Uluru - rock of spirits

Living overseas as a little girl with a father in the Australian Embassy I would boast about the natural wonders of Australia to my friends in the hope of convincing them to come and visit. One such wonder was "Ayers Rock" or Uluru which is its official and original name. I had never seen the rock, I had simply heard of it and seen pictures in books. Two years ago our family finally decided to explore some parts of the Northern Territory including the two World Heritage sights of Kakadu National Park and Uluru. Living in a city on the Eastern coast of Australia it is difficult to appreciate just how enormous Australia is. Uluru is practically a four hour drive from Alice Springs and it is necessary to book accommodation well in advance. The road is straight with occasional dips and driving along, you are surrounded by red soil interspersed with low olive green scrub and low trees.

I was not prepared for my first sighting of Uluru - it appeared suddenly on the horizon. Its enormous size struck us when we realised it was still 60km away. It rises 318m above the desert floor and has a circumference of 8km. It extends three and a half miles below the surface. Composed of a sandstone rich in felspar it changes colour in differing atmospheric and light conditions. This photo was taken out of the car window with video (apologies for the blurred foreground - we did not own a digital camera then).

The true wonder of Uluru is the spirituality associated with it. To sit and gaze at it at sunset is intensely spiritual. It has been sacred for thousands of years - the original tribe of Anangu have ownership and it is only right that I refer you to their official website Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park simply because they can tell its story much better than I can. If you do come to Australia, I would recommend that you make the pilgrimmage to this very sacred place.

Comments

[Lorianne]

Thanks for the post & the link. I love how the official website politely asks you not to climb Uluru but then gives safety tips in case you do.

[Marie]

I would love to sit and watch Uluru bathed in the glow of the setting sun. I can understand how spiritual that would be.

[Jenny]

Lorianne, I agree with you about the safety tips. Uluru was given back to the original owners some years ago but it was after the tourist operators had set up business. People have been climbing the rock for so long now that it was deemed "unfair" to ban them from doing so. Visitors are asked to respect the sanctity of Uluru by making the decision not to climb the rock but they cannot be banned from doing so. Unfortunately many people do not value the sacred worth of places. I had the same feeling of unease when I visited some of the European cathedrals and people were posing for photos in front of the altars.

[Tvindy]

It is interesting how many giant rocks there are in the world that are considered sacred. I wonder how much it may have to do with nomadic people's using them as identifiable landmarks that can be seen from great distances. (Plus the fact that some of them are really impressive.)

[Chris Gibson]

Uluru does not look commercialized. It looks like you can walk right up to it, but in the States anything that might have been sacred is three times guarded and then accompanied by a Disneyland like museum.

[kristen]

im an 11 year old girl in year 6 who has been given a prject on uluru. i would like to know why does it glow?

[Kristen]

hi it's kristen again. my project is due in two days and i need some help on Dick Smith so if you know any sites please tell me. also i will send you a file of my project for your help

[kristen]

i will send a file of it as soon as i find out how to send it.

i hope you like it.