August 13, 2012

August 13, 2012

I am getting worried about Aimee. Her sore throat is back and her cough sounds terrible. I had expected her to be on the mend by now. There is no doctor for hundreds of miles so I am it. I give her a strict regiment of saltwater gargles and rest. She is not a good patient.

The weather in the Red Centre of Australia is very similar to our home in Tucson albeit in February. Afternoons are sunny and warm while the nights are freezing cold. At home we don’t normally go out till after 10am so we forget how cold it can get. We ventured out last night to use the facilities. We were greeted with a glorious sky. We can confirm that the southern sky has 50% more bright stars than our northern half. I recognize a couple constellations. Orion is the most notable but I am shocked to see it upside down. An Australian points out the Southern Cross for us.  It is featured prominently on their flag.

We have an easy day planned. We fill the rental car with gas ($8/gallon) and drop it off at the resort. Surprisingly there turns out to be a Visitor Center here; and it is both nice and free. We spend an hour learning about the history, geology and biological life of Ayers Rock. A dirt road to Uluru was only scraped fifty years ago. The resort complex is a mere twenty-five years old. Word though has gotten out and now tourists come in droves.

We had lunch in the resort’s “town center”, while watching a young Aborigine play the didgeridoo. This wind instrument is simply a long hollow tree stump. Like a bagpipe, Aborigines use their lips to produce a baritone series of rumbles in an interesting and distinctive music style. For a sample watch the movie, Crocodile Dundee. We had hoped to see more of these Aborigine demonstrations, but most have been cancelled because of “Cultural conflicts”. That seems to be code for “drunk”. Or "high" maybe. The gas we filled up with was a special blend. Apparently the locals like to sniff ordinary gasoline.

This is a good day to leave Uluru. To avoid huge grass fires, local officials carry out of a practice of prescribed burns. Unfortunately the breeze is in the wrong direction and Ayers Rock is hidden in smoke today. We are so lucky that yesterday was clear.

From Ayers Rock resort we board a bus that drives us 300 miles northeast to Alice Springs, the closest “big city”. I thought this tour was a good way to see the terrain. Unfortunately it added travel complexity I could have done without. There is nothing to see. The Red Centre is a mostly flat, dry grassland interspersed with a few stunted trees. The only paved road going north is the Stuart Highway. Like all highways here it is just two-lane. An outback driver needs to be careful. There are two dangers, sleep-inducing monotony and road trains. Road trains are semis that haul three and four trailers to reduce freight costs in the remote outback. The road rumbles and the wind spirals when they roll past.