Uluru at Sunrise

Thurs. 23rd: The problem is that you have to rise before the sun, at ‘Four in the Morning’ as the song says. Some things are worth it and even though there was cloud cover and the photos were not as spectacular as the night before, this was. Walking from the bus to the viewing area in the silence and stillness of pre-dawn in this historic/religious place was an experience to treasure. If ever there was a monolith worth getting out of bed for, this is it! Uluru was first sighted by Europeans in 1872 but this area has been sacred to the local Anangu people for tens of thousands of years.
After sunrise we went to the base of the rock to get the history and folklore of the place from Rachel. She told us many folk tales and explained the religious significance of some of the places. We were asked not to take photos in these places as the Anangu believe that it captures the spirits associated with them. There were plenty of ‘Kodak Moments’ besides. She also explained that as The Rock is a religious site climbing is discouraged by the Anangu. Under their laws climbing is prohibited to everyone except senior men initiated into the Anangu culture. The climb can also be dangerous, approx 37 people to date have died, mainly of heart attacks on the climb and countless others have been injured. These deaths and injuries cause the Anunga further distress, imagine someone getting badly injured or killed in your house and you get the drift. BTW she also explained that it is better for her to come back with a dead body rather than a missing one (if you know what I mean!). apparently the paperwork for a missing person is ten times as much. The Anunga hope to get climbing banned eventually. Why don’t they get the Health and Safety Officer to close it down? As the climb was closed (it is closed around 200 days in the year) due to high winds, we did not have any moral dilemma. The base walk with Rachel explaining the folklore and stories associated with the various landmarks and water holes was better than any old climb and heart attack. We finished with a visit to the Uluru-Kata-Tjuta Cultural Centre to view displays on Aboriginal culture and history, films of traditional art and dance and a shop selling local works of art. Sure, it was nearly as good as Newgrange Interpretive Centre!