Northern Territory, Australia - Uluru and Kata Tjuta

No trip to Australia is complete without at least a solid effort to learn about its history.  One very long and critical part of that story is that of the aboriginal people of Australia who have been there for tens of thousands of years.  A great place to hear some of those stories and try to get a feel for some of that culture is at Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the surrounding area.  The giant red monolith has become another famous icon of Australia even though most of us know nothing about it.



 The entire Uluru-Kata Tjuta area was returned to the Anangu people in 1985 by the Australia government and they now currently manage it and lease some of the land to the government.  The area is amazing and the geological causes along with the Dreamtime stories that have been shared with outsiders make it all that more fascinating if you are willing to slow down and take it all in.















We signed up to go on a small group camping trip that guided us through the national park to see Uluru the first day along with a memorable sunset, and then Kata Tjuta the next day.  Hiking around both rock formations brought about a lot of interesting views and also allowed us to take a look at some old aboriginal art as well as we discussed the local flora and fauna.  Camping under the stars in a swag (Australian sleeping bag for the bush) was by far the most memorable part.  We listened to songs around the camp fire sharing local port and beer with the others in our group (who were mostly visiting from Germany).  While the temperature dropped quite a bit since it was the winter, it was no match for the cozy swags.   Jolene and I both ended up waking up in the middle of the night and were able to see the Milky Way and watch shooting stars zoom across the speckled sky.

Jolene took immediately to the camping life.  Helping wash the group's dishes and sweeping up our campsite. 

On our final day, we stayed in the Yulara Resort area and were able to sit in on a great talk from a local descendant of the aboriginal people.  He talked through the various weapons they used for hunting and protection.  He did an amazing job of story telling as he explained hunting techniques while holding various types of boomerangs and spears.  He would emphatically end each lesson on how many animal legs would be broken or if any additional pouncing or smack over the head was needed to bring down the prey.  This final talk before we began the next part of our journey really helped solidify the importance of this area to humankind.

A special thanks to Rhett from Wayoutback Tours for guiding us through this amazing area, sharing what you've learned, and also communicating and supporting the requests of the Anangu as we visited their land.