We had a fascinating lesson of the Uluru being the beloved nature that bestows life and meaning upon the Anangu peoples. But a basic understanding of the geology of the rock is another way to appreciate the Uluru.

The Geology of Uluru

Within its embrace the Uluru reveals its essence in the minute geological details that stretch one’s imagination. Perhaps in so many words I will explain briefly the geology of the Uluru.

It is established science that the Uluru and the neighboring Kata Tjuṯa rocky mount are of different compositions.  The rock that makes up the Uluru is arkose, a coarse sandstone with crystal structure and consisted of high contents of the mineral feldspar. There is also 24% iron content in the sediments, and that is the agent that gives the rock its rusty crimson surface. Kata Tjuṯa is a conglomerate consisting of gravels, with large, grainy and coarse surface.

Photo: Eorsion forces expose the arkose that lies beneath the rusty surface of the Uluru, and the natural color of arkose is dark gray.

There were two significant geological events that resulted in the geological landscape that we see today. In this part of Australia, the Amadeus basin, which is now a salt lake, was a geological depression where lots of sediments deposited 900 million years ago into the shallow sea then. About 550 million years ago, the Petermann Orogeny resulted in the Petermann Ranges. Layers of sediments at the basin were crumpled and buckled, then pushed up. The Petermann Oregeny resulted in mountains as high as the Himalayas today.

But erosions were severe at the Petermann Ranges because there were no vegetation or trees at the time. This in turn deposited an enormous trove of rock sediments down to the plains, forming alluvial fans, which would become the bases upon which both the Uluru and the Kata Tjuta formed.

In the case of the Uluru, fine sediment sandstones resulted. The inland sea in the area 500 million years ago receded, then the Alice Springs Orogeny followed about 300 million years ago. Again, the orogeny fractured and pushed the sandstone layers that lie at the core of the Uluru upward. For Uluru, the alluvial fans were pushed upward as far as 90 degrees. The Uluru that we see now emerged. Since the Alice Springs Orogeny, the landcrust movements slowed down.

The Uluru is layers of sandstone compressed underground. At its highest point, the Uluru measures 348 meters in height. The true wonders of these geological formations are buried, however. The “root” of the Uluru reaches 5 kilometers underground. It is the character of sand that insulates the inner structure of Uluru and slows down the constantly weltering forces of erosion.

The Mala Walk

The Mala Walk, known also as the men’s cave, was a site of practical significance for the Anangu men. This was the place where they grew up to be a respectable member of the community by work and training.

The grandfathers train the Anangu boys in life skills. Besides the basics of hunting, an Anangu boy was solemnly instructed on the laws and customs as told through the Tjukurpa. This aspect of an aboriginal boy’s upbringing is critical because the harsh environment of the Outback makes survival the foremost concern for the whole community. If one member makes a mistake, the consequences are of dire propotions for the whole group.

Take, for example, the sacred Mutitjulu Waterhole. It is the only permanent waterhole in Uluru, and the next available water source is 30 kilometers away. It is therefore critically important that all abide by the strict rules in approaching the water at the waterhole.

The Men’s Cave at the Mala walk is where the boys observed the animals in the context of hunting. Groups of animals came by here to drink water. The hunting rule for the Anangu boys is that you always only hunt the very last of the herd of any animal here. That is the wisdom distilled through time-tested practice — you don’t want to scare the whole group of animals away. It is also here that they learn other survival skills, such as finding water and making weapons. The Men’s Cave is the high school for Anangu boys.

After training in hunting skills and aboriginal laws and customs, the boys then must prove themselves. The rite of passage ceremonies for many aboriginal tribes are known to be exceedingly severe, to a point where the boys are expected to suffer quite a bit of physical injuries in the process. You won’t miss it when you meet an aboriginal man that has gone through the proper rites — their scars will show, in an intentional accentuated manner. When the aborigines treat the injuries, they use the blood tree fruit, which has antibiotic quality and is red in color. As a result, the scars show bright red when they heal.

Although the severity of the trials at the rite of passage has ameliorated, it is still perceived to be much of a horror to the aboriginal boys today.

