This is the sort of shot you’re used to seeing in the travel brochures. Bright blue skies without a cloud in sight and the giant rock uluru in all of it’s redness.
There’s been a lot of rain in central Australia this year… well compared the normal rainfall in central Australia anyways. This has seen a lot of spinifex growing all over the territory.
This was our second day at Uluru and we signed up for a free tour with the park ranger at 10am. It was an awesome tour as the ranger talked a lot about both the European, Aboriginal, and geological history of the area.
The name Uluru itself doesn’t mean anything – it’s the name of one of the Aboriginal families that has a claim to the rock. The aboriginal people of this area are known as the Mala people and they work with the parks department to allow access to the rock whilst at the same time maintaining some of their traditional practices.
When we first left Brisbane I was very keen to climb the rock. As of 2010 the rock climb will be closed. After doing the ranger led tour I decided not to do the climb out of respect for the traditional owners and for the environment. For me it’s a combination of climbing all over a sacred aboriginal site, the erosion, and pollution of the rock.