An Aboriginal Dance and Another Sunset

posted in: Northern Territory

Yulara is small enough that you can walk to the town centre easily enough from the campground.  It was pretty hot, so we opted to ride our bikes to get there a little faster.  The Ayers Rock Resort offers several free activities and we really wanted to get to a couple of them.  An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? First we went to the Bush Yarn, aboriginal stories and a talk about weapons they used.  The weapons especially were fascinating, they passed them around and he demonstrated how they were used and why they worked so well.  Nearby were some women painting some aboriginal dot art tapestries.  There was a bench in front of them and LadyBug (5) sat on that bench nearly the whole time we were there.  The tapestries were beautiful and it was lovely to watch the women masterfully creating their artwork.  No pictures allowed of the painting, and the weapons demonstration was right next to it so I wasn’t sure if I should get my camera out for that either.  We also got to see an aboriginal dance which was so interesting.  The guy on the right gave us all sorts of background and history on the particular dances they were doing, they did three or four different ones.  JitterBug (8) tells me the dances and the weapons were his favourite part of Uluru. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? At the end they invited the audience up to participate in the last dance.  The kids were a little hesitant at first, LadyBug is still annoyed with me that I sent her up there without me!  I couldn’t convince TurboBug do go up there with the rest of them. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? The little girl in red stole the show.  Everyone laughed when she lined up with the rest of them.  She came over to talk to us several times during the earlier dances, she was covered in paint so I’m sure she’d had a good day. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? After the dance we went into the park for a look at the cultural centre.  No pictures allowed for cultural reasons.  It’s an excellent display and not to be missed.  That evening we went back to the sunset viewing area for one last glimpse of the rock.  This time we knew where we wanted to park and grabbed a spot down at the very end of the carpark. DSC_5803 I’m still fascinated by how different the rock looks from different angles.  I love these vertical lines you glimpse on the drive in. DSC_5804 On this day the climb was open and we could see that people were still in the midst of their hikes.  I’m not sure what time they close the climbing trail, but the park closes not long after sunset. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? If I zoom way in on the picture above you can see some blurry specks.  Those are people, really.  It takes about an hour to hike up, I have no idea if these people are going up or down. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? LadyBug listened to an audiobook the whole time we were there.  We’d already done the sunset viewing once, so they were allowed to be not so interested this time.  An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? Okay, it’s more like they were all wondering why in the world we wanted to do this again. We’d already seen the sunset.  Grown-ups are weird. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? You took their pictures in their chairs so now you have to take mine.  I have no idea why he’s all wet. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? Have I mentioned the red dirt?  Lovely. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? Of course, after I took a picture of JitterBug’s feet, TurboBug needed a pic of his too.  Look at his face!  What fun it is to play in the dirt. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? He did find it a bit difficult to get his feet up high enough for the camera, but he tried.  He just had to do what his older brother did. 🙂 An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? With a little help we got that gorgeous red foot. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? In the meantime Uluru was changing colours in front of us. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes?An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes?An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? Wow.  Someone’s going to need a shower tonight. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? Can’t forget to look the other way and see the actual sunset! An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? SkeeterBug (10) busied himself drawing a picture of Uluru while we were there.  I know you can’t see it very well, but I love it.  It’s just a simple drawing but he got the lines right and I was so happy he did it.  We’ve been laughing at this picture because he has a fly on his nose.  Flies, flies, lots of flies here. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? This sign at the end of the carpark had some mostly generic information on it, but the interesting part talked about what Uluru is made of- a sedimentary rock called arkose.  Underneath the surface, Uluru is grey.  Iron-rich minerals oxidise to make the rusty colour we see. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? This cute little guy is determined to do everything himself! An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? I snapped this picture as we were leaving, you can see the line of cars off to the right.  That’s the sunset viewing carpark, it was just one long row of parking spaces.  I imagine during peak season you’d need to get there early for a spot. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? One last glimpse of Kata-Tjuta as we drove back to the campground. An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes? That was our last time in the park.  We’ll have to come back when the kids are a bit older so that the younger ones have a chance at remembering it! An Aboriginal Dance & Another Sunset | How Many More Minutes?

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