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Happiness Is The Road
We had a lie in this morning. When we emerged from under our warm covers the cold night was turning into a hot day. The sky was a clear blue and another prefect day for seeing Uluru at it's best. After brekky we drove back into the National Park and parked at the Mala car park. We put our walking boots on and set off on the base walk that took us in a big circle all the way round the rock. When we set off we could see where the climb to the top of the rock started. When I was last here 20 years ago I did the climb but didn't want to do it again today as it would have been disrespectful to the traditional owners to do so. There is a sign up now asking people not to climb the rock. This wasn't the case 20 years ago and I therefore knew no better then. The sign says:- 'Please don't climb Uluru. Our traditional law teaches us the proper way to behave. We ask you to respect our Law by not climbing Uluru. What visitors call 'the climb' is the traditional route taken by ancestral Mala men upon their arrival at Uluru in the creation time. It has great spiritual significance. We have a responsibility to teach and safeguard visitors to our land. 'The climb' is dangerous and too many people have died while attempting to climb Uluru. Many others have been injured while climbing. We feel great sadness when a person dies or is hurt on our land. We worry about you and we worry about your family.' There were loads of disrespectful f**ckers climbing the rock today. It seems that no one much cares about the Aboriginal people and their ways and beliefs. In a way we felt like we should not have even been at Uluru. It somehow felt wrong. It is a highly spiritual place and it should be for the Aboriginal people to enjoy, not for a load of noisy inconsiderate tourists to trample over. However as white man has already destroyed the Aboriginal spirit and made the evils of money a necessity in their lives they need tourists to make a living. People however should not be disrespectful and I don't understand why they don't simply close 'the climb' permanently. Maybe they're scared that if they do this less tourists will come. They seem to be in a 'no win' situation. At least the National Park is jointly managed by the traditional owners and Parks Australia. We completed the circuit of the rock but felt like trespassers. It was interesting however and we got to grips with just how big Uluru is. The walk we did was a 10 kilometre circuit and we only took photos where we were allowed. There were signs up in quite a few places asking that photos/videos not be taken as the particular part of the rock was a sensitive site. It is not appropriate for pictures of certain areas to be seen away from the original location. However, we observed others seeming to ignore this and take pictures anyway! People generally seem to have no respect for anything these days, which is sad. The weather was very hot today but we completed the circuit no problem. The walk was very interesting. After this we drove to the Cultural Centre where there were displays and lots of information about how it used to be at Uluru prior to tourism. We drove away from Uluru feeling sorry that the traditional ways had gone. Instead of a load of tourists taking photos and talking too loudly the place should be serene and quiet. The only people there should be the traditional people hunting with spears and living a better life than they have now. The Aboriginals used to be a very healthy race and free of disease until white man arrived with his poisons. Any illnesses that they had could be treated naturally from plants and fruits growing in the land. Now they are poisoned with sugar and alcohol and pharmaceutical chemical drugs etc etc etc. On the way back to the camp site we had a look at the shops at Yulara Resort. We didn't stay long as there wasn't a great deal there. We chilled out for the rest of the day.
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