EC-Rider Travels

We had a lovely, low key New Years Day, it was very hot so I had a bit of an admin day, sorting everything out and preparing for the next adventure to Uluru. Sarah had a fearsome essay to submit for her Fine Arts degree before we left, so she locked herself away while Tim and I continued the chat and were then joined by wonderful Caroline later in the afternoon.

A horrible 4am start this morning and poor Sarah had been up until 3am with her essay so had barely slept, and me not much more! Tim kindly drove us to the airport and we headed off to Uluru via Sydney. It was an easy journey and Sarah managed to catch up on a couple of hours sleep. I was lucky enough to be sitting by the window and witnessed the stunning approach into Sydney, and, on our second flight, the miles of flat, flat red desert of the Northern Territories. There was the occasional criss cross of a dirt road then all of a sudden a tarmac one, just the one, but otherwise not a sign of life.

As we flew into Uluru, six hours later (but weirdly with an hour and a half time difference), we caught our first glimpse of …. ‘the rock’. Very exciting. We walked out into 40 degrees and boarded the coach with lots of lovely folk and headed for the Uluru Desert Resort or Yulara (place of the howling dingo)

This is a somewhat bazaar resort in the middle of the deserted, desert, with a circular road serving four or five hotels, some apartments, a camp site, a pub and a small ‘town centre’. Then, with the exception of one aboriginal community, there is nothing for 440kms until you get to Alice Springs. Extraordinary.

Despite this being their low season, there are quite a number of people here. Apparently at full capacity the resort will have over 5,000 guests. We are staying at Sails in the Desert which is a slightly tired, 228 room, apparently ‘five star’ hotel?! The rooms however are large and beautifully air-conditioned. We are at the far end of the complex so this was most welcome after we had dragged our suitcases all the way there.

We headed off on a bit of an explore – it does not take long. We found the ‘town centre’ which has a supermarket, a few tourist shops, two or three cafes and restaurants, a little cinema/theatre and a gallery selling indigenous art. We spent some time at the gallery, being told about the work of various different tribes / mobs (depends where you are as to what they call themselves) and the symbolism of the paintings. They vary hugely and some are absolutely beautiful, others not so much!

Understanding Aboriginal culture is so very complex and a different interpretation seems to be given by everyone who kindly tries to explain it. What I have gleaned in simplest terms, it is based on their respect for their land, their family and their elders and they express this through song, stories, dances, art, designs, crafts, etc which are passed from one generation to another. The land was once divided into over 250 different ‘countries’ all with their own customs, languages, values and ways of doing things – there are now many less and of course very many fewer Aboriginal people. The stories behind this are horrifying, as their land was systematically grabbed from them. Since colonisation, numerous government laws, policies and practices resulted in the forced removal of generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and communities across Australia. Truly awful and although they have now received an ‘official apology’, the complexities of healing this unthinkable damage appear insurmountable but they are trying.

On our way back we had a supper in one of the neighbouring hotels, although they are all linked to each another and your bill simply gets charged to your room! All a bit strange…. Slightly waiting for the yellow-coats to appear!