
After a brief break, we headed over to the other side of Uluru to walk around this side. The area where we started is where the climbing point is, for those tourists who decide they do want to climb it, but it is incredibly disrespectful to do so, for many reasons. Firstly, because it's such an important and sacred site to the Anangu, it would be the equivalent of hundreds of tourists climbing the Vatican to Catholics. The Anangu have tried several times to close down the climb, but the government makes too much money off of it, so they refuse to do so, which is horrible. Climbing Uluru used to be a rite of passage for the Anangu that proved that you were a man (on top of reaching a specific level of knowledge), but now the Anangu refuse to climb it, because they don't want to be another statistic on Uluru, or contribute to the damage the tourists are doing. Besides a string of poles and ropes that make their way of the slope (as it's very steep, and a normal tourist wouldn't be able to climb it without these ropes to hold on to), so many tourists have climbed that the red of the rock has been scraped away into a grey gash that goes up the slope. The Anangu call it the Scar of Uluru. It's really sad to look at, it really does mar its beauty. I was shocked when I asked him how many tourists choose to climb Uluru anyway, and he said it's about 35% who actually climb, but 50% who intend to climb, but can't due to whether conditions. The park has lots of signs right at the bottom of the climb that explains the exact reasons why the Anangu ask you to please not climb, so these people have no excuse for going anyway. It's incredibly disrespectful, and it made me very upset to see the hordes of people laughing and taking pictures as they made their way up.
We continued to walk along the base, away from the climbing tourists, and go to see some more of the caves. We saw one that was male only, and one that was female only which was pretty cool. They were pretty big, and one used to be used for cooking, with evidence of fire pits and where they'd smash the berries up against the rocks. Ryan explained that he didn't know much about the kind of ceremonies they perform, since anytime he asks he's told he doesn't need to know, and or gotten a book thrown at him which is pretty funny, but he did know a little bit about them. They place a ceremonial pole (Ngaltawata) at the highest point of Uluru on the northwestern corner, which are kind of like bells. They ring in the wind whenever a ceremony is being performed; once one begins, it must finish uninterrupted. He told us a little about the weddings, which are very interesting. While they're not quite arranged, and mutual agreement is needed for it to take place, the couples are given a choice of a few people they have the option to marry, based on their relations (which they call skin groupings), so no one is too closely related. I asked him about the meaning of the Aboriginal flag. He said that the red stripe is the land around them, the black stripe is to be proud of their skin color, and the yellow circle is representing the sun, which is necessary for all life. I really like that a lot. Unfortunately, not long after we saw a white kid wearing a t-shirt with the flag on it while climbing Uluru, definitely a double insult.
We finished up the tour by seeing a portion of Uluru where you could see the original rock color. It's funny because it's this very shiny silver that looks like it's the glare of the sun, but it's actually just the original color. I have a picture, so what you think is the sun's glare, is the actual color! After that it was back to the hotel for lunch. Even though it was only about 11:30, it felt like it should have been much much later because we'd been up and done so much already! We ate and then headed over to the town center, and looked through the shops. I got a few very touristy stickers but everything else in the store was so expensive, and not very authentic which was disappointing, so we skipped buying anything else. The funny thing was that while I was shopping, the song "You're the Voice" came on which I've never ever heard in my entire life on the radio. It's an Australian rock ballad from the 80s, so it makes since it'd be on over here, but the only reason I know about it is through an interview with the cast members of the show Merlin, so it was funny to actually hear it being played. I got really really excited. We then quickly went to look at the camel farm that they have on the property. All the camels were very cute (but smelly), so we had fun just looking at them eat for a while.
After we'd looked around for a bit, we decided to head back to the room for a little bit to take a quick hour nap, because we knew we were going to be out semi-late for our Sounds of Silence dinner, which we were getting really excited about. All too soon we were back up and waiting for the bus to come pick us up and take us out. Right at 5 it pulled up and we were off! We turned out onto this very bumpy dirt road as we headed out towards Uluru. After about 10-15 minutes, we pulled up to this little walking path that went up the hill to a lookout point. Here they had some sparkling wine and appetizers (that were soooo good) to eat and drink while we watched the sun set. It was absolutely beautiful, as we could see Uluru to one side, and Kata Tjuna to the other. We took some pictures and met a young couple (a Canadian woman who was a teacher on an exchange program for a year over in Sydney and an Australian man from Sydney) who were incredibly friendly, and quite characters. By the time the sun had set, they'd definitely gotten a bit tipsy, which made them extra funny to listen to. Once the sun had set, while there was still some light to see by, we walked down the hill where they about ten tables (seating six each) sitting in the middle of the Outback, lit all pretty. Uluru was directly in our line of sight, and some of the stars were starting to come into view, so the setting was absolutely beautiful. Even better, we were sat right next to one of the heaters, so we weren't cold at all, even when the temperature began to drop. We ended up at a table with the couple we'd already met, as well as an Australian family from Queensland, with two young boys (age 12 and 10) who were adorable.
