Éclat Travel's Blog

Archive for February, 2012

Uluru or Ayer's Rock

Summer is winding down in Australia and flights are actually affordable (as low as $1140 round trip on Virgin Australia, Los Angeles to Melbourne).  Prices good, based on availability,  April 15- June 18, 2012. Must be booked by midnight February 21st. I thought I would throw that in there in case you were looking for a deal on a flight to Australia.

Almost everything has two names in the Outback these days. Ayers Rock, the symbol of the Red Center, is now more correctly known by its traditional Aboriginal name, Uluru. The famous monolith sprouting from the desert had been given its stolid English title in 1873 by the first European explorer to clap eyes on it in 1873, Ernest Giles, in honor of his dull British benefactor, Sir Henry Ayer. But for all of 20,000 years before that, the local inhabitants had called it Uluru (apparently after one of the ancient clans in the area) and regarded it as a sacred site. By the mid-20th century, the ownership of the monolith had become a contentious political issue. Finally, in 1985, “the Rock” and 300,000 or so acres around it were officially returned to their original owners, the Anangu people (pronounced ah-na-nyu), who now lease them back to the Australian government as part of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

The entire region around Uluru is also riddled with sacred sites, so access to the landscape is now strictly controlled, with designated hiking trails and viewing areas to observe the Rock’s famously brilliant color changes at dawn and dusk. But one issue continues to cause tension: To climb or not to climb? Thousands of Australian and foreign visitors still do hoist themselves up the Rock using chains, but to the Anangu, this is stomping on holy ground. Their elders can’t forbid foreign visitors from climbing – the right was written into the hand-back agreement – but signs erected by the Anangu very politely ask people not to.

If you do choose not to climb, there is always the equally exciting Plan B. Just after dawn, Uluru seems to glow as if lit by an inner flame, and it is cool enough to tackle the ‘base hike’ – a 6 mile circumnavigation at ground level. Up close, the towering surface is intricately pitted and pockmarked, with Aboriginal rock art in overhanging caves. (Inside these dents, the actual color of the rock is revealed to be elephant skin gray; the lurid red exterior is due to the oxidized iron in the sandstone). As you pay homage at the base, remember that Uluru may be tall – over 1000 feet high – but it also goes down four miles beneath your feet.

After the Rock, it’s only 30 miles west to the national park’s other geological marvel, the Olgas – aka Kata Tjuta, ‘many heads.’ This stunning group of red sandstone domes rising sheer out of desert is not as famous as Uluru but is easily as awe-inspiring: it’s as if twenty Ayers Rocks had been cut in half and stood end on end. When you book a vacation with Globus, you’re not just seeing the world, you’re getting a behind-the-scenes look at the world’s most interesting places.

From Ayers Rock, be sure to include a jaunt to Alice Springs, Australia, especially if you will be there on August 18, 2012. This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Henley-on-Todd Regatta. An unusual sort of boat race that’s been a well kept secret to most of the world except the locals. Check out the video.

Discover the stories of the South Pacific with Globus and Eclat Travel today.