Common Nature

17th March 2007.

Back in 2007, I visited Alice Springs in the Northern Territory for an astronomy conference. It was hot, even though it wasn't summer any more. On the day when we visited the wildlife park in Alice it was around 42-45 C (107-113 F) and I ended up with what was probably a mild case of heat stroke (although that was more than enough!). After the conference ended, I went on a day trip (leave before 6 am, got back after midnight) to Uluru and Kata Tjuta. It was a somewhat cloudy day, with some rain at Uluru and Kata Tjuta, which was nice, actually, as it meant it was around 25 C (77 F) compared to the 45-50 C (113-122 F) it had been earlier in the week. While we were down there, Alice Springs got a lot of rain and by the time we came back that night the completely empty river that ran through the town had burst its banks in places.

I cannot describe the majesty of Uluru and Kata Tjuta. They were phenomenally huge and...it was awe inspiring. It was also amazing seeing how much life there was, even though it was desert. There were birds, there were water holes, there were tadpoles in puddles when we did a walk at Kata Tjuta. Seeing the local Aboriginal peoples' perspective on it all was also fascinating (even though I'd had not intention of walking on Uluru, that confirmed it) and it was also horrifying to see the beautiful rock art that had lost so much of its colour because people used to throw water on it in the past to make the colours stand out more to take photos.

Below the cut is a panorama of Kata Tjuta made from 9 photos that I took.


( 800 pixel wide and 5500 pixel wide, 800 kB, panorama below the cut )