Desert Monoliths

I expected Uluru - the famous stone monolith which rises up out of the Australian desert - to be surrounded by desert sand and spinifex grass but actually quite a few trees grow in the area. I was eager to learn more, however, people not initiated into the Anangu culture (the traditional Aboriginal owners of this land) can only learn a limited amount of information, equivalent to what is known by an eight-year-old of the tribe. Uluru was created during the Dreamtime and several events involving dreaming Ancestors are recorded in the rock to this day. Liru, the venomous snake, was travelling across the area during the Dreamtime and killed a woma python which came across his path. The python’s aunt was very upset and sought to avenge the death of her nephew. So she travelled across the landscape with her newly laid eggs in tow and tracked down Liru. A huge fight took place in which a fire was lit – the soot from this huge fire turned part of Uluru black and we saw this blacked portion of Uluru the next day. Other Dreaming Ancestors became involved in the fight including Kurpany, the dog-like creature; Mala, the rufus haired wallaby; and Warmala, the human revenge party.

Even though Uluru is surrounded by desert, a seemingly inhospitable place for life, the area is known for providing a wealth of bush tucker (i.e. food). Honey ants contain a sugary, honey-like secretion in their abdomen. A certain flower is licked for its sugary nectar. The roots of a particular tree host witchety grub, white grubs with a yellow head which can be roasted in the fire or eaten raw. All the rules about what can be eaten, who is appropriate to marry, how to interact among members of the tribe are contained within the law, or Tjukurpa. This information is taught to children via rock paintings, songs, stories, and dance. We were honoured to be entrusted with a bit of this knowledge during our visit to the cultural center.

Uluru has a reputation for changing colors depending on the light and weather conditions. Sunrise at Uluru is truly a show of cosmic and geological proportions. As the sun first rises its rays bend around the curvature of the Earth and the Earth’s atmosphere acts as a prism, separating the white light into its respective colors. The red wavelength is the first to appear and disappear, which is why sunrises and sunsets make clouds glow pink and red. On this particular morning we saw the clouds above Uluru turn pink and gradually the sun illuminated the rock from top to bottom. Since Uluru is composed of red sandstone, the red wavelength from the sun’s rays amplifies the color of the rock, giving it a glowing orange color. This scene is made even more spectacular by the fact that only the rock is illuminated, the surrounding trees and desert landscape are bathed in a veil of darkness.

In the past, and to a certain extent in today’s time, one had only seen Uluru if one had climbed up it to the summit. I decided not to climb for two reasons – first, it’s a very steep climb and looks intimidating; second, the traditional owners prefer that only initiated men climb Uluru. The Anangu are very sad whenever anyone is injured or dies on the climb, and there have been over 30 deaths. As an alternative we decide to hike 9.4 km around the base of Uluru. It was quite amazing to see Uluru from every angle and very difficult to capture the experience in words or even pictures.

We were privileged to see both men’s and women’s sacred sites. Quite a few of the sites are caves which look like cresting waves about to crash on shore, except they are waves frozen in stone. One of these caves is used by Aboriginal women to give birth and a large rock shaped like the head of the dingo protects the entrance to this cave. Another cave is known as the rock wallaby pouch and is bell shaped – this is where all life begins. As we became more and more absorbed by the rock it was easy to see and feel what a sacred and special place this is. We could imagine the stories parents told their children in order to educate them about Tjukurpa. Perhaps all life begins in the rock wallaby cave because this is where mothers take their pre-pubescent daughters and tell them about the changes they will soon experience. Or maybe women visit the rock wallaby cave once they know they are pregnant and will soon give birth to a new life. Those not initiated into the culture will never know the full story behind these special features of Uluru, but that is okay because it is still very rewarding to let our eyes and imagination wander over the landscape.

In areas the rock forms impervious bottomed pools where water collects and provides permanent sources of water in the desert, making these pools very sacred places. These pools attract wildlife as well as Aboriginal hunters and their families who lie quietly in wait and then ambush the wallabies and kangaroos as they leave the water hole. It is truly spectacular to see Uluru in the rain with many waterfalls running down its face. Back lines, due to aquatic bacterial growth, indicate the paths which these waterfalls take. Even more spectacular are the trees growing in various rock crevices. We wondered how a seed could have landed in these crevices and had enough soil for growth, enough room for the roots to spread and take hold of the rock.

In the afternoon we continued our exploration of Uluru at the visitor’s center. Mostly we were curious about the geological formation of Uluru and its neighbour, Kata Tjuta, 30 km away. Millions of years ago a mountain range existed where Uluru and Kata Tjuta stand today. Over time erosion wore down the mountains and sandstone was deposited at the foot of the mountains that later formed Uluru while a mixture of sandstone and gravel was deposited that later formed Kata Tjuta. These deposits were compacted over a long period of time by water and sediments laid down by the water when this part of Australia was covered by an inland sea. The inland sea eventually disappeared and the top cap of sediments eroded away. The original sandstone deposits were folded by plate tectonics – Uluru’s sedimentary layers are at 80 degrees while Kata Tjuta is less tilted at 45 degrees. These two famous rock monoliths represent the more resistant sandstone which has withstood the test of time. However, the aboveground portions represent only a small amount of the original sandstone deposits. Four to six kilometers remain underground, yet to be exposed.

Our exploration of Kata Tjuta began shortly before sunrise as we waited in anticipation for the many rock domes of Kata Tjuta to turn a brilliant red. However, it wasn’t to be as clouds blocked the sun’s rays and once the sun rose above the bank of clouds, all the colors of the spectrum hit the rock at once and muted the effect.

Visitors to Kata Tjuta are able to learn far less about this place compared to Uluru since Kata Tjuta is entirely a sacred men’s site - only initiated men are privileged to the stories. Kata Tjuta means many heads and the area is composed of 36 rock domes that look like large red molars erupting out of the earth’s surface. It was great to hike in the morning as some domes were covered in shadow while others basked in the early morning light.

Due to its geological origins, Kata Tjuta really does have a character all its own. Instead of eroded ‘wave caves’ being present, huge chunks of conglomerate have fallen out of the domes. These conglomerate boulders are composed of various size rocks, from gravel to those the size of a human head, and are held together by a red cement.

The Valley of the Wind walk truly lived up to its name. Not only did we marvel at the shear rock faces and magnificent views from the look-out points, but we also withstood large gusts of wind which funnelled around these massive domes, some of which reached 300 m in height. Despite being in the desert, what appeared to be lush planes of trees stretched out beyond Kata Tjuta. Perhaps the impervious rock underground results in a shallow water table which the trees take advantage of. It is amazing to see evidence of water in a place seemingly so dry. We intercepted numerous streams and waterholes during our hike and marvelled at their beauty and life sustaining abilities. Perhaps this is a place where fathers and uncles of numerous tribes trekked across the desert in order to instruct their suns and nephews on how to be men, where elder men gathered in the shade of Kata Tjuta to pass on hunting stories from the ancestors, and where warriors and hunters honed their spear throwing and boomerang skills. The Valley of the Winds walk reveals only a small portion of Kata Tjuta, but enough to appreciate its scale and uniqueness.