Uluru

The traditional landowners of Uluru-Kata -Tjuta National Park are the Yankunytjatara and Pitjantjatjara people. In their language they call themselves Anangu, pronounced arn-ang-oo. This land was created by the Tjukuritja or the creation ancestors. In their travels they left marks in the land and made laws for the people to keep and live by.


Uluru is a sacred place and the Anangu people prefer that people do make the climb. There is a route which is the traditional route taken by ancestral Mala men upon their arrival at Uluru. Since is has great spiritual significance, they ask that we not make the climb. Unfortunately many people disregard their wishes. We chose to respect their law and culture. We had made that decision before we even arrived in Australia and after looking the climb, we felt we had made a good decision just for the sake of safety. I could just imagine taking a wrong step and ending up rolling down the rock taking out a number of other tourists along the way!!

Our day started early so we could be at Uluru for sun rise and the beautiful colors of the rock. As the sun came up the rock glowed bright orange and red. No picture could do it justice or at least none that I could take!

We continued our trek to several stops around the base. The rock drawings showed told the Anangu stories and gave directions for the area.


Marks on the rock told tales of battles between poisonous and non poisonous snakes. Oddly enough the non poisonous snake won the battle by bopping the other snake on the head and cutting off it’s nose. Now you know how to tell the difference between a poisonous and non poisonous snake. The poisonous snake has a blunt head, as if it has no nose!


The waterhole at the base of the rock is fed by the run-off from the rock. There are two water holes in this area. One is at the base and the other is right above where you see a tree growing. Anangu children come and swim in the waterholes!

The vertical marks in the rock show that the rock has been tipped to the side. These lines would typically be horizontal.

The rock has a circumference of 9.4 km (6 Miles) and is 348 m (1,141ft) aboveground. It was formed by sediments laid down 600-700 million years ago in an inland sea and was thrust upward by geologic forces. It’s beautiful at any time of the day.