Tjukurpa at the Mala Walk

Again, it is stated explicitly on the on the uluru.gov.au website not to replicate or retell the Creation Story of the Mala, and I shall respect that. Perhaps, briefly, the Tjukurpa on Mala has to do with the aborigines’ respect for ceremonies (inma) and the grave consequences in not heeding the warnings of danger. The Mala people have had to flee south after the incident. Suffice it is to say that, by the third day in the Outback, I have noticed some common elements in almost all of the Dreamtime stories that I have heard.

The stories almost always start with a moral wrong committed by an individual (or an outsider). The resident aborigines are the ones that rise against a wrongdoer as a group. There is the sense that survival is a collective matter and it is imperative upon everyone to defend a group’s interest together. What I find to be somewhat puzzling is that these wrongdoers are actually perceived as Ancestral Beings even if they committed grave wrongs. They often end up becoming the defining natural features that make the wondrous scenery before us. For reference, revisit the Caterpillar Dreamtime and the Perentie Dreamtime.

Footprints of the Dingoes

Science would explain the potholes that are seen in the Mala Walk differently from the aborigines. Put it simply, the potholes that we see on the cliff faces are the works of water erosion. To the aborigines, these potholes are the dingo steps, and the dingoes are part of the Tjukurpa on the Mala.

At this point of the tour at Uluru, I came to appreciate the arguments that are live at Uluru (though subtly made). There is a way that westerners and outsiders come into Uluru and readily admire it through science, viewing it as a geological wonder.

There is a way that the natives that have lived here for 30,000 years explain the natural phenomenon within which they have survived for generations. Call it science or Dreamtime, both the western way and the aboriginal way represent perfectly valid worldviews. And the curiosity and love toward nature thus shown are equally admirable human qualities.

Whose worldview must take priority at the Uluru? I think it is beyond argument in Australia that the aborigines’ worldviews must prevail. This is simply because they are, by law, recognized as the traditional owners of the land now. Where they tell outsiders “this area is sacred, do not photograph,” then it is what one must accept as the rule.

The Tjukurpa is as every bit of truth as it is the Bible to the Christian world. By calling it “truth” the aborigines interpret the Tjukurpa in all dimensions of time, in past tense that the Ancestral Beings morphed into the nature, in the present that their actions still govern the aborigines’ conduct today, and in the future that the Ancestral Beings are eternal, both as manifested in nature and in the aborigines’ instructed memories.

I also learned that the reason to cease all scaling of the Uluru’s summit was a consensus between both the Anangu peoples and the park administrator.  Besides the fact that there is that sacredness to the rock, there were other supporting reasons too. There were incidents of heat stroke and heart attack resulting in deaths there. Stopping human traffic was also the way to slow down erosion. Finally, there were a whole lot of trash up there due to human presence too. The summit was off bounds to tourists since 2019.

Sources

Tour with White Emu Run.

The Official Website of the Uluru Kata Tjuṯa National Park, Factsheet: Geology.

In the preliminaries entry on the Outback, I have given a brief overview on a tour to Uluru. I will say a few more things here.

A trip to the Outback comes with many options. Experienced travelers can consider self-guided, self-driven tours that involve camping and hiking in West Mac and East Mac, or otherwise accommodation close to the Uluru. Some Australians do drive north from Adelaide.  If you plan on camping, you likely will need a 4WD, which is necessary for the unsealed paths in the area.

For first time visitors who are non-locals, self-guided tours would entail a whole lot more planning than if you just joined local tours with Alice Springs as your base. I could not have planned a self-driven trip on my own without first visiting the area on a first trip. I would say, however, that between spending days camping in West Mac or East Mac and staying close to Uluru, I would find camping in the nature to be much more worthwhile.

The reason being that I think the Uluru as a national park is not as interesting in its natural endowment as East Mac or West Mac. It was one wondrous monolith and perhaps not much more. Tourists can no longer scale the summit of the rock. A one-day trip to Uluru would serve all purposes, both for nature enthusiasts and culturalists.

That is not to say that the Uluru isn’t worth a trip, it must be a highlight of a first trip in the Northern Territory. If you do stay close to Uluru, another must-visit spot is the Kata Tjuta rock domes. Otherwise, at Uluru itself, you can do a bit of hiking (the base stretches 10 km all around), view the top of the rock from a helicopter or do camel rides.

Another lesser-explored option is to visit the Watarrka National Park (Kings Canyon) as well. I highly recommend Kirsty at Red Earth Roaming for planning such a trip.

