It is nine o'clock in the morning and we are sitting down to breakfast at 131. Before anybody thinks that we have had a leisurely start on this our last morning in the Australian outback, we have been up since 5:00am. I had no idea that this time of day existed!

They don't like you to miss dawn coming up over the rock here. You can miss sleep, but not the sun coming up. Well it did come up, but decided to stay hidden in cloud. What we have had is a wonderful 4km walk around the eastern flank of the rock. Adrian, our guide, has been explaining the significance of the various features in the rock face - and amazingly, water holes - on the route. At one point, not only is the waterhole full, but water continues to trickle out of a small fissure in the sandstone.

 A culture and people have survived and, until Europeans turned up, thrived in this land for over 20,000 years, which is something you quickly come to respect, as the heat and the flies take their toll. With all our technology and cleverness, a European would be hard pressed to survive living off the land here for a week!  

Aboriginal culture is very much alive in this part of Australia and now that the whole centre is a protected national park, some of the traditions that have existed for so long are returning.  

Aboriginals look lost and out of place in our towns and cities. Perhaps that is because that environment is as alien to them as their living environment is to us. Out here you are forced to ask yourself - will our culture and the way of life still be thriving in 20,000 years?  I would doubt it. 


As we walk and visit the quite extraordinary caves and corners, some with paintings that date back over 4,000 years, Adrian recounts some of the aboriginal legends and stories which are still used today to pass on the knowledge that is needed to survive here. 



All in all a wonderful morning, but it's a relief to be sitting down in a relatively comfortable dining room waiting for a bacon sandwich. I wish they'd hurry up with the tea and coffee. The Muse is gasping here!  

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