8 July - Camel Farm and Bush Yarns

8 July 2016 – 178 019

Camel Farm, Bush Yarns and School Work

Today was again a school day for Hayden, however we took a break in the middle of the day to do some activities.  We headed to the Yulara town square to listen to “Leroy” talk about the men’s weapons of the Central Desert Region and why and how each is used.  He also explained why items such as the returning boomerang are not used locally – these are used by coastal peoples for hunting water birds and are made of light wood.  The boomerangs used in the Central Desert are made of hard, heavy mulga for breaking the legs of emu or kangaroo; if it was to return it would injure the thrower, so these are not designed to return. https://www.ayersrockresort.com.au/experiences/detail/free-daily-activities

After this, we headed to the camel farm – we saw lots of camels saddled up, some in a train, and watched them sit down.  This looks like it would be very jerky.  I was surprised by how much variation in colour there was between animals and how continuous the colour range was with each shade represented. https://www.ulurucameltours.com.au/

I caught up on my journal, photo sorting and blog posting!! Ta Da! 

This evening we went to a different lookout to watch the sun set on Uluru – again it was beautiful but completely different – going from purple to velvety brown, the sun was behind some low cloud so we didn’t get the burst of orange we have had on other nights.  It has been quite amazing how much colour variation there is in the rock under different light and weather conditions.

3 July - Yulara Campground

3 July 2016 – 177 666

Yulara Campground

This morning we drove from Curtin Springs to Yulara Ayers Rock Resort, about 100km. https://www.ayersrockresort.com.au/
On the drive in we got our first view of Uluru – I knew it was big, but it is really really big!! After doing a full set up we walked to one of the lookouts for our first clear view of Uluru – it certainly is impressive  .https://parksaustralia.gov.au/uluru/

Then we headed to the information centre to book the activities that required booking and find out about the free activities. https://www.ayersrockresort.com.au/experiences/detail/free-daily-activities  Walking across on the paths it is obvious there has been recent rain as everything is very green and there are puddles – not an overly common site in desert country. Hayden and Drew are booked in for the Astro Tour on Wednesday night at 8pm – this was the soonest we could get.  The Field of Lights Tours are booked up until at least Thursday, not that this was on our must do list anyway – I was the only one particularly interested and with my poor night vision I was not sure whether I should go or not.  Hayden and I would like to do the dot painting but have not booked yet as we wish to do our Uluru and Kata Tjuta activities first if the weather is good. The Mani-Mani Indigenous Cultural Theatre told The Story of Walawuru, Kaklyalya and Kaanka (The Eagle, Cockatoo and Crow) using a cleverly woven together mix of film and acting.

Next we went to the Wintjiri Arts and Museum Centre where “Leroy”, our aboriginal guide talked about the fire farming used to maintain the spinifex at the necessary heights for different animals; how Uluru was formed; and how tourism has developed in recent times.  Last on today’s schedule was the Putitja Dancers – who performed traditional dances and explained after each the story it was telling.  Another full day.  Tomorrow up early to go and see the sunrise at Uluru, weather permitting.

Mum