For a road trip that will cover the most interesting aspects of the Outback, search for Red Centre Way, and you will find many websites showing you how to navigate the area by self driving.

The Iconic Uluru Within Reach

Bright and early before 8am I boarded the big coach organized by White Emu Run. The journey would take 6 hours of a drive from Alice Springs to Uluru. On our way to the Uluru, we would stop briefly to see a salt lake. At Uluru we would spend a few hours learning about the natural and cultural significance of the rock, and then we would end the day with a wonderful BBQ, viewing Uluru afar at sunset hours. Given that the drive takes 6 hours one way, this was plenty for an itinerary.

The Uluru — What’s In Its Name?

The Uluru is the first feature in the Northern Territory that is given a dual name. The word Uluru comes from the Pitjantjatjara language (pronounced “pitch-un-jurrah”), but there is no apparent meaning to the word.

In 1873, William Gosse was the first European to have seen the Uluru. Apparently, he succeeded because he used camels instead of horses. He named the rock after Sir Henry Ayers, the Chief Secretary of South Australia at the time. In 1993, the rock was officially recognized as both the Ayers Rock and the Uluru, the first such initiative for any site in the Northern Territory. The national park that encloses the Uluru Rock is only named Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, however.

The aborigines that inhabited this part of Australia are the Pitjantjatjara and the Yankunytjatjara (pronounced “young-kun-jarrah”) and they are the traditional owners of the land. Central to their cultural identity is the Tjukurpa (pronounced “chook-orr-pa”), which is considered a religion-based philosophy encompassing the initial world views, laws and mores for these two aboriginal peoples.

Before we got to Uluru, however, there was a long drive and I must say that it was a pleasant journey. We stopped briefly at some spots of significance.

The Salt Lake

On our way from Alice Springs to Uluru, we stopped at a spot full of rusty red earth and viewed a salt lake afar, the name of which I didn’t catch. It could have been Lake Amadeus, which is the only such natural phenomenon of significance in the area.

Lake Amadeus is a salty mud basin that was the leftover of the inland seabed at the time of the formation of the Macdonnell Ranges by tectonic plate pushing 350 million years ago. At this shallow trough lies the the sediments that are washed off of the Macdonell Ranges.

An abundance of red dust is present because of iron-rich contents that rusted over time. These red dusts were eventually embedded into the rock, forming the signature red color.

The views of the snowy white salt lake against a vast sea of red earth was simply amazing. My Texan friend and I rushed to the site as the wind kicked up troves of red sand. We covered our faces with whatever cloth that we managed to take with us, and marveled at the wonder before us. The joy in seeing such a vast contrast of colors in nature is beyond words.

The Emu Outpost at the Erldunda Roadhouse

The emu at the Erldunda Roadhouse was a cheeky moment. It was meant to be a mere bathroom stop but the emus presented a sight to behold. They appeared to like human beings, perhaps due to the potential of getting food from us. Almost all of them was of human size, and without the fence they would be somewhat intimidating as creatures.

We went back on the coach, and the scheduling was not delivered perfectly. The coach dropped us off at a restaurant in a resort, but we did not have time to sit down for a proper lunch. I therefore rushed a takeout order and ate my lunch on the bus instead. Uluru, however, was in sight. I was very much hyped.

Sources

Tour with White Emu Run.

The Britannica on Lake Amadeus.

The Official Website of the Uluru Kata Tjuṯa National Park.

At the Trephina Gorge, I pressed my ear against a Red River Gum Tree and heard the sound of flowing water. What happens inside the hollow tree bark is that the bad wood is eaten up by the termites, then the water begins to fill the space inside the bark.

The Oldest and Largest Ghost Gum Tree in Australia

We went to see what is believed to be the largest Ghost Gum Tree in Australia. When I arrived, I understood why this tree is considered a must-see attraction in East Mac. It wasn’t because the tree was apparently of the most advanced age (it is said to be 300 hundred years old), or that it was particularly prominent in its leafy crown.

As I looked up to see the entirety of its being, the Ghost Gum Tree did seem to bear a spirit that speaks poetry through the arid winds of the desert. Its sturdy bark and branches in snowy white, the tree stood tall and proud against the azure of the sky, its leaves ruffling gently.

