Activities at Yulara

Astronomy

Yulara is a resort owned and run by Voyages.  But there are a range of different activities available.  The resort, in partnership with the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO), plays host to the Uluru Astronomy Weekend annually. Fortunately for us (with a bit of planning along the way) we had arrived for the 2017 event.

Hosted by Associate Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith, along with some of the world’s leading experts, the weekend included engaging discussions on the  structure of the Universe, dark matter,  fun family activities and demonstrations.  This was a marriage made in heaven for our boys – nature, adventure and SCIENCE.  Over the next two days we took in the following talks/activities although there were many more to do (especially if you don’t have boys who can’t stay up until midnight).

  

TRADITIONAL  INMA WELCOME  TO COUNTRY  Senior Anangu elders and young performers offer you the privilege to share in a traditional Inma including song and dance.

HOW DID THE  UNIVERSE BEGIN?  All scientific experts agree on the Big Bang. The burning question around the world remains ‘what happened after that?’ MC and Assoc. Prof. Lisa Harvey-Smith adjudicates a lively debate on this hotly contested topic with our guest astronomers.

PLANETS IN  BOTTLES    Assoc. Prof. Tara Murphy will give kids big and small an interactive introduction to Astronomy with each participant making their own planet inside a bottle  to simulate its conditions and see if life will flourish.

ABORIGINAL ASTRONOMY  & NAVIGATION   Prof. Ray Norris explores the Aboriginal astronomical stories and traditions and reveals how they were used for practical purposes such as navigation.

BLACK HOLES IN  THE DISTANT UNIVERSE    Join Prof. Elaine Sadler as she discusses how black holes become ‘active’ and the extraordinary symbiosis between black holes and their parent galaxies - shaping the galaxies we see around us today.

So if you would like to know a bit about the latest theories of how black holes control star formation, how the universe is expanding and about the stars, Aboriginal dreaming and Song Lines etc, I have 2 boys that would love to share their learnings with you.

The Yulara Resort runs a number of free activities, including the Wintjiri Arts and Museum.  There was good information of the regions geology, flora and fauna and history.  There is also a large gift shop that had a local artist in residence working on a painting while we were there.  The boys asked a number of question but were fascinated as the artist tried to remove the additional painting that a fly had done to his work while we were watching.

There was also a didgeridoo workshop.  We had known already from previous tours that the didgeridoo is not used across Australia and was not used by the indigenous people near here.  But the talk was still informative and the boys loved having a go themselves.

One of the best activities we did was the Maruku Arts Dot Painting Workshop.  We did a morning session with a lovely Pitjantjatjara artist called Sarah who introduced us to some Tjukupa (Creation Time symbols) and talked about her painting.  We then had to try painting a story or journey ourselves.  The boys both did two paintings, I just did the one (being a bit more meticulous and slower).  We all loved this workshop and even now we are back at home, the boys love showing off their creations.

Mine is on the bottom right (our journey from Canberra to Boodjuammula, Artilla, Uluru and Tkata Juta, Mr L is left of mine (our journey from Canberra to Newcastle and then Uluru) and the one above (his version of a story of the first rain coming from the stars(, Mr Cs are directly above his (the two serpents) and then next one on the right (Emu Dreaming from his astronomy talk).

Field of Lights

We gave the kids some choices about what we would do and what we would spend money on while at Uluru.  Their first choice – the Star Pass trip to the Field of Lights.  We were picked up from our campground and transported to a red sand dune.  Here we were standing in the heart of the red desert, the last rays of the sun playing on the amazing icon that is Uluru in front of us.  As darkness descended over the red dirt covered with spinifex and desert oaks, the dark valley floor beneath us began to light up.  Our experience was improved with the drinks and canapes (albeit more drinks than canapes) that we were indulging in while waiting – waiting for the dark to come.

 

Then they started, slowly at first, it was hard to tell if they were lit.  What am I talking about – the 50,000 solar powered bulbs carpeting the ground before us.  Before long though we could see, there it was in its coloured glory – the Field of Lights.

When dark has arrived you descend down a lit path to walk among the ever changing painting of light that surrounded us.

