first glimpse

Woke up deep in the sleeping bag at six a.m... with mark starting fire... rolled up swags while mark got breakfast ready.. wheatabix, yogurt, apricots, nutella pb and jelly.. into bus, pit stop and then a stop to take pictures of mount connor... drove onto the domes, rounded eroded red melons coming out of ground.. impressive... rose up out of the middle of nowhere, dark against light sky then slowly turning red.. stopped for pictures.. can't get all the domes in one shot..

Got first glimpse of uliru on way to domes, it's more than just a big red rock.. then we got to the domes and of course another toilet break.. out come the toothbrushes, towels and soap.. safari guys, we all stink real bad... domes are beautiful, small passes and paths between them.. tilted like frank gehry.. path starts up then down to dry riverbed with trees and green around it, like cottonwoods following rivers in the southwest..

Mark talked about Aboriginal men going out into bush for a year before marriage.. .. and then future motherinlaw beating them with a stick.. if they scream or can't take it, off they go for another year..

Path continues, twisting among the domes upward.. moist drainage area from cliffs where water collects so trees can grow.. lots of eucalyptus growing in canyons...

Up again to another viewing area and boing.. drop off between cliffs to flat plains, light green vegetation and single smaller domes beyond... like the setting in the movie king solomons mines.. we turned around there , better than walking in the hot plains...

We still haven't had lunch, drive to uliru cultural center where there's a barbeques, benches and a grass roof... meat, tuna , eggs , onions and tomatoes for sandwiches or salad.. a good lunch.. ron the 80 year old and matt the 22 year old go with mark to see if they can climb uliru.. they come back..a storm possible.. they will have to wait until tomorrow...

Mark takes us on a short mala walk, close to the rock... shows us aboriginal petroglyphs, intended for messages, ... messages like,,, there's water here... came to bell shaped cave, a sacred womens site.. aboriginal men not allowed near it, can't see it.. it is a birthing cave... white couple had wedding there..they didn't know it was sacred to aboriginals.. an aboriginal man saw picture in newspaper and knew what it was ... bad karma for him... now all sites, male and female are marked.. no photos.. all sacred sites...

Walk ended in little glen where water runs down face of uliru... water streaks and water caches in rock face , caves and holes all over where water collects... used for drinking....

Drove to parking lot, and went to dunes to see uliru sunset while mark fixed supper.. beautiful sunset, uliru turned red, purple , black and gray.. great sunsets on other side too, with sun behind domes... mark fixed thai chicken noodles..

Back to bus and a new campsite.. music, singing, abba, mama mia and dancing.. stop at alyra resort area, mark refueled, women stripped down in ladies room to wash, brought duffles and backpacks into bathroom... mary got marshmallows , chocolate and crackers for campfire,,.. smores.. went out to collect wood again in the pitch black with headlights strapped to our foreheads... mary, mark , the germans and matt walked a couple hundred yards for deadwood and came across a stash of porno magazines...

Good time around campfire,, ron told stories and sang chanties.. he is a born entertainer... also tom lehr songs... germans showed dance and sang anthem... maeliss and nicolas led us in the marsailles , and showed us a french round dance around fire.. and last but not least the international hokey pokey.. germans got us to hold hands, shake our booties , moving up close to the fire and back again...

Then came the big event of the night , musical swags.. music from bus...loud.. people dropped out.. ron had some good slide moves.. toots and maeliss were the last women.. maeliss out.. told toots to make women proud.. all of a sudden it's toots and 4 guys, then toots and 3 guys, 2 guys... even though they stuck close to their swags and jumped over fire for shortcuts...if they had to..

Suddenly the showdown.. toots and ron.. the dance began.. not just moves but eye contact, posture and defense.. toots and ron danced over the one swag, then toots used basketball moves.. side to side.. back and forth.. they both dropped at end of music and toots hit the swag.. the new champion...

No noisey space blanket tonight, rain jacket instead and fleece jacket for pillow.. much warmer night, not much chitchat even amongst kids.. clouds rolled on..... another night under the stars..

toots wrote this from fb's notes... he will expand later...