Where you observe black branches on the Ghost Gum, they are the tree’s “least favorite branches.” When the tree is in shortage of water, it cuts off the circulation to its least favorite branches, that is why some branches appear in black. Even within one organism, the survival of the fittest is the rule of the game.

Known as ilwempe in the Western Arrernte language, the Ghost Gum Tree is where the spirits reside. In moonlit evenings their barks glow, reflecting the only source of light in the pitch darkness of the desert. Perhaps their lance shaped leaves also whisper amidst the chill of the night.

The abundant white powder is like the sunscreen in the desert for the tree. For the aborigines, the white powder is widely used as face paint. They use this chalk-slike substance to paint their faces during ceremonies. Needless to say, the aborigines also find practical and medicinal uses for other parts of the tree. To them, the barks of the Ghost Gum Tree is an assured source of fire making, as they are lit even against rainwater. The gum is used for tool protection and as a balm.

The Red River Gum v. the Ghost Gum Tree

As opposed to the Red River Gum tree, the Ghost Gum does not grow near water sources. Instead, the Ghost Gum Trees grow on rocky slopes, red sand flats and dry creek beds. In the Arrernte language, the Ghost Gum Tree is also known as aparrerinja, meaning “found around river red gums.” This word is part of the Latin name for Ghost Gum Tree, Eucalyptus / Corymbia aparrerinja.

Some of them grow in the most unlikely place, emerging strong and sturdy from the crevices of the Trephina Gorge’s rusty step surface. What it stands for is indeed the spirit of the Outback, of survival — human beings or otherwise.

An Eternal Love for the Ghost Gum

To the Australians, the Ghost Gum is a central figure in their appreciation of the native species that grace the heartland of their continent. One way that the Ghost Gum enters into the national consciousness of the Australian identity is through the paintings by Albert Namatjira, himself a descendant of the Western Arrernte aborigines.

In his paintings Albert Namatijira conveys the landscape of the Macdonnell Range in watercolor. His use of light hues and mostly neutral colors impress upon the viewers a calmness that is somewhat at odds with the vibes I got at the live viewing of similar sceneries at the Macdonnell Range.

In real-time viewing, the desert colors of the Outback come together feeling like an unwilling compromise. The rusted crimson of the rock surfaces clamors for attention at the Outback. The savanna green of the desert’s vegetation is subsumed into the rugged heat of the rusted rocks. Even at the actually cold waterholes, the water surface reflects the different shades of red earth.

The Ghost Gum is prominently featured in Albert Namatijira’s paintings on the Macdonnell Range. By that I mean that, where the Ghost Gum Tree appears, it becomes the most eye-catching detail in the painting, although for most times the tree is not placed in the center.

The Ghost Gum Tree in Albert Namatijira’s painting is mind-bogglingly explicit in its presence, the snowiness of its bark seizing the viewer’s attention at first sight—even against the generally light colored themes of his painting. Then the leaves appear to ruffle even within the paintings, their greenness being quite realistic, but the edges smudged, indicating motion. As to that clamoring rustiness that is ubiquitous in the Outback, Albert Namatijira represents so in a rustic brownness, in the typical hues of a common autumn anywhere.

Like in real life, the Ghost Gum Tree is spirited in Albert Namatijira’s work, but the watercolor renders it somewhat more subdued than what I felt at the sight of the real tree. Perhaps it does take an aboriginal painter to be able to recreate images of their homes in such a transformative manner. He had grown up within this nature distilling the essence of its beings. I came here for a two-day love affair, carrying with me all the fascination and romanticization that typify a common tourist’s perspectives.

The Old Man Salt Bush

Kirsty took me around to the small bushes and showed me some tiny, colorful seeds. She told me to taste them. “They are called the salt bush,” and true to her word, the fruits were salty.

At this moment, I realized that all of my senses had been engaged at East Mac. I even tasted its nature — but thank God the live bush coconut was not on the menu.

Sources

The Wikipedia on Corymbia aparrerinja at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corymbia_aparrerinja

Nature Bound Australia, The Ghost Gum — Symbol of the Australian Bush and Spirit.

Vatu Sanctuary, The Twin Ghost Gums.

Botanical Realm, Ghost Gum (Corymbia Aparrerinja).

Pastures Australia, Old man saltbush.