Nicholas Quirke was frustrated that the intense colours and experience of his day were inadequately captured by the camera. This in part was due to the complete unsuitability to ‘bush life’ of Kim and Nicholas who, despite their preparations were not naturals in this environment. In the awesome and spiritual surroundings, trying to apply sun cream, drink water; negotiating the nets to keep off the flies, camera and GoPro became to much for both and they were reduced to a damp and hysterical mess resulting in the camera lens being smeared with cream. When Nicholas was taking pictures he thought the misty images was the effect of looking through a net. Their ineptness did not stop them from fully appreciating the wonder of this strange and beautiful place, and what was apparent on their journey round the base was how singular, and extraordinary each landscape was. What appears from a distance to be a uniform block of land, up close became a series of smooth and undulating rock faces, of caves and conduits, of silvery waterfalls, of surprising green and verdant oasis’s that reveal a deeply profound sense of history and time with the soundtrack of crickets, frogs, birdsong and lapping water adding to the mystery and meaning of what is now called Uluru. They explored some of the Cultural Centre learning more about the land that had now been returned to its indigenous people and exploring their distinctive art and crafts. Nicholas was happy to be back behind the wheel, driving through this unusual and expansive terrain, taking them home to the compound, Ylara, for lunch. After a short recovery back at the apartment they made their way to the pick up for their Sunset Camel tour. Nicholas truly enjoyed the company of his dear friend Kim and he could only laugh and be entertained by her neuroses around the activity they had decided to do. ‘That Camel’s too tall’ she said, ‘I need to be on a calm camel’, ‘Your doing this one on your own’, ‘It’s wobbling we are going to come off’, ‘ If there is a storm could we be struck down by Lightening’? He admired Kim’s tenacity at getting on ‘Stumpy’ who demonstrated the aptness of his name by stomping the ground to kill irritating ants and regular intervals. They both commended the calmness and professionalism of the young guides. The trek was fantastic though sadly it had to be curtailed due to more stormy weather but not without them finding out about the lives and stories of Bert, Louisa and Tim. They stopped at a bar for drinks and met Ann and David, an American couple with a liking for the policies of Donald Trump, so it was interesting to get their perspective. The night was rounded off with meeting Phillipe from the previous evening , a spirit full of life and passion. A fun way to end the evening.
WOW! What an amazing place xx