Bart Bear's Blog

Helicopters are a great way to see the countryside.In previous posts I showed some of our photos of Uluru and Kata Tjuta taken on our helicopter flight at Uluru, now here are some that show the country around the larger area. In the top one you can see ridges of red sand in strange patterns. These are ancient sand dunes that Spinifex grass and Desert Oak trees have stabilised. They are there in the other photos as well, but not as easy to see. Surprisingly, you see the same pattern of swirls and curly lines in the art of the local Anangu people.If you look closely at the middle picture you will see a batch of tents near the left hand edge. These are actually very posh tents, costing much more per night than the Oldies can afford. They are where Wills and Kate stayed when they visited Uluru. The royals were at Uluru just before us. You can see where we stayed in the bottom picture. The big resort in the centre, curving around a pool, is "Sails in the Desert"; I can't recommend it highly enough, it is a great place to stay. The buildings to the left are the Yulara police and ambulance stations. Yulara shopping centre is on the left of the resort, and other hotels, motels and caravan parks are in the background. We will do another trip to the Centre sometime. The scenery is mind-blowing and photos just don't do it justice.

Labels: Central Australia, helicopter, Uluru

On the side of Uluru that you don't see from the "sunset" car park there are lots of strange shapes in the surface of the rock. Some are fairly shallow and some are caves. Almost all of them have special meanings to the Anangu people. Some of them are so special that you can't walk near them and shouldn't even photograph. Here are a few. I really like the large one that looks a bit like a frog. What causes these breakouts in the rock surface is just the large changes in temperature that the surface rock goes through. The expansion and contraction of the surface rock causes cracks. Dew and occasional rain seeping into the crack causes faster cracking and eventually plates of surface rock fall off. This exposes the softer rock inside and water and wind erosion cuts the rippled shapes and caves. In these photos you can also see the grey areas where water has washed the dusty red surface away. The real colour of the rock in Uluru is grey. The red surface is caused by oxidation of the iron compounds in it. When plates of rock fall off you can see other reddish-grey colours in the "artwork" nature has created.

Labels: Central Australia, Uluru

One of the things that you should do when you visit Uluru is to take one of the outback dinner tours. We did the "Sounds of Silence" one. This first takes you out to a dune where you have a good view of sunset on Uluru while being served champagne and nibbles. My less-than-couth Dad saluted the Rock in true Aussie style. After sunset you move down to a flat area at the base of the dune for dinner. This gives you a chance to try "bush tucker". If you are not game to try kangaroo, camel, emu or crocodile and sauces and condiments made from native plants, there is plenty of "ordinary" food as well. Some people didn't use the tour bus, they arrived from Yulara by camel. There was also a couple of cute but unwelcome guests, local dingoes who were hoping for scraps. It is not a good idea to feed dingoes. They become real pests around camping and picnic areas and in some parts of Australia where people have been feeding them they have caused serious injuries and some deaths when people didn't feed them quickly. Don't Feed Dingoes! During dinner some of the local people entertained with traditional dances. The highlight for the Oldies came after dinner was finished. The lamps were turned off and a "star talker" pointed out some of the interesting things in the sky. Being astronomers, the Oldies didn't learn much from him. However, they were blown away by the sky ablaze with stars. Central Australian skies are brilliant to the naked eye, even if they are too unstable for large telescopes. With binoculars and small telescopes they are truly mind-blowing. This dinner under the stars is one more for your bucket list.

Labels: astronomy, Central Australia, Uluru

Lots of people have been injured or killed climbing Uluru. It doesn't look like a hard climb, but it is very steep in places and when the rock is wet, or there are strong winds blowing, it is very slippery and dangerous. Although there is one walking track marked out on the rock visitors are discouraged from using it in any but the very best conditions. Also, the Rock is a very special sacred spot to the traditional owners and they would much prefer that visitors didn't climb it. Conditions were perfect when we stopped in the car park at the start of the track and I was tempted to make the climb. It didn't look too hard from the gateway, so I decided to do it. However, it soon became obvious that short legged small bears have a basic problem. After 20 minutes I had only managed to get to the top of the small scarp near the bottom of the Rock. At that rate of progress, I figured it would take 13 hours and 7 minutes to get to the top. That would mean missing dinner and being out after dark with the dingoes so I rejoined the Oldies and we had a great time driving round the Rock and investigating its spectacular scenery. Everybody should see Uluru.

