February 19-20, 2023
“[About Uluru] I'm suggesting nothing here, but I will say that if you were an intergalactic traveler who had broken down in our solar system, the obvious directions to rescuers would be: "Go to the third planet and fly around till you see the big red rock. You can't miss it." If ever on earth they dig up a 150,000-year-old rocket ship from the galaxy Zog, this is where it will be. I'm not saying I expect it to happen; not saying that at all. I'm just observing that if I were looking for an ancient starship this is where I would start digging.”
- Bill Bryson
It was a Saturday on July 19, 1873 on a windy winter day in central Australia. William Gosse, an unassuming 31 year old English surveyor and cartographer, climbed to the top of a huge inselberg he had come across in the desert plain. The 1870’s was a decade of discovery here in Austrailia. The government was eager to discover what lay in the interior of the huge colony which despite discovery by James Cook nearly 100 years earlier was still largely unknown.
There was a reason for that mystery. Almost 2/3 of Austrailia is desert with blistering temperatures of over 100 degrees. But the British did not know that then. In fact many ill fated expeditions were mounted to explore the interior only to be turned back from the fearsome wasteland, or to perish horribly. One mission, so convinced they would find navigable rivers, took with them large boats to explore the inevitable waterways they were sure lay just over the next rise.
Flying here, there were only a few clouds and you get a real sense of just how sun blasted this land is here. When we first left Melbourne you saw typical patterns of cultivated fields. But these soon gave way to a featureless landscape devoid of roads with vast stretches of merciless salt flats. The idea of trying to cross such a landscape on horseback is difficult to conceive.
Gosse was on one of the better prepared expeditions trying to find a way from the populated Melbourne, across the continent to Perth on the far western shore. It was this trip that he made his discovery. Gosse declared he would name the huge rock after the Chief Secretary of Australia at the time, Sir Henry Ayers.
Ayers Rock was born.
Gosse did not get to enjoy his fame long. He died unexpectedly of a heart attack just 7 years later.
Gosse was not the first man here. Not by a long shot. The indigenous Aborigines, specifically the Anangu tribe have lived in this area for over 40,000 years. They have no concept of ‘Ayers Rock’. For them, this great sacred edifice has always been and always will be known as Uluru.
Aboriginal Australians are the oldest Homo Sapien group outside of Africa. They are the oldest known civilization in the world dating back 70,000 years. It is theorized that they came here by boat eons ago, but the mystery is that once they arrived they promptly forgot how to sail. There is no record of them doing it again. From the beginning, there society has been primarily hunter gatherers in structure. Archeological evidence shows humans lived in and around Uluru for the last 10,000 years. They left behind rich art works but no written language. However, their claim to lands in Australia are profound and indisputable.
Ever since the Europeans arrived in Australia, the plight of the Aboriginal tribes has been a bleak one. Those that survived the measles, flu, and smallpox pandemics brought by the colonists would see their lands systematically taken away. The Anangu tribe has a deeply animistic religion and , for them, Uluru was the equivalent of St Peter’s Cathedral. The great sandstone is central to their creation story. The stones house the spirits of their ancestors. Their claim was far older than the British but that fact did not matter. The British had better weapons.
Uluru is very large. it is difficult to appreciate how large this place is when the surrounding area is so flat. The summit is higher than the Eiffel Tower and the Chrysler Building in New York. It formed over 300 million years ago before the dinosaurs even made an appearance. In a real sense it is similar to an iceberg in that we only see the tip of it above the surface. It extends another 6km below the surface and it’s on its side. Its brilliant red sandstone the result of ancient immense pressures and oxidation with the air over the eons. The result is a striking edifice that makes it one of the most recognizable structures in the world.
Once Uluru was discovered by the British, tourism to see the wonder began in earnest. This invasion would lead to direct conflict with the Anangu tribe and, in many ways, serves as a case study of the treatment of indigenous people by colonists. That history is similar to our own. It is a long, bleak, and horrific story that only in recent years have Australians begun to address.
People would leave trash and soil the top with defecation, urine, and other things crowds of thoughtless tourists are prone to do. It was also hazardous. The sides are smooth and steep. 35 people died trying to climb it.
For the Aborigine, Uluru is a sacred temple. For the Westerners, it was a popular destination to camp, climb on, and generally trash at will. After a long political battle, in the last 25 years, the land was returned to the control of the Anagu and made into a national park that is regulated. You can no longer climb of the rock, and their are significant fines for defacement. The tension between the white population and the aboriginal tribes remains below the surface though.
What is it like here? Well it’s hot, very hot. Temperatures this time of year routinely top 100 degrees. The landscape is dominated by Mulga trees, a type of Acacia tree. They are everywhere, like saguaro cacti in the southern Arizona desert. There are other tree varieties, but the Mulga is dominant.
In between the Mulga’s are scrub bushes and grasses that embed in the burnished red dry soil. When seeing the land against the brilliant blue sky is is a striking contrast.
At night, the stars are brilliant due to the lack of light pollution. You can see the Southern Cross and Magellanic clouds easily. Magellanic clouds are actually two irregularly shaped galaxies with clusters of stars. They were named after the famed navigator and hold a relatively fixed southern location allowing one to determine location and direction. These sky features are how navigators found true South while sailing here.
Near by the Kata Tjuta mountains are found. They are about 40 km away and smaller than Uluru but with a similar geological history. On the way to see the sunset there we encountered wild camels, yet another feral species here in Austrailia.
I almost forgot, the famous baby murder case "A dingo killed my baby!" happened here. Despite enduring years of ridicule, jail and skepticism of her claim the mother was ultimately exonerated when it was proven that is exactly what happened.
Besides the lurking Dingos, the biggest issue here are bush flies. In the dry environment they swarm towards moisture and will not relent no matter how briskly you wave your hands "The Bush Salute". They go for nasal passages, ears, and eyes the most. These nets are essential to not go insane.
Uluru rock itself is a marvel to behold. Like some great whale breaching the surface of a flat ocean it soars skyward. The red colors, particularly at sunrise or sunset shimmer and change constantly in the shifting light. Wind and water erosion are the main sculptors here. The rock ripples, bends, and folds in on itself as you gaze across the surface.
Near the edge of the stone, on the south side, where it dives into the desert it is surprisingly green. You can see from the black streaks on the side of the cliffs that water will fall here. The trees around the edge, while thin, are far more lush and dense that a few hundred yards away.
Uluru is magnificent to behold and easy to see why the indigenous people placed such importance on it, and the Australian government wants to protect one of it’s national symbols. Everyone wants a piece of this treasure of nature.
Everywhere you go here, care has been taken to try and tell folk tales unique to the Anagu people. Stories steeped in animism are easy to shake off to a skeptical westerner. I initially felt that way. But are we any better?
Animistic faiths are they oldest belief system on earth. They far predate the Judaeo - Christian or even the Islamic faiths. It their world here they can touch their gods at Uluru. They can stand on the stones and feel the wind brush against them as it courses through the crevices and gorges. It is tangible and and the voices of your ancestors echoes as you speak their names in the caves.
My own faith is not nearly as tactile as that. Who am I to judge?
I know it is more complicated than that, but, being here in the shade of this 300 million year old witness to the history of the world, it does make you humble.
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