The sunrise freeze, walkabout at Kata Tjuta and flies!

Had to see the sunrise of course, did I mention 'ants' in a previous blog.  It is sooo.. cold out here we're wearing winter gear most of the time - beanie, gloves, jackets and boots (most stuff is getting a faint tinge of red dust now too).  We met our bus at 6.15am to catch the first rays on Uluru - the colours weren't as spectacular though I think it depends on weather conditions and the time of year.

Had a great breakfast at the Cultural Centre then headed off on our tour with an Anangu elder - Sammy. He taught us through an interpreter how to make bush glue by grinding acacia leaves then melting them in the fire, how to make and throw spears, and cutting tools.  Sammy also told us another Tjukurpa story: the panpanpalala and lungkata (bellbird and blue tongue lizard).  Its a moral tale about the birds hunting an emu that escapes them, then the lizard kills the emu and takes the meat for himself.  In the end the lizard is smoked out of his cave by the birds and falls to his death.  Sammy related this to the white visitors to Uluru who take things or do things that are not right by their laws.  He said that many people who had taken souvenir rocks from Uluru have returned them to the park rangers with 'sorry letters' because bad things had happened to them.  The interpreter said that there is another small Uluru building up at the back of the Cultural Center from all the 'sorry' rocks!

After lunch hired our 4wd and headed out to the amazing Kata Tjuta (Olgas).  They are an awsome collection of large red domes the Aboriginal people call 'many heads'.   One of the mountains stands 546m compared to Uluru's at 348m. At this stage the flies were bothering the kids so they were wearing their fly nets which they thought was fun.  We headed off on our walk through Walpa Gorge a rocky but easy path to the joining of the two mountains.

On our last day after a panicked car key search we headed out to the Cultural Center again at Uluru and bought some Aboriginal art.  Any thing sold in the art center ensures that after expenses the artist receives their income so it goes back to the local community.  With new laws now royalties have to also go back to the artist which is great and prevents them from being ripped off.  So I'm pleased to have purchased something from Annie, Beryl and Lydia who's beaming faces on the authenticity certicicates will benefit from. 

Finally drove out to the airport with little time to spare to catch our flight home.  We had a fantastic holiday would recommend every one particularly on the east coast to venture west and as they say "Get Centered!"

We met one older couple who take each of their grand kids on their 10th birthday to show them the real Australia - its certainly been an eye opener for us.

Palya!
from the Petersen mob

There's been a delay in the broadcast!

Due to the nightly illness of Oren on the holiday and then my subsequent flu we are now continuing our transmission - though its a recollection of events!

Our second day started with a camel ride at the camel farm just outside the resort area.  We stretched the truth about Oren's age so that he could experience a quick ride around the pen, you can do camel tours in the desert but chose the shorter option.  The camel's name was 'Chester'  and amazingly there was an 'Oren' camel at the farm too.  The small museum attached explained the history of the camel in Australia that was facinating.  They've been here since the mid 1800's imported from India/Pakistan/Afghanistan and surrounds to help open up the center of Australia though exploration, connecting Adelaide to Darwin with telegraph line, moving supplies, produce, piano's any thing. The 'Afghani' handlers were employed to man these camel trains up to about the 1920's when train rail made them obscolete. There are still wild camels roaming the desert today.

In the afternoon we joined our sunset tour - one of the things you have to do when you come to see Uluru.  We chose a local aboriginal company instead of the flashy tour groups to teach us some of the stories linked to the great rock.  The Anangu people run this and with the help of the National Parks run the Cultural Centre.  On this tour we were picked up by James who was proud to say he was dry and lived in an alcohol free community.  He introduced us to Rebecca and Sarah who were our guides on our brief walk to the base of the rock to look at a cave and the Mutitjulu waterhole.  Through an interpreter anient stories were told about these features.  To the Anangu people Uluru and Kata Tjuta bear the marks made by their ancestral beings during the creation period of Tjukurpa (chook-orr-pa).  They don't like to call it the dreamtime because it is real to them and not imaginary. They also strongly advised against climbing the rocks as this is disrespectful to them and their beliefs, the way it was explained to us was that the rocks were like their ancient 'bible' and law, and each cave, crack, discolouration and divit indicated another story to be handed down (The walk is closed most days any way because of conditions - wind, rain or heat, and it is very dangerous only 5 weeks ago someone died on the rock).

The story translated to us was about the Kuniya and Liru snake spirits, a Kuniya offended the Liru, so the Liru warriors came to punish him and threw spears which hit the rock (many holes at the base of Uluru) they killed him but this made his Kuniya aunt angry she left her eggs (collection of large bolders) then she sped across the rock leaving a dark trail which can be seen.

We learnt to say 'palya' which means many things hello, goodbye, how are you. Some of the bush foods were also shown to us.

We joined the rest of the hoards of buses, 4wds and touring homes to catch the glorious sunset of brilliant orange reds. I can see why the Anangu call us 'little ants' because everyone is compled to run around to see and do as much as you can.

Palya!

from the Petersen mob.

Head wounds, rusting sand and heli rides - Anangu land is amazing!

We have had a very eventful start to our holiday, the night before we left Oren ended up in the emergency dept with a gash to his head - we were trying to get the kids to bed on time because we were getting up at 5 am but they were being silly in the bathroom of course and Oren's head smashed into the bath tiles!  Any way got home late - head wound glued and taped and then had to stay up late because we hadn't packed so everyone is buggered but excited too.

