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 Aboriginals 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 Aboriginals, the white powder is widely used as face paint. They use this chalk-like substance to paint their faces during ceremonies. Needless to say, the Aboriginals 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 Aboriginals.

In his paintings Albert Namatjira 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 Namatjira’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 Namatjira’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 Namatjira 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 Namatjira’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.

I lined up a trip to East Mac with Kirsty of Red Earth Roaming. She is a fantastic tour guide, who engaged me on so many different disciplines of knowledge. In this 6-hour tour, we went through amazing learning in geology, Aboriginal and Aussie culture, fauna and flora, the tour business and a touch of Australia’s position in world affairs. I am incredibly thankful to Kirsty for her hospitality. If you are going to do a tour there (she runs tours in West Mac and East Mac), please approach Red Earth Roaming. She will also be able to tailor the itinerary to your specific interests.

As said in the preliminaries entry, late April was not the high season for the Outback. I was the only one that signed up for this East Macdonnell tour with Kirsty. As such, we had long conversations about everything under the sun. There were also few souls at East Mac, as it clearly was much less popular than the West Mac. I enjoyed the tour thoroughly.

The Itinerary

We started the chilly morning at Emily Gap. Then we visited Jessie Gap, Corroboree Rock, Trephina Gorge, The Ghost Gum Tree, and the Ross River Resort.

It felt colder than the previous day, when I visited West Mac. I wore my leggings, but those turned out to be a little bit too hot for the afternoon, when we did a couple of easy hikes. It was a pretty smart choice to wear a tank top beneath a jacket.

The Emily Gap

One aspect of traveling in the Outback is the varieties amongst the different sites. Although the general geological composition is similar in the area, each site appears to exude distinctive vibes. I can’t quite articulate how, but in that early morning when I came upon the waterhole at Emily Gap, it felt as if the ancient spirits were there to greet me, uttering poetry in nature’s language. I must have heard quite a few birds chirping to garner that impression.

Known to be Anthwerrke (pronounced “an-tur-ka”) in the native language, the Emily Gap is traditionally a cultural site for Aboriginal men. The men-women division is clear in Aboriginal cultures, and that includes the exclusiveness with which they used land for educational and community purposes. The Emily Gap is sacred for the Western Arrernte Aboriginals. The men do not swim in the waterhole here, as the water is for drinking only (both for humans and animals).

This area of the Macdonnell ranges prided a whole lot of games and a large number of Aboriginal families. But over times, 19 species of mammals were lost to cats and the other predators, such as foxes. There was once a high diversity of plant lives as well.

The Caterpillar Dreaming

The Caterpillar Creation Dreaming is the single most significant Dreaming in the Macdonnell Ranges. It comes into full focus in East Macdonnell, where Aboriginal rock paintings depicting the Caterpillar Dreaming are found in the Emily / Jessie Gap (Yeperenye Nature Park) area.

The creation stories were how the Aboriginals impart on the children their laws. The Aboriginals believe that the earth was flat and nothing, until the gods came out of the earth and created creatures and oceans. The Three Caterpillars of Yerperenye, Ntyarlke and Utnerrengatye are believed to be the ancestors of the Aboriginals. Each of these caterpillars are associated with one kind of plant on which the caterpillar survives. The Yerperenye and Ntyarlke caterpillars feed on the Tar vine. The Utnerrengatye caterpillar feeds on the Emu Bush.

The caterpillars were walking across Central Australia, and came upon the territory of the green beetles. They didn’t ask for permission, the beetles were angry and killed them all.

This creation story is to teach the children about territorial respect. When you go to a place you set up a fire and someone would come to you — do not ever cross a territory without permission. The caterpillars became the mountain ranges here.

When the Emily Gap is filled with water, one would not be able to get to the rock paintings to admire the Caterpillar Dreaming. Suffice it is to say, that the various imageries bear specific meanings in Aboriginal culture. For example, the stars represent change and transformation.

Sources

Descriptions on site at the Emily Gap.

Tour with Red Earth Roaming.