Location: Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia
Summary: My day travelling from Cairns to Uluru, desert views from the plane, intense heat at the Rock, swarms of flies, cooling off at the pool, and a relaxed evening after our cancelled drone show. A real slice of life in Australia’s Red Centre.
I went for breakfast when I got up, taking my case with me and leaving it in the hotel lobby. As more people arrived with their luggage, the hotel gave us all a packed lunch to take with us for the journey. At first, this seemed like a good idea, until we all realised that it was a bad idea. We wouldn't be able to take it through security at the airport. I opened mine up, drank the orange juice and returned the rest to the reception desk.
The coach picked us all up a short time later and drove us the short distance from the hotel, to Cairns airport. As we waited for our flight, I sat at a café and got a coffee. Suddenly, security guards seemed to appear from nowhere, and they all surrounded an aboriginal man who was fast asleep on a bench. They woke him up, and after arguing with them for a while, he was led out of the airport and everything became relaxed and quiet again. I did wonder if he wasn't supposed to be there, how he got through security.
We soon boarded our plane for the flight and as we sat on the plane waiting to leave Cairns, the heavens opened up and heavy rain began to fall. I had loved being in Cairns for a few days to celebrate my birthday and hoped I would one day be able to visit again.
Uluru
The flight to Uluru was longer than I expected, around 3 hours. I had forgotten how big Australia is and the fact that what looked like a short trip on a map, was, in fact, a long way. We flew out of the rain quickly and were soon flying over vast desert landscapes. As we approached Uluru, I was hoping to see it out of the window, but it was on the other side of the plane. Luckily, Nic, who was sat on the other side of the plane, got some photos of it and let me have them for my photo album.
When we were taken to the hotel I dropped my stuff in my room and immediately went down to the swimming pool to cool off.
In the afternoon we went back out on the coach to visit Uluru. It was extremely hot as we walked around part of the base of the famous rock formation and the heat was overpowering. I was glad I had taken water with me to drink. One of the things we were not told about for our time at Uluru was about the number of flies. They were everywhere and got up your nose, flew in your mouth, got stuck in your hair and in my case my beard. I had seen a few people wearing what looked like beekeepers net face masks, now I knew why, and I wished I had got one. We got back on the coach after our stop to walk around the base and were then taken to a couple of different viewing points before going to the Uluru–Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre.
Uluru–Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre
We only spent a short time at the Uluru–Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre. The building sat low against the desert, shaped to echo the forms of Kuniya and Liru, two ancestral beings whose stories ran through the landscape. It was simple, shaded, and calm, and that calmness was precisely what I needed after the heat of visiting Uluru itself.
Inside, the focus was entirely on the Anangu people and their connection to the country. Displays explained Tjukurpa, the law, the creation stories, and the way everything fits together. It wasn't presented like a museum; it was more like being invited into someone’s home and being told how things came to be. I found myself slowing down, reading every panel, letting the place set the tone for the day. There was a film that I started watching in a small cinema room, telling its history and the way that women fitted into the way of life. My eyes were aching and very sore and because the film was worsening them I left early and started reading information in other parts of the museum. This was also hard work with sore eyes and I went to look around an art and local goods shop.
Maruku Arts had punu carvings and paintings, and artists working. Walkatjara Art Centre felt even more personal, community-run, warm, and full of colour. I loved that you could buy pieces directly from the people who made them, knowing the money stayed with local families. I saw a couple of pieces that I would like to have bought, but because I would be leaving to visit New Zealand before going home, I knew that I couldn't take anything I bought home via New Zealand. I didn't buy anything, but I saw lots I would have liked to have bought.
It was not a long visit, an hour maybe, but it was very fascinating. I walked back out into the sun, and sat down for a while. There was a great view of Uluru from where I sat. I tried to read the information board there explaining the view but even with my glasses on I couldn't read it properly. I took a few photos and told myself I could read the sign and learn more about it when I got home. I moved to a bench in the shade and sat down next to carved snake and waited to rejoin the coach and then go back to the hotel.
It was great to get so close to Uluru, but I was glad to head back to the hotel and out of the heat. When we got back to the hotel I quickly changed into my swim shorts and went for a swim. I was joined by some ladies from the coach and spent a few hours cooling off in the pool before going back to my room to shower and get ready for the show I had booked to see this evening.
This evening a few of us had booked to see a light and drone show in the desert, but it had been cancelled because of a lightning storm in the area. Because of this our tour director, Brian, took us all to the restaurant for a meal. The food was good and afterwards we returned to the hotel bar and had a few drinks before going up to our rooms early.
Back in my room I looked through the photos I had taken. By enlarging the photo, I had taken earlier, I realised that the sign I hadn't been able to read when I took a photo at the cultural centre described what I was looking at. It told people it was a culturally sensitive site and that photos were not to be taken. Once I realised my mistake I did delete the photos honouring the Anangu Tjukurpa, their law, knowledge, and creation stories.
I then went to bed and was asleep rapidly
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