Travelling to Uluru

I stayed overnight at the roadhouse/caravan park just before the turnoff to Uluru. Met up with a guy called David who told me he was from Adelaide. Had just been to the rock and had a few weeks holiday with his wife and child Amber. He told me he had traveled all over Africa for 1 year (before kids) and also the middle east. He said now they have their child they are tied down, but sounded like they have traveled a lot. They loved Africa and the people but found the cities a bit dangerous. Outside the cities people were friendlier. Amazing how many travellers I meet who have really gone out to see the world. Like me they are amazed at people staying home.

Driving to Uluru was very peaceful. I saw the landscape changing with trees that look like palms crossed with willows (leaves hanging down) very loosely. It is hard to describe the nature. I’ve seen beautiful yellow bushes, small purple flowers and clusters of white flowers like bouquets. I’ve seen larger yellow bushes with flowers similar to bird of paradise but all yellow. The red soil is just spectacular. The roads are in excellent condition and I do feel privilege accessing a sacred site that for hundreds of thousands of years you would have to be indigenous and from this country.

Since my time in the outback Queensland and Northern Territory I’ve had to get used to bush fires. My instinct is to go in the opposite direction. I’ve seen huge plumes of smoke and people just driving past with their headlights on. No one is saying go back so I kept on driving. I found myself going passed recently singed grass and some burning. It is fascinating to see so much fire, clearly a part of this country. In other parts of the country it travels faster through trees, but with grass it is safe and doesn’t jump roads.

I noticed a huge rock and I felt chills up my spine. It is called Mt Connor and it sits on a private cattle station, which is 4,162 km2. The rock is 344 metres high and 32 km around the base, 3 times the size of Ayers Rock (Uluru). I had a chat with the woman here and she says the aborigines couldn’t find evidence of a sacred site. But indeed it is. I told her I find it hard to believe that it is not. The owners won’t want to hand it over. I literally felt chills when I spotted it, I was confused, it is not Uluru, why don’t I know about this.

Met an amazing couple Jenny and Luke at Curtin Springs who were on their way to Uluru with their young baby. They didn’t feel people understood the significance of sacred places, they felt an attitude of just ticking boxes. They shared with me the reason for their journey to dedicate the anniversary (1 year) of the death of their young son Tate (3 years). They said he was like a sage, a very old soul. They said he was sensitive and seemed to know things. When Jenny was pregnant her son was telling her and said it was going to be a girl. When he passed strangers had reported hearing from Tate (through psychics). Amazing stuff. They shared they were on a journey and the death had devastated them but also they felt him still with them, which is very beautiful. Apparently he died quite quickly with some sort of sickness that was normal and it became worse becoming a kidney infection. They were told by another psychic he died at the time he is meant to. I know of this as well, I am certainly thinking our lives are predestined in some way. That is not to say we don’t have free choice, but there seems to be a time for life and passing. I’ve heard this in near death that it is the right time. This may give some comfort but I am sure for parents it is very tough. They said when they had gone to support groups they had found them negative and whose pain was worse. They agreed it is better to celebrate. In our culture we don’t celebrate death, we tend to see it as the end. However, in other cultures there are strong beliefs in spirits and an afterlife. It is easy to feel they are with us. Although I strongly feel this is true. We talked about education that opens up imagination rather than stifling it. They had very open minds and were such a lovely couple. Luke said after the death of his son he took time off work, prior to that he wouldn’t. He is seeing life differently now. So this little boy Tate so changed their lives. They will do a ceremony here at Uluru, I cannot think of a better place. I will also send some loving thoughts his way. I found out through voice mail today that my good friend’s sister has died last weekend. I felt for her and will send her a beautiful wish as well. Life is not easy when you lose someone close but hopefully people can find the gift in it, given we are not in control of life.

We also had an interesting talk about extraterrestrials since my curiosity has been peaked here in the Northern Territory. Turns out Jenny has actually seen one over the Dandenongs in Melbourne. She said it was glowing and went straight (above horizon) she said then it darted off at incredible speed and disappeared. She looked at the people in the car next to her to say ‘did you see that’. She said there was nothing in the news to her surprise. Her partner Luke said he had seen a UFO in Los Angeles, USA, he said a ship hovered above the road and quite a few cars spotted it. It was late at night but it just hovered as plain as day and then flew off. So two testimonials from strangers. Interesting huh. I said goodbye to them and may see them at the camp ground later.

I drove on and had my first glance of Uluru, what I saw was a pink rock in the distance. I could really see the difference in colour of the red/brownish soil and the pink rock. It was amazing. As I got closer it became more magnificent and the colour changed to the traditional red colour. I felt the tears come as the energy came to me. I just felt it in every way. I ended up stopping and crying. The feeling coming to me was the desire to come home. For me that is to truth. I feel my life is having so many closures, I feel completion. This is the more accurate word. The rock is magnificent and looks like a luna landscape to me. It changes as you move around it, it has a 10km base. It has long eroded lines down the side (see photos) and is the largest monolith in the world. I felt Mount Conner, also known as Attila and Artilla was also sacred and indeed it is.

I definitely feel the sacredness of this land. I spent some time in the cultural centre listening to the songs and dance of the local Anangu people. I see them as just so different to the anglo’s in every way. I try not to judge them in anyway because we really don’t know anything about how their beliefs arose and they were one with the land. So it is just to learn about difference and respect it.

Anyway, off to find a camp site and have an early night.

A joyful day filled with wonder.