A quick flight back to Sydney.

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Getting too and from Ayers Rock is exhausting in and of itself since Australia is so large. Virgin Airways always served a decent meal for each flight and the stewardesses had tight little buns in their hair that made them seem like they stepped off of a 1960’s airplane.  Back in Sydney, we walked the streets and explored the parks and historic museums. There was gorgeous architecture from the gold rush era and then modern skyscrapers going up everywhere.

By this time, I was getting a little tired of sketching the view down the length of the airplane. I’d love it if I could swivel my seat and sketch the view looking back. Perhaps someday I’ll set up my artist stool in the aisle looking back. It would be just my luck to then get run over by a rogue snack cart. I think this digital sketch is the first one I wrote a date on. It is a good practice and I’ve continued the practice moving forward. I’ve recently been seeing tons of ancient ruins and the only thing that remains from centuries past are rocks. A library was empty and the few sculptures found have been moved to museums. What will become of digital art in the future? Will there be an Internet a thousand years from now? I keep pouring my sketches and thoughts into this new digital medium, but will it last?

Flying from Ayers Rock to Sydney and back up to Cairns Australia.

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Australia is larger than the United States. If Ayers Rock were about where Kansas City is, then Cairns would be a flight to NYC. However, we had to fly south to Sydney which would be the equivalent of a flight to Orlando and then we caught a second plane to fly up to Cairns (NYC distance). What could have been a short hop over flight, ended up taking most of the day. I can’t complain too much however since there was plenty of time to sketch in the airport.

Cairns is a beautiful coastal town but by the time we got there, it was dark and we were getting punchy. Finding the Lilybank Bed and Breakfast (75 Kamerunga Rd, Stratford QLD 4870) while driving the rental at night was stressful.  We searched for house numbers but they weren’t illuminated. I knew we must have passed the place not to far back, so I parked the car on the street and started walking the neighborhood. I figured I would see house numbers better on foot. Terry was furious, calling for directions. We both found the place about the same time.

I loved this Bed and Breakfast and would have liked to spend more time there. The Queenslander-style property had old fashioned wood slated windows and it looked like it belonged in the outback. There was a lily pond built inside the patio and the proprietress pointed out a large bull frog that hides in different foliage each day. She was searching for a koi fish , which I thought I saw, but then I realized it was light reflecting off one of the windows on the water’s surface. There was a nice pool outside but we never stayed long enough to relax beside it.

Over breakfast she told us a story about “Naughty Ned.” Ned was married, but had a wandering eye. It seems he couldn’t keep himself from flirting and having affairs. His wife left him but they remained friends. He had an odd hobby in that he loved to collect bees. This was strange because he was allergic to bees. Ned took the usual precautions with the bee keepers suit and smoker. He purchased several hives from a neighbor and his former wife helped in the move. For some reason the bees left the hive and congregated way up in a tree. In a fit, Ned climbed the tree with a saw and decided that cutting the branch would get the bees down. He wasn’t wearing his bee suit and he was stung hundreds of times. lt wasn’t a great idea. His wife rushed off to get his epi shot but her panic, she pricked herself with the needle. As she searched for a second shot, Ned died. I’m not sure what the moral of the story is. Perhaps, don’t be naughty, or better yet don’t collect bees if you are allergic to them.

The Kulpi Mutitjulu Cave was filled with cave paintings.

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Terry and I hiked around the base of Uluru quite a bit. The Kulpi Mutitjulu Cave was filled with faint cave paintings. Young aboriginal boys would be brought to this cave where they watched their fathers hunt. When they were old enough to become men, they would come here alone and live off the land. A short hike up the trail is the only natural water hole for miles. I don’t understand where the water comes from since it never seems to rain. A large snake flashed across the trail startling both Terry and myself. Life seems surprising in the outback and yet the area is filled with hints of its dream time creation.

The physical features of Uluru are of great cultural significance to the Anangu traditional owners. The caves and rock formations on the trail relate to the activities of Minyma Kuniya (Woma Python Woman) and Wati Liru (Poisonous Snake Man) during the creation time….

