Aboriginals have inhabited Australia for the last ~40,000 years when they came across the straits of what is now Indonesia and Papua New Guinea during the Ice Age. Europeans invaded Australia by sending a shipload of convicts to Sydney Harbor in 1788, and from then on, they started occupying Aboriginal land. In the early 20th century, most Aboriginals were confined to land set aside by the government reserves or Christian missions, and many worked as domestic servants on cattle stations on what was formerly their land - in order to feel they still had some connection with it. Beginning in the 1960's, Aboriginals began to fight back and try to reclaim their land, but it wasn't until 1976 that the Aboriginal Land Rights Act was passed that returned the land to Aboriginals, as long as it was not already a National Park or part of a settled town. Currently, Aboriginals own about half of the land in the Northern Territory, and even though Uluru (Ayers Rock) is a National Park, it was still given back to the Aboriginals. However, part of the title agreement was that even though they would own the land, they were required to lease it back to the government, and still allow tourists to visit and climb the rock.

Alice Springs used to be just a telegraph station. In 1933, it had a population of about 200, it got its first paved road in 1987, and has since grown into a town of about 20,000. Although there is an Aboriginal presence in Alice Springs, it didn't appear to be the best representation of Aboriginal Culture. I was told that Aboriginals in the surrounding communities originally came to Alice Springs to trade with other Aboriginals, but since the town has built up, many come into town to get alcohol. Drinking is not allowed in the Aboriginal Communities, so a lot of the Aboriginals stay in Alice just to drink. I was also told that the drunk Aboriginals can also get violent, so it wasn't the greatest place to be after dark.

I left Alice Springs on a three day tour to Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park and Kings Canyon National Park with a company called Adventure Tours Australia. It was about a 5 hour drive from Alice Springs to Uluru - Kata Tjuta, and on the way we stopped to collect fire wood since the night time temperatures in the outback can reach freezing. After loading it all onto the truck, we continued to Kata Tjuta, which means "many heads" in the Aboriginal language. It is also called The Olgas, named after the queen of Spain in 1872. We did a 4 hour hike called the Valley of the Winds, which weaved through the large, round, red sandstone rocks. It is a sacred place to the Anangu People (the tribe that live around Uluru) - they believe that the rocks tell the story about the time when everything was created, which they call the "Dreamtime." All of the legends of creation involve animals - snakes, wallabies, kangaroos, dingos, etc. Kata Tjuta is a sacred mens place, which means that Aboriginal Women are not even allowed to know the legends behind it, or even allowed to see it. If they aren't going to tell the Aboriginal Women the stories, they certainly weren't going to tell me!

After leaving Kata Tjuta, we went to watch the sunset at Uluru. The "Big Rock" is 318 meters high and has a circumference of 8 km, and 2/3 of the rock is still below ground! We walked to a spot to watch the sunset and take some pictures. The next morning we had the choice to hike around the base of Uluru or right to the top, whichever we chose. I spent the night sleeping in a swag, which is basically a canvas sleeping bag that has a matress built into it. You put your own sleeping bag in it, and sleep under the stars! No tent, nothing. I was pretty cold that night.

The next morning we were up at 4:45 am to get back to Uluru to watch the sunrise and see the rock change from a rusty reddish brown to a bright orange. We then had a choice to either climb to the top or walk around the base. Since Uluru is a sacred site to the Anangu, they obviously don't want people climbing up to the top. The only Aboriginals that climb the rock are highly respected elder men, and that is a very rare event that happens only to begin spiritual ceremonies.

Even through there are signs from the Anangu pleading with people not to climb Uluru, along with the same message printed in all the brochures and the cultural center - many, if not most people still do it. I chose to walk around the base, and unfortunately, hardly saw anyone else doing it. Along the way there were many sacred sights that were not allowed to be photographed. Each site had a story about the animals during the "Dreamtime."

After leaving Uluru, I had one more night in the swag - and then in the morning we hiked in Kings Canyon.