The red centre of Australia is unlike anything in the Northern Hemisphere, largely because it is so empty. Flying southwest from Cairns, we looked down upon colorful desert, marked with hundreds of dry watercourses (that only run for short times after rain). Hundreds of miles would go by between sightings of dwellings or even glimpses of dirt roads. I took this photo at the halfway point of our flight. I must say, this is probably where I would have ended up if I had first come here in my twenties -- the challenge of vast desert wilderness on a continent where the civilized places are civilized -- that would have been for me! But even at this late time, I feel a strong affinity for the red desert, perhaps because I have spent most of my life working in the deserts of North America. What a contrast compared to the deep green rainforests of Cairns!
Why do tourists go to the red centre? To see Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock, of course! We were no exception, but we were also most interested in spiny grasses, strange trees, unusual lizards, beautiful parrots, and all the other denizens of the far interior desert. One of the most appealing things about this desert, is that nearly everywhere you set foot off a path, you are in wilderness, wilderness that stretches hundreds -- and in some directions, thousands -- of miles. Luckily for us, someone decided to build a destination resort a few miles from Uluru, a small loop road with a luxury hotel, a nice hotel, a basic hotel, and a hostel, plus a couple of restaurants, a grocery store, and some other shops. We rented a sturdy little Toyota Thingy, dropped our bags off at the basic hotel, and took off for the desert!
I had been in the red centre years ago, and my greatest wish was to see a thorny devil. This spiky lizard is the ecological equivalent of North America's horned lizard, or "horny-toad." Last time I had spent days looking for a thorny devil, but without success. This time? Fifteen minutes after we had jumped into the Toyota, we spotted a thorny devil right in the middle of the road! An Aussie had seen it as well, and we all stopped to look at the little devil and help him off the road. I was astonished to see that his tummy had designs just as interesting as those on his back. We photographed the fellow and took him well away from the road before we released him. At dinner that night, we were well pleased to have seen a thorny devil, so we celebrated by having steak, emu sausage, crocodile tail, and kangaroo kebab!
We drove and walked around much of Uluru, and saw the wavy line that is the mark of the Rainbow Serpent of Aboriginal creation fame. All the time we were here, we felt that Uluru was somehow of a different order of reality than the ordinary. It's no wonder that the whole area is sacred to the Aboriginal people.
Uluru itself is quite an experience. The desert is flat for hundreds of miles around except for Uluru and its companion rocks, Kata Tjuta. Suddenly from the red sand spring these strange monoliths of red sandstone.
The desert is fascinating. Would you expect great flocks of pink parrots here? Or small family groups of blue and yellow parrots foraging on flowers high in the trees? Or flocks of Zebra Finches foraging in spiny grasses? I love deserts, and the red centre is full of surprises. We had an early breakfast one day and saw the east face of Uluru catch the sunrise. We wondered if swallows or bats could occupy all those holes!
That's my shadow on the right and Scott's shadow on the left. With great reluctance, we left the red centre the following morning, determined to visit again soon. Although our next destination was a long-anticipated return to Heron Island, we felt that there were mysteries and adventures waiting for us somewhere in the red dunes. We will come back.
