4th January Uluru and The Cultural Centre

Had to get up early today so that we could watch the sun rise over Uluru.
The day has been very long and very insightful. I've learnt an awful lot today about the aboriginal culture and have even had a few ideas to add to lessons (always working!lol)

It's a beautiful national park with a rich culutural history. Australia's real history. This place is incredibly young. it really only began to take it's current form 200 years ago. Whilst we were exploring the world on big boats and about to embark on the industrial revolution, Australia was an enormous continent containing just nature and its guardians; the aboriginals

Uluru us actually only spiritually important to one tribe. There are hundreds of aboriginal countries in Australia, all of them with slightly different dream time stories but all of them sharing basic principles passed through the oral tradition. Nothing is written down. It is all "Carried in {their} hearts"

Uluru is steeped in the stories of the dream time of the Arangu. Uluru itself was created by two young boys making sand castles. They made this one so big that they were able to play on it - sliding down the sides of it on their nu,s - that's where the ridges and lines on the rock came from :). The face of Uluru changes as tou walk around all 9kms of it (it takes a good couple of hours and it's still 40 degrees outside) It has honeycombed bits, large gashes in it's sides, caves, recess etc. Each one of these has a dream time story attached to it. Stories with giant sankes, gian wild Dingos and Mala men( Half man half wallabee)

I learnt these stories and about some of the other culutural traditions they had. For example, the boys were divided up into 3 sections. (Child, A young man waiting to be mature enough to train how to be a man and a man. Once they are in training they learnt the dreamtime stories and "Mens business" . They boys had to sit in a waiting cave for days/months until it was considered that they were mature enough to accept the responisbiliites of manhood. This started as soon as they began to show interest in women.

I also learnt about the importance of aboriginal art and what the symbols mean. Circles for water holes/meeting places. Footprints to show the paths of the ancestors, half horse shoes for sitting people etc.

We're staying in a campsite and sleeping bush. It's so hot in our tent that LOF and I are going to sleep under the stars in a SWAG tonight. This coming from the same girl who, whilst in Perth, wouldn't even sit on the grass for fear of big spiders! There are big signs warning us not to feed the wild Dingos and not to be fooled by vicious wild dogs!! GULP.

We've made some friends too. Catherine from Folkestone, who shall here after be refered to as Double Espresso, (as that's what she runs on) is great fun and has fitted well with LOFs humour. She owns an Italian Ice-cream shop. Her O H makes fresh Icecream. MMMmmmm fresh Ice-cream!!