We were supposed to be back at the bus stop in 45 minutes – we missed it.  There was too much to see, too much to walk through to do it justice in 45 minutes.  Fortunately, the tour operators understood this and ran buses back to the Yulara until much later at night.  Our photos don’t do the magic of the night justice (you aren’t allowed a tripod in the Field of Lights so we didn’t have ours).  It was Mr C’s idea that brought us these photos instead of coloured blurs.  He realised that what you needed to do was not focus on the bulb but on the cable.  Thanks to him we have some pretty cool shots. 

This magic night was one of the highlights of our whole trip.  On the way back in the bus Mr L was already planning an installation at home – he thought he might start small, just glow sticks for now.

Uluru and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) – nature at its best

One of the key reasons we undertook this whole trip was to take the boys to Uluru and Kata Tjuta.  By going around the outside of Australia we had missed the centre and the boys had asked a number of times since to visit here.  So we left Wattarka (and hopefully the wind) behind and began the drive to one of the most iconic places in Australia.

But before you get to Uluru there is an amazing place to see on the way – Mount Conner/Artilla

 

You can’t drive up close or walk around Mt Conner as you can Uluru but the view from the road is spectacular.  We learned later that Mt Conner is 3 times as big at the base as Uluru.  We also learned that Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Mt Conner are all close to being in perfect triangle, and yet each is a different structure, different rock and formed completely differently.  On your way into Uluru make sure you stop at the look out and observe this really amazing place.

Uluru and Yulara

 

Uluru and Kata Tjuta are now in a national park – there is no accommodation or camping in the park and you do have to pay an entry fee to enter (we chose a 3 day pass).  For this there are a number of walks including ranger guided walks and a cultural centre you can visit for free. 

Accomodation is down the road at Yulara – a Voyages resort with a range of accomdation options.  We of course chose the campground for our trusty Jayco Swan.  It was quite large, had a good sized pool and a viewing platform we could access from the back of our caravan site (literally).  Yulara has a range of restaurants and activities of which we sampled many (actually more than we were intending).

The National Park

Over our three day pass we did a range of walks and spent several hours exploring the Cultural Centre.  The cultural centre has some great exhibits and incorporates two aboriginal art galleries that have a great range of paintings and wood art made by the local people.  There is also a café with amazing views of Uluru from its windows.  There is also a gift shop which ranged from kitsch to classy. 

Ranger-guided mala walk

Park rangers guide a daily Mala Walk (a relatively short and very flat walk). A ranger took us along the base of the rock, stopping to tell the story of the mala (rufous hare-wallaby) people. Along the way we stopped at several caves and the ranger explained the cultural significance.  The rest of the way he talked about various plants and animals native to the area.

The walk runs from - 8.00 am (October - April) and 10.00 am (May - Sept), and is an excellent way to start your journey here as it will inform the other walks you can do by yourself.  The walk ends at the Gorge and we strolled back to carpark taking more time in the caves this time without the accompanying large group of people.

This was definitely a sight worth contemplating for a bit.

Kuniya walk to Mutitjulu Waterhole

From the Kuniya carpark on the other side of the rock from the Mala walk, there is a short track to Mutitjulu waterhole, home of a wanampi, an ancestral watersnake. 

Here we learnt how Kuniya and Liru (the woma python woman and poisonous snake man) helped create Uluru. The Anangu believe that Kuniya (her spirit) is still here. There are art caves nearby that apparently are still used by Anangu today. This is a beautiful and peaceful place.

See it is the heart of Australia

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta is made up of 36 domes composed of a conglomerate rock (this means there are rocks of all sizes held together with sandstone making it very different from the uniform sandstone of Uluru).The highest dome 546m high which makes it 198m higher than Uluru.

There are two walks at Kata Tjuta but the best by far is the Valley of the Winds, it also the hardest.  Like the Kings Canyon walks on days over 36 this walk is shut.  The day we went it was in the low 30s.  BUT it is still really hot here, the rocks radiate heat.  The walk is quite long and has some steep rocky bits (definitely wouldn’t wear thongs on this one – although we often see tourists doing exactly that).  Also take a lot of water – we had litres and litres but still ended up using the water station 2/3s the way through to top up.

The walk takes you to two lookouts – the Karu lookout about 1k in and then the Karingana lookout.  Karu is pretty cool, but Karingana just knocks your socks off.  If you do make it this far do yourselves the favour and walk the rest of the track.  The path runs through the domes and is totally amazing!