“Minyma Kuniya the woma python woman
came from the east near Erldunda. A bad feeling grew in her
stomach–something was wrong. She had to go to Uluru. Kuniya created inma (ceremony) to
connect her eggs together. She carried them to Uluru in a ring around
her neck and placed them at Kuniya Piti. Meanwhile, Kuniya’s nephew arrived on
the other side of Uluru. He was being chased by a war party of Liru
(poisonous snake) men from out near Kata Tjuta. He had broken the law in their land and they were sent to punish him. The Liru men threw spears at Kuniya’s nephew. One pierced his thigh and many others hit the side of Uluru. One Liru warrior, Wati Liru, was left
to care for the injured python man. But he did not do his duty and left
the injured man on his own. Minyma Kuniya realised that her nephew had been injured and was not being cared for properly. She raced to Mutitjulu Waterhole and
saw Wati Liru high up on the cliff. She called out to him about her
nephew, but he only laughed. Minyma Kuniya placed her wana (digging
stick) upright in the ground in front of her. Kneeling down, she picked
up handfuls of sand and threw it over her body, singing and making
herself stronger. She was creating inma (ceremony) to help her confront Wati Liru. Kuniya moved towards Liru singing and dancing akuta–a dance step used by women ready to fight. Kuniya hit him once over the head with her wana. He fell down but got back up. She hit him a second time and killed him. Kuniya then went and found her injured nephew. She picked him up, dusted him off and carried him to Mutitjulu Waterhole. She created inma and combined their
two spirits into one. They became Wanampi, the rainbow serpent, who
lives in and protects the waterhole today.”

This story teaches a traditional form of payback punishment–a spear to the thigh. the punisher must then look after the injured person until they are well enough to care for themselves. It also teaches about women’s intuition and that a woman may use force to protect her children. This is a powerful story, Kuniya is a powerful woman.” Physical signs remain evident in the rock of this ancient confrontation. Slowing down to sketch helped me stop and reflect by 0bserving the serpentine flow of the hills only interrupted by the burnt black trunks of trees and flowing sage.

The Ayers Rock Visitors Center offered insights into Aboriginal Art and Culture.

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We stopped at the Ayers Rock Visitors Center where I did one more sketch of the monolith. I loved catching the colors of this Martian landscape with black burnt twisted tree trunks spiraling up in knots from roots that clutched for moisture. There were a series of covered picnic tables. Charred dead wood is used to create curbs at the edge of the dirt trails. Amazingly two tourists from Germany were using a barbeque grill to cook lunch. Flies swarmed around their cooking meat and my head. I think the flies inspired brevity in my sketches. Either flies love my work, or they try to drink up the pigments.

Outside the visitors center, an Aboriginal woman sat  cross legged and painted a traditional dream time painting that consisted of thousands of dots covering the canvas. I was of course tempted to draw her, but I had already done this sketch. For my sanity and Terry’s I only do one sketch a day on vacation. Once it is done, I just relax and soak in the sights without even being tempted to shoot photos.

We kind of skipped quickly through the educational film to make our way to the cafe. What I craved was an ice cream cone and a Coke. Luckily I found both. That cold burn never tasted so good. Terry had been having an animated conversation with the sales girl and she asked me to show my sketch book. I responded with “think-q” to the compliments.

Manta means landscape in Pitjantjatjara.

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A dirt road circles all around Ayers Rock, or Uluru as the Aborigines refer to it. Angangu are the traditional caretakers of Uluru and Kata Tjuta and the surrounding landscape. In this sketch Kata Tjuta can be seen in the distance shrowded in blue mist. Like Uluru it juts up from the otherwise flat landscape. It is far more eroded than Uluru having multiple spires. These two monoliths has always been a special place for the Angangu. It isn’t only a rock, but it is a living place that creation beings have left their marks upon.

30 years ago Uluru was officially returned to aboriginal ownership. The ceremony, performed in the shadow of the immense rock, remains one
of the most significant moments in the Aboriginal land-rights movement. Under the terms of the handover agreement, the Anangu people leased
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park to the Australian Parks and Wildlife
Service for 99 years, ensuring the public’s ongoing access, as well as
continued funds to the local community. In 2003 the Mititjulu Foundation was formed which raises funds for local Aboriginal communities. Guests at the Ayers Rock Resort can donate to this foundation and the resort matches contributions dollar for dollar. The projects funded include, renovations to a youth center, materials for local schools, a mountain bike program, sports and musical instruments and assistance for women’s health screenings.