We had an absolutely amazing time getting to know them, and they were incredibly interesting to talk to, and very funny! The Australian family was currently signed up in a house exchange, one of those sites where you switch houses for a year, and they have their eye on an apartment in Columbus Circle in New York City. Apparently they went last year and fell in love with the city and would love to stay there for longer. So they have their fingers crossed that the other family will want to switch with them, which would be pretty cool. They were very interested when I said I was studying film, as apparently they know someone who works as a set designer in Sydney. They gave me her contact information so I can email her and ask her about the industry which is pretty awesome. Apparently she just met Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt because Jolie is currently directing a film that's being filmed here. Pretty awesome! We learned some new slang, such as "dog's breakfast", which is used to mean a big mess. For example: "My room was a dog's breakfast this morning, I need to clean it". Oh Australians....
We had an absolutely amazing time getting to know them, and they were incredibly interesting to talk to, and very funny! The Australian family was currently signed up in a house exchange, one of those sites where you switch houses for a year, and they have their eye on an apartment in Columbus Circle in New York City. Apparently they went last year and fell in love with the city and would love to stay there for longer. So they have their fingers crossed that the other family will want to switch with them, which would be pretty cool. They were very interested when I said I was studying film, as apparently they know someone who works as a set designer in Sydney. They gave me her contact information so I can email her and ask her about the industry which is pretty awesome. Apparently she just met Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt because Jolie is currently directing a film that's being filmed here. Pretty awesome! We learned some new slang, such as "dog's breakfast", which is used to mean a big mess. For example: "My room was a dog's breakfast this morning, I need to clean it". Oh Australians....
The two kids were pretty cute, and wanted to know all about America in case they ended up moving there on the exchange. They also talked a lot with the Canadian lady, as she's a second year teacher, so was very good with younger kids. Her boyfriend was quite the character, obviously someone who loves to hear himself talk, but it was funny rather than annoying. He had opinion on everything, especially the more he drank. His girlfriend kept telling him to talk quieter, because he kept talking louder and louder as the evening went on. "It's sounds of silence dinner" she kept reminding him.
Dinner was amazing, we had this delicious pumpkin ravioli soup (which, according to the Australians at the table, is actually pumpkin, so apparently we were lied to at our orientation meeting because they told us pumpkin here means squash. Such lies! For the main meal it was buffet style, so I tried a little bit of everything. Thad had Caesar salad with crocodile, kangaroo steak, lamb, Aussie barbecue chicken and some fish as well. It was all really good! The crocodile meat was a little tough, but it wasn't too bad! During dinner, some of the Anangu men came to show us some of the ceremonial dances they do, such as blessing the area. It was pretty cool, but I also felt kind of bad because people kept flashing pictures (in the dark) and talking, and it felt kind of rude, like they were on display, and not in a good way.
After the main course, they took all the lights away, and a professional astronomer came out to give a talk on the stars, which was incredible. He had one of those huge laser pointers that are illegal in the States, and was using it to point out specific stars and constellations. There was a brilliant half moon, which was bright enough to be giving us shadows even at night time! He started by showing us the Southern Cross (which is on the Australian flag and looks a bit like a diamond) and teaching us how to use it to find south. You take the right-most star and connect it with the bottom point of the diamond and then keep going to the ground. Then find the two bright stars directly to the left of the Cross which are in a straight line. Make a T at a 90 degree angle. The point where the two lines you drew intersect would be south.
Next he pointed out some of the constellations and tried to show us how they look like what they're called. He started with Scorpio, which actually did look kind of like a scorpion. Next he showed Sagittarius which was awesome because that's what my sign is. He was really funny though, and told us that if we actually thought it looked like half-man half-horse than we probably had too much wine to drink, and showed us how he thought it looked like a tea pot (which it actually really did). He also pointed out some of the planets we could see: Mars and Saturn. They were both incredibly bright, and Mars actually had a reddish light coming from it.