Labels: Central Australia, climbing, Uluru

40 Km west of Uluru are the spectacular domes of Kata Tjuta, which are also called The Olgas. They are actually part of the same sandstone bed as Uluru. The rock goes deep underground and breaks the surface at Uluru and the Olgas. Instead of one big Rock, Kata Tjuta is eroded into many separate rock domes. You can drive there from Uluru, but can only walk in a few controlled areas; the rest is sacred ground to the Anangu people. We decided to see it the easy way, from the air. Our helicopter took us to both Uluru and Kata Tjuta, and I have to say that this is something that everyone should do. From the ground you don't get the impression of the size of these sites. Because of the rain of previous months, the creek beds draining the Olgas were really green. The contrast with the red of the rocks and the brown of the desert scrub made a picture that this small bear will remember for a long time.

Labels: Central Australia, helicopter, Uluru

The best way to see Uluru is from a helicopter. From the ground you can see only one side at a time; from the air you really get the impact of the size of the monolith. I guess these photos speak for themselves. I will just point out that the region had just had the best rain for 35 years, so the country is far greener than normal. You can see the Rock is surrounded by a green ring where the runoff from the rock has led to more growth. In the bottom right photo you can see the remains of the old airstrip. This was in use from 1959 until the new airport was built at Yulara in 1984. In the background of this photo you can also see the old Ayres Rock resort area. When Yulara was established in the 1980s, all tourist activities were moved there and the old tourist area was handed back to the traditional owners, who call it Mutitjulu.

Labels: Central Australia, helicopter, Uluru

There are a few things that are essential when you visit Uluru. First, and most importantly, you always need to have plenty of water with you. Even in winter, it gets very hot in the Red Centre. Midday temperatures are mostly over 30 degrees C (87 deg F) and the humidity is extremely low, so you have to keep hydrated. It is also very much better if you have a car. Of course there are bus tours from all of the resorts, but it really is much better to be able to get to places and stay there as long as you like at whatever time you like. We hired a car from Yulara township and had absolutely no crowds at some of the lookouts and starts of walking tracks. As you can see, we also had a fantastically competent navigator (me!). See me checking that the photographer (Dad) is getting a good shot of the car and the Rock? The road goes right around the rock, quite close in places, so you will see some close-up images soon. There is another thing that most people class as essential after they have been outside for a few minutes. That is the great Australian fly-net. Our bush flies are persistent little critters and can drive you mad crawling around your face. The fly-net is the solution. It may not look like a great fashion accessory, but it does free your hands up for using cameras and catching small bears. Dad says that the nets are actually ecological equipment, designed to save the millions of flies that would otherwise be breathed in or swallowed by tourists. He may be right, but of course small bears are not bothered by flies at all.

Labels: Central Australia, Uluru

If you experience sunset at Uluru you will never forget it. To see that huge rock change colour from a firey red to a sombre purple in a matter of 20 minutes or so is absolutely mind-boggling. These pictures are just two of the dozens that the Oldies took. There is a large car park where these pix were taken from and at sunset it is absolutely jam-packed with all sorts of vehicles and all sorts of people wielding cameras and video equipment. The thing that impressed this small bear was that even though there were hundreds of people watching there was nearly no noise (from people or wildlife). An amazing spectacle. Pictures come nowhere close to doing it justice. Definitely one of those things that should be on everyone's "bucket list".

Labels: Central Australia, Uluru

Here's where we went for a few days just after Easter. One of the most recognizable places on Earth. It is, of course, Uluru (also called Ayers Rock), a World Heritage site. It is a humungous sandstone boulder in the middle of the arid area of central Australia. Geologists call it an inselberg, a word meaning "island mountain", and that describes it perfectly. The rock is 348m higher than the surrounding plain and is 9.4km around. Most of it is actually underground. One of the spectacular things about Uluru is the way that the colour changes, depending on the time of day and the angle between the direction that you are looking at it and the direction the sunlight is falling on it. The top photo was taken from the window of our aircraft and shows just how prominent the rock is. It also shows why the central part of Australia is called the red centre; iron-rich soil really is red. Uluru is a sacred place to the local Anangu people and is managed by them for the whole of Australia. This is a place that everyone should visit.

Labels: Central Australia, Uluru