At this roadside overlook, an elevated trail brings tourists out to several viewing platforms.  As I did this watercolor, flies gathered on the pages to suck up the moisture. I worked quickly to keep from going insane from all the buzzing. A local joked with me saying that the Australian salute was the act of whisking away flies from your face. I had on a mesh over my head, and flies walked on it inches from my face. Had I sketched one it would have looked like a monstrous giant. I liked the reddish tint that dusted my hiking boots as we walked the trails around Uluru.

Ayers Rock shares its magic.

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The rusty red road cut through the sage brush and an orange cloud rose up behind our rental as we drove to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park to Ayers Rock. The plan was to wait for sunset when the golden hour would light up the rock a deep crimson. It was a cloudy day however and that crimson flash never appeared. Next to the road side parking lot people lined up along the barbed wire fence with their cameras poised in anticipation. Children played in the red dust. I noticed that tiny red stones would stick to the magnetic clasp on my art bag. I’m not sure if the photographer with the tripod ever got his picture.

Flies came out in swarms. Tourists flicked them away  from their ears and face, but the flies would simply circle around and dive bomb into peoples ear canals. I wore a fine green mesh over my hat. The flies would crawl in front of my face, but they couldn’t get to me. I also put two erasers in my ears which kept the high pitched drone from pinching my nerves. Terry hiked down the line of tourists hoping to get a better view. Colors slowly faded to grey as night set in.

When my sketch was done I waited at the car for Terry to return from her hike. It began to rain very lightly. I stashed my art bag under the rental to keep it dry.  Next to me several tourists were cooking their dinner over a camping stove. Their VW Bus was converted into a makeshift camper. They were roughing it through the outback. I started to get concerned that Terry might have gotten lost. She eventually did show up in the darkness. We were one of the last cars to leave the lot.

When Terry and I got back to Sails in the Desert Resort, we relaxed over a fine meal at Ilkari Restaurant. We were told that the desert bar was complimentary, but we sampled the ice creams so often that a charge was added to our bill. All the food has to be driven hundreds of miles across the desert to this isolated resort so ice cream is a real luxury. Just having air conditioning is a luxury.

Flying to Ayers Rock, Australia.

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Ayers Rock is located far north of Melbourne in the midst of Australia‘s vast “outback” or desert. Flying within Australia is incredibly easy. There is no customs and no security check points. Australians have the innocence of not feeling that they are a target for terrorist attacks and thus there are no full body scans, no removing your shoes and belt. You just board your plane and enjoy the flight. There was a short delay. I joked with Terry as we boarded that they might have to hold the plane together with Duck Tape. Amazingly my tray table was Duck Taped to the seat in front of me. Scrawled on the Duck Tape with a sharpie, I was informed, “TRAY INOP DO NOT USE.” Flying over Australia is very different than flying over America. America is cut up into a definite grid with farms and cities sprawling  out in a checker board pattern. In Australia there was only an occasional road stretching off into the infinite distance. The entire country outside of the coastline seemed to be an endless expanse of rusty desert.

When the plane approached Ayers rock, it was the only landmark we had seen the whole flight. The size was hard to distinguish since it was unclear how high the plane was flying. The airport was a bit larger than a shed and the heat assaulted us when we walked off the plane onto the tarmac and then inside.  The only features inside the airport were the luggage claim area and a car rental counter. We rented a car so we could explore the area a bit. About a quarter of a mile from the airport was the only civilization in the area, the huge Ayers Rock Resort. We stayed at Sails in the Desert which was a very environmental friendly resort. Solar panels supplied the power and water was conserved. The bright yellow buildings glowed against the blood red desert. The central resort area seemed like an unlikely oasis with its pool and palm trees.

I ordered some room service and relaxed while Terry explored the resort. Flies are abundant in the outback. The best investment Terry made was in two nets that fit over our hats. I felt like a geek at first but without that net, I never could have sketched because flies know how to bug people by flying in their eyes and buzzing in their ears. Within a minute it is maddening. The next day we would head to the Rock.