Ayers Rock, NT
October 9-10, 1997
click on images to see larger versions
Okay, so my pictures look exactly like everyone else's pictures, but the experience was unique just the same. Really impressive, awe-inspiring big ol' rock :) It takes your breath away, the enormity of it. It's a single rock, actually the peak of a buried mountain (it's supposed to extend more than 10,000 ft. below the earth's surface), and is 5.5 miles around its base. The surface is pockmarked with caves, ridges, crevices, and ravines, each of which has a Dreamtime story attached to it. On the south side, the indentations in the rock are where spears scored in it a battle between the poisonous snake people, the Leru, and the sleeping lizard people, the Loongardi.One of the geologic sites is a pattern known as "The Brain" (looks like one, too), sacred to the local Pitjantjatjara people.
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The Olgas were slightly more interesting, if only because they're more accessible. The Aborigines believe Kata Tjuta are the heads of beings who created the earth and then sank back into it in the Dreamtime. A less poetic metaphor is that they look like plums in a pudding. Whatever the story behind them, they're majestic and magical structures. Mt. Olga, at 1,700 feet, is nearly 600 ft. higher than Ayers Rock.
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The Red Centre
Yes, more pictures of red dirt :) My favorite images of Australia all include some of the gorgeous red sand found in the heart of the country. The softest sand, in the richest red color...just mesmerizing. From the plane, it looked like we were landing on the surface of Mars :)
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