Australian Adventure/Day 6

Ayers Rock, Day 6 - June 21, 2000

We skipped the sunrise. We just weren't up to it and picked the base tour instead. That's a good one for us, as we have no intentions of either climbing or circum-navigating this huge rock.

Our bus took us to the foot of the mountain where a guide led us along a short trail to a cave with Aboriginal paintings. From there we proceeded on to a water hole where the rain runs off Ayers Rock and forms a small pool. After a hard rain the pool can overflow through a small stream into the countryside and even cover the parking areas. The guide told us that the Aboriginals would dig a hole about a meter from the pool and allow it to fill with water. They would use this water for their needs. In this way they avoided contaminating the main pool with their body oil and dust. This keeps the pool pure for the next visitors.

The wind had eroded parts of the big rock/mountain and formed cutouts that the imagination could turn into any number of images. Several of these eroded areas are sacred to the Aboriginals and they've requested that these areas not be photographed. They feel that the spirit of the site should remain at the Ayers Rock and not in someone's photo album.

The bus then returned us to the motel where we had lunch. Bill had kangaroo pie. I was operating under the 'don't ask, don't tell' philosophy. Mine is not an adventurous palette. If I didn't recognize something, I avoided asking. Better not to know. We had left our bags in our room and the staff had collected the bags, marked them, stored them and then set them out for our coach back to Alice Springs. We were duly impressed with their efficiency.

The trip back to Alice Springs was long and rather tedious. It's not unlike Texas with miles and miles of nothing but nice straight miles and miles. They even have a bush that dries up and blows in the wind. Texans call theirs tumbleweed while this one is a roly-poly.

We crossed over the Finke River and remembered the story told to us by Joyce Herald at LAX. The Finke River is the site of an annual boat race. Since the river rarely has any water, the boaters hike up their boats and run up the river. The presence of actual water caused the cancellation of the race.

We were dropped off at the Vista and after checking in we walked over to the casino for their seafood buffet. While we were waiting for a table, Bill couldn't resist the one-arm bandits. Cleaned them out. Put in $2 and walked away with $12. <G> The prawns (shrimp) were huge and the food was yummy.

Back to the motel and an early night. Our flight tomorrow leaves at noon.

This page last updated: