Kata Tjuta

31 May
Elmira
Sunny and Mild
(18900 steps on 21 May)

It's early Tuesday morning. I've been back for a few days, but getting over let lag and the business of the course have prevented me from writing in the journal before now.
A fourteen-hour time difference makes for a heck of a lot of jet lag. While I did sleep through the night on Friday after our return, I made the mistake of lying down Saturday morning to watch a movie. I did not get back up from the couch until late afternoon. Sunday and Monday were better, though I am finding that, as in years past, I get very tired around 5pm.
The remaining business of the course was the course reception, which took place Monday afternoon. I confess that I was nervous about this. My senior colleague and I had talked about including a poster session since the first year, but this was the first time we were returning early enough to permit the students the time they would need to create presentations. I guess I'm always nervous about including new things in the course, but this had a very public dimension to it.
Of course, there was no need to worry at all; everyone appeared to have a wonderful time. The parents and friends of the students had a chance to match faces with names; the students had a chance to see each other one last time before going home for the summer; my colleagues and I had one more opportunity to discover what the students had learned. It went quite well.

I have written nothing yet about our camping trip of 21 May. We spend a two-night, three-day tour of the significant rock formations of central Australia: Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), and Watarrka (King's Canyon). Watarrka lies at the end of the MacDonnells, an ancient mountain range slowly being worn away by wind erosion. The rocks and dust from this were washed away into the ocean that once covered central Australia, and some portions were deposited into deep valleys in the ocean floor, to harden into sandstone and conglomerate. Then, as the ocean levels fell again and the Australian continent emerged, erosion continued to work to strip away looser ocean bed, revealing the conglomerate rock of Kata Tjuta, and the smooth sandstone of Uluru and Mt. Conner.

We always get up very early for this portion of the trip, as Uluru and Kata Tjuta are about 350 km south of Alice Springs. Usually the students sleep for the first 90 minutes until we arrive at a camel farm/roadhouse at Stuart Wells, where we have breakfast. This is also a chance to have a camel ride for those who want one -- I've been on a camel once and have little desire to repeat it, so I stand back and let the other have their shot at it.

We had two 12-year-old Aboriginal boys with us -- I'll call them Joseph and Hank. Joseph was a typical young Aboriginal boy, with a stable family life. He appeared to be shy, though I think this is my cultural filter applied to his behavior, as Aborigines tend to be somewhat reserved when around a stranger. When I had met Joseph's parents in the early morning before we left, I found his mother to be very friendly and engaging, while his father was extremely reluctant to talk to me. Joseph takes after his dad.

Hank was a very different character, very gregarious and eager to talk. We learned later that Hank's family situation is very difficult. Along with other young Aboriginal teenagers considered at risk of going sour, he lives in a group home sponsored by a government-funded organization committed to breaking the cycle of failure in Aboriginal families.

This brings me to the third guest on our trip, a man I'll call Gary. Gary is a Torres Strait Islander, another indigenous Australian people. The Torres Strait Islanders occupy the islands in the Torres Strait, between Australia and Papua New Guinea -- I guess the name says it all. As a matter of race, they are more closely related to the South Sea Islanders than to the Australian Aborigines. Nonetheless, they are a minority group in Australia that has experienced treatment similar to the Aborigines. Gary lives in Darwin, and was down in Alice Springs evaluating Hank's case. He was along on the trip as a part of that evaluation.

After our stop at the Stuart Wells Camel farm, we continued on our way, turning west at Erldunda to head out to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. We stopped at the Mt. Ebeneezer roadhouse for a coffee break. This roadhouse is located nearby the Aboriginal village of the same name, and has a small art shop inside where the local artists sell paintings, tools, and other implements. Since we were going to stop at this place again on the return trip, we encouraged the students not to buy anything just yet.

After arriving at our campsite at Yulara shortly before noon and having a light lunch , we entered the Park and headed for Kata Tjuta. The white explorers called it The Olgas -- I'm not sure why. Kata Tjuta means "many heads" in the Anangu language, and that makes sense, given that Kata Tjuta does appear to be many round domes of conglomerate rock. Our trail through the rock formations ran about 10 kilometers, around two of the larger domes. A partially filled in pass between two domes served as the highest point on the trail, and gave a marvelous view of the central area contained within the domes. It's easy to see why the Anangu consider this a sacred area; it would provide the food, water, and shelter they would need in hard times.

I did get a chance to play a little with Hank. As we were nearing the end of the walk, I was bringing up the rear -- always behind the last student; that's the job description -- and Hank, who was far ahead, started teasing me, calling me "Grandpa." I took off running and passed him easily. A small bag fell off my Camelbak and landed behind me; Hank picked this up and ran the other way, back along the trail, So, I had to backtrack to get my bag while Hank ran ahead, the winner. All in all, a nice icebreaker -- I have to admit, as coarse as he was at times, I thought Hank was a good kid at heart, and am happy to have gotten to know him.

After our walk around Kata Tjuta, we returned to camp to set up and get ready for the evening. We've been to the campsite at Yulara before, since pretty much everyone who spends the night nearby Uluru uses Yulara as a campsite. It was planned by the Anangu to be used for that purpose, so people would camp to near Uluru.

There's an area not so far from our campsite at which we can get a nice view of the sunset on Uluru. This is always a nice treat, since as the sun sets, it causes the rock to appear to change color.

This was a night to sleep out under the stars, using swags instead of tents. A swag is a combination canvas bag and mattress; you put your sleeping bag inside it and zip it up. Very warm and comfortable. Unfortunately, there were not so many stars. But, there was a moon ring, owing to some high atmospheric clouds, so overall, it was a nice restful night, preparing us for our walk around Uluru the next day.