Then he pointed out the cloud of stars that makes up the Milky Way, and told us the Anangu story of what it is. They believe it's a river to their spirit world, which is really awesome (so Nicky, you weren't too far off when you said it was more like a river last night!). Because on a clear, moonless night you would see it stretch from one horizon to another, they believe that when souls pass away, the spirit grabs a canoe and travels across the river into the spirt world. A few nights after a loved one has passed away, the Anangu will all go lay out under the stars waiting to see a shooting star. They believe that when a soul has successfully reached the spirit world, they send the canoe back down to earth for the next soul to use. Therefore, the shooting star is doubly comforting, as they not only know the canoe has returned in case they're the next soul to pass to the spirit world, but they also have confirmation that their loved one has made it to eternal rest. I think it's a really amazing idea, and gave a whole new meaning to looking up at the sky.
Next he pointed out some of the constellations and tried to show us how they look like what they're called. He started with Scorpio, which actually did look kind of like a scorpion. Next he showed Sagittarius which was awesome because that's what my sign is. He was really funny though, and told us that if we actually thought it looked like half-man half-horse than we probably had too much wine to drink, and showed us how he thought it looked like a tea pot (which it actually really did). He also pointed out some of the planets we could see: Mars and Saturn. They were both incredibly bright, and Mars actually had a reddish light coming from it.
Then he pointed out the cloud of stars that makes up the Milky Way, and told us the Anangu story of what it is. They believe it's a river to their spirit world, which is really awesome (so Nicky, you weren't too far off when you said it was more like a river last night!). Because on a clear, moonless night you would see it stretch from one horizon to another, they believe that when souls pass away, the spirit grabs a canoe and travels across the river into the spirt world. A few nights after a loved one has passed away, the Anangu will all go lay out under the stars waiting to see a shooting star. They believe that when a soul has successfully reached the spirit world, they send the canoe back down to earth for the next soul to use. Therefore, the shooting star is doubly comforting, as they not only know the canoe has returned in case they're the next soul to pass to the spirit world, but they also have confirmation that their loved one has made it to eternal rest. I think it's a really amazing idea, and gave a whole new meaning to looking up at the sky.
The astronomer then told us that he had two telescopes set up, one to view the moon and one to view Saturn. We hurried right over and were one of the first in line. We saw the moon first which was very cool, it reminded me of the astronomy course I took last semesters, as it was the same familiar craters I'd learned about in class. This telescope was way more powerful than the one I used in school, obviously, so it was really cool to see it much closer. It was also a much clearer sky, and the moon was super bright, so it was really sharp to look at. The coolest part was definitely seeing Saturn though, I've never been so amazed in my life. You could legitimately see the planet, it's rings, and one of the moons to the side of it, Titan, which is Saturn's largest moon. It was incredible to be looking at something so far away, that I've always learned about, and actually have the chance to see it outside of pictures. The telescope wasn't powerful enough to pick up all the colors, but that didn't detract from the wonder I felt looking at it. I went back several more times throughout the night to have another peek, I just couldn't get over it.
We sat and talked for a while more as we ate dessert, another buffet, so there was lots to have. I had a white chocolate and macadamia cheesecake, chocolate fudge cake, some fruit, and apple crumble. It was awesome. After that we had to say goodbye to our new friends, and head back to the hotel. We were both too tired to even try to write our personal blogs, and it was pretty late, almost 11:30, so I wrote down any impressions I had along with the notes I'd taken throughout the day, so hopefully I haven't forgotten anything too important that happened! It was an incredible experience, and I'm really glad I decided to make it all the way out here to see it. It's amazing to be in the actual Outback, but even more importantly, I'm learning a lot about Aboriginal culture, even if it's just one "country" of them (which is what tribes are called). I can't wait to get over to Kata Tjuta tomorrow and not only see how gorgeous it is, but also learn some more about the Anangu culture.
We sat and talked for a while more as we ate dessert, another buffet, so there was lots to have. I had a white chocolate and macadamia cheesecake, chocolate fudge cake, some fruit, and apple crumble. It was awesome. After that we had to say goodbye to our new friends, and head back to the hotel. We were both too tired to even try to write our personal blogs, and it was pretty late, almost 11:30, so I wrote down any impressions I had along with the notes I'd taken throughout the day, so hopefully I haven't forgotten anything too important that happened! It was an incredible experience, and I'm really glad I decided to make it all the way out here to see it. It's amazing to be in the actual Outback, but even more importantly, I'm learning a lot about Aboriginal culture, even if it's just one "country" of them (which is what tribes are called). I can't wait to get over to Kata Tjuta tomorrow and not only see how gorgeous it is, but also learn some more about the Anangu culture.