Flying in over the red center was amazing, we found out that the reason it is red is that the sand has 'rusting' iron in it.  This is the land of the Anangu people who have been here 30ooo years and the monolithic iconic formations are very important to them - Uluru and Kata Tjuta dominate the flat desert landscape and have many dreamtime stories attached to them.  We are doing a few Aboriginal guided tours and will be going to the Cultural Centre to learn a bit more about them.

The resort town is all that exists out here - a little oasis in the desert.  The apartment is lovely theres alot of resturants, shops, a grocery store every thing you need really.  We had a helicopter ride around Uluru and Kata Tjuta the after noon we arrived which was a great way to see them and put every thing into perspective.

Bye for now,

Susan and the clan

We're off to Uluru!

The gang is heading off on a quick sojourn to the center of Australia to see the iconic Uluru and Olgas.  The itinery planned so far is a heli joy flight over Uluru: because were not game to climb it, sunrise and sunset tours with a local Aboriginal tour company who also tell us dreamtime tales, show us bush skills and take us on some walks to caves and a waterhole, and because Alex wanted to create some red dust clouds we are hiring a 4wheel drive to head off into the desert to the Olgas (Kata Tjuta).  A whirl wind visit but it should be fun. Will post some pictures when we get there.
Bye for now,
Susan 

Full sail in Sanur!

Have spent a few days in Sanur, a sleepy sea side tourist town where the culture is a bit diluted but we've made the most of it. Haggled for a ride on a traditional fishing boat out to the edge of the reef which was nice - its called a jukung a dug out tree brightly coloured with a painted fish face, and bamboo mast and outriggers.

When a jukung has been made it is blessed with offerings of rice, flowers and fruit to appease the Gods and then the jukung is sprinkled with holy water by a priest before it is considered seaworthy. The fish face painting is the image of the mythical Gajah Mina (elephant fish) which has fierce bulging eyes to ward off evil. The spirit of Gajah Mina is also thought to bear the power of night vision and guide the jukung through all sorts of weather conditions.

Also hired bikes to ride the 4km beach side track passing all the resorts, restaurants and trackside stalls.  We needed a Gajah Mina to guide us through the many touts  "massage? braiding? you look in my shop?"

Next port of call is Legian!

Selamat tinggal!

Our little Legong dancer

Before leaving Ubud Hollander had a few hours of pampering and was transformed into a Legong dancer.  Balinese girls from about 7yrs learn to dance for temple ceremonies (and now the tourists).  Its a beautiful dance involving ornate costumes and head dress, with darting eyes and flickering fingers the dancers express the story of a kings ill fated war over a maiden.  

Burning up the highway to the 'Mother Temple'

Adorned ourselves in traditional sarong to visit the Besakih Temple (mother temple of Bali). It's positioned high on the slopes of Mt Agung an active volcano about 3142m high (Its last major eruption was in 1963 when many villages and people were killed, it didn't grumble today so we were happy).

This was a holy week so we visited at a good time, once a year the Balinese have to make pilgrimage to Besakih and make offerings to the gods and their ancestors. Its believed that they descend the heavens through the meru towers (black thatched tall structures) at the base of which the offerings are made. The Pilgrims carry on their heads baskets of food - fruit, bread, cakes up the mountain to the temple. It was a spectacle to see the continuous stream of people, all dressed in their finery to be pleasing to the gods. We participated in the offerings and were blessed with holy water and had wet rice stuck to our foreheads.

Got to say we had fun getting up there, it's about 1.5hr drive from Ubud and when you get there you have to walk up a steep hill to get to the temples, however there are some enterprising locals who offer rides on the back of their motor bikes to make the trip easier. So after some quick haggling we were all separated, Hollander on the back of one, me on another and Oren & Alex together we zoomed up the hill side, side saddle dodging the devotees - it was a blast! Oren loves motor bikes.

To Market to Market we go!

Got up early to go to the traditional market in Ubud this morning, this is were the locals buy and sell their produce. The food's so different - exotic fruits, spices, suckling pig, open air butchers, palm sugar, sweet cakes wraped in bananna leaf or palm, a beautiful array of flowers for offerings, and hand made offering trays sold in bundles. We bought some lotus flowers and a tasty treat for Alex which hasn't killed him yet!

Long iced tea after a mornings sweaty adventure

Headed out early to avoid the tourist buses and the 'local guides' to Goa Gajah (elephant cave). It dates about 11th century and is a small cave carved into a rock face. You enter through the demons mouth into a small chamber that has significance to Hindu's. In front are the bathing pools that have water gushing from water spouts held by 6 female figures.

On the way home we stopped off at Ubud palace to explore the grounds and then had our long iced teas at a deco like bar reminiscent of the early colonial times.

Selamat tinggal!

Hati Hati Elephants Crossing!

Selamat Siang!
Went to Taro today to go to the Elephant Safari Park which has been set up to be a tourist park but also a refuge for abused or abandoned logging elephants from Sumatra. The elephants looked cared for so we didn't mind partaking in the elephant treks through the juggle which ended in a plunge in the pool. The kids were really fasinated with the elephant poo the size of coconuts!

The trip to Petulu village wasn't so exciting as there wasn't the mass of herons we expected but we had a nice drive up there through the rice paddy's. Ended the day with fantastic Balinese dinner a Cafe Waylan which had the most gorgeous garden setting - lots of ponds, exotic plants, candles, and low kneeling tables hidden in quiet nooks.

Selamat Tinggal!