The Red Center

The Red Center, The Outback, The Bush, Central Australia, The Northern Territory, The Lands, and The Interior are all names for the heart and soul of Central Australia. Alice Springs is the main city of 28 thousand people and only 200,000 are in the entire territory which is larger than all of Europe. The land is endless. The roads are more like big plowed tracks of corrugation rather than roads.  We traveled non-stop bumpily-bump for many hundreds of kilometers and never saw a dwelling or any other people. We all cheered when we hit a surfaced road. In comparison, the Huerfano crew should be proud of the roads in the county.

The Arrernte people are the traditional owners of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). They have been here since time immemorial. In the beginning, Altyerrenge - ancestral figures - created the landscape and its features, as well as Arrernte Law. Arrernte people continue to live in Mparntwe, observe that law, look after the country and teach children the Arrernte language and the importance of culture. The people have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the landscape and its ecology, a profound and rich religious life tied to that landscape and the world’s most complex kinship system. The Aboriginal Centralians of the area are most likely the only culture that would have survived for so long here in one of the world’s harshest and demanding natural environments.

The first glimpses of Uluru or Ayer's Rock gave me a similar feeling of when I first saw the Opera House and the Sydney Bridge.  It is an interesting feeling when you have a clear lifetime image from books, National Geographic, posters, movies, and  travel guides to finally see an iconic image in "real time and space". 

First spotting the rock almost took my breath away; it was an overwhelming sight. We walked most of Uluru's 10 km base. The formation changed at every turn and the curves of the rock were so varied. Many oddly shaped rock formations, caves, springs, water holes and, above all, the way the rock magically changed colour at sunrise and sunset stirred my psyche.

Uluru means nothing. It is simply a meeting place. It is not necessarily a sacred spot. The water holes were used exclusively for the animals. The Arremte knew that if the animals had no water they would not have animals to hunt. So the law dictated the animals' need for water and for the people to find water in more hidden areas.  When hunting, the men would wound the animal with a spear that anesthetized it but did not kill. In order for the meat to be fresh, the kill would happen just before a meal. This was because it was so hot the meat would rot rapidly. So the poor animal would wander wounded until the hunters were ready to eat. Then the animal was killed. And so another adaptation to the harsh desert.

watering hole


............
Kata Tjuta
Kata Tjuta or the Olgas are 36 boulder conglomerates that stretch for miles and continue into the Earth for five miles. The area is highly sacred. In"Senesitive spots" visitors are asked to be quiet and to refrain from photos. It is not a place to speak of the Culture of the Anangu.  It is too sacred. The caves were for secret men's business and separate areas for woman to work. No one was ever to interrupt a secret mens' meeting. Big trouble would follow. And a Sorry Stick solution was the worst.  People outside the culture have been given glimpses into dreamtime stories and lessons, but only at a "child's level." The stories and their meanings have layers like an onion (sorry for loss of a better metaphor) which the elders have insight. I think when I hear the stories something always seems missing or unclear. 

Anangu paintings were created for religious and ceremonial expression and for teaching and storytelling. Anangu still create sand drawings and body paintings for these purposes but have
abandoned the use of rock paintings to teach and tell stories.

The next two mornings we woke at 4:30 (yes I actually did and was not the last one up either) to get out and hike early and to see the sunrises and the stark morning light. After noon no one is to be out hiking because of the heat and the many cases of dehydration. I visited the Royal Flying Doctors while in Alice Springs.The service is one of the largest and most comprehensive aeromedical organisations in the world. It provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote and regional areas of Australia. It supplies health care to people who cannot access a hospital or general practice due to the vast distances of the Outback. The guides take their jobs very seriously demanding that each hiker drink at minimum 1.5 liters in a short amount of time. Royal flying doctors did not have to rescue any of us.

I expected oranges, reds and brown to be everywhere in the desert, but not the green of the grasses or the vastness of wildflowers. Just before sunrise a dingo was close to camp. He stared for quite a long time before trotting off.

 ...... King's Canyon

The climb to enter Kings' Canyon.
Kind of looks like C. Spring's
incline. 

Spot the kangaroo?

                 .....

The Hardware Store

The base of the mulga tree's exposed roots were used to make a
boomerang. The powder on the tree was used as an
adhesive. The seedpods were treats for the children
called sweet lollies. 

The sharp small growth from the branches are used to
make into spears. They contain toxins to numb the
hunted animal.  

The branches of the mulgs were used
to make spears. The spearthrower was also
used as a fire making saw, as a receptacle
 of mixing ochre, in ceremonies and
to deflect spears in battle. The woman
used the branches for digging sticks.
The mulga trees' most recent title is
The Hardware Store. 

The desert knows how to economize. Trees have many ways of adapting.
When a drought occurs the gum tree quits supplying food to
a branch. One limb dies to save the entire tree. 

This guy is simply called a dragon. Nice camo like most
things in the desert. 

The rusted out car fits into th4 colors of its environment.
It carked it long ago.

trace fossil of tidal area

The photo can not do justice for the awesomeness of
the sheer cliffs of King's Canyon. 

Our group Plenty of dags between us

at Priscilla's crack from the AU
movie "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"

Now I have slept in a swag under the southern stars. One more wonderful experience to add to the year far from the North Star. The southern cross shines brightly.  I learned to figure out where Antarctica is.  from the two bottom stars of the Southern Cross you triple the distance and magically you are looking at Antarctica. That is as close as I will get to that continent. In touch soon. Pam

PS I'll tell you about the boil over next time. I was close to being loose with kangaroos in the back paddock. It all had to do with a prezzy in my portmanteau.

Glossary:
corrugation: washboarded dirt roads
carked it: died
dag: funny person
boil over: unexpected result
Loose with the kangaroos in the top paddock:  to go insane