Uluru

Palya! That is how you say Welcome in the Anangu language. You say pul (like cull)- ya. It actually means hello/goodbye/thank you and finish. Today I visited Uluru or Ayers Rock right in the middle of Australia. It is hard to describe how exciting a rock can be – but Uluru, the Aboriginal name for Ayers Rock, is really amazing. For one thing it is in the middle of Australia surrounded by miles and miles of red dirt desert. It is big and red and is carved by rainwater into beautiful rock bowls and interesting wind formations. We took lots of pictures and listened to the sounds around the rock, but we didn’t climb it.

You might wonder why we didn’t climb Uluru. There is a path up one side, but the native people, the Aboriginals, asked us not to. Here’s what they say:

“That’s a really important sacred thing you are climbing…You shouldn’t climb. It’s not the real thing about this place. The real thing is listening to everything. And maybe that makes you a bit sad. But anywhat that’s what we have to say. We are obliged by Tjukurpa, our law, to teach people what behaviour is appropriate. It has been the same for us since the beginning. And all the tourists will brighten up and say, ‘Oh I see. This is the right way. This is the proper way: no climbing.”

The other thing I remember they said was that their laws are written on their hearts not on paper. I will never forget going to Uluru because it was so different and I felt how sacred it was to the Aboriginal people. Palya!