Kata Tjuta

More rocks I hear you say so if you have had enough look away now - but if not, come and join me on what has probably been one of the most stunning walks we did. Kata Tjuta is a complex of ... yes you guessed it... rocks of gargantuan sizes not far from Uluru.The name in Aboriginal language means "many heads" and you can see why.  This is a bigger complex and overall higher than Uluru at 546 metres, but this is one case where size did not seem to get a bigger share of attention. They are lesser known but definitely worth visiting. They are shaped like domes, sacred sights, dumped into this vast expanse of quite green nothingness which is magnificent to the eye and which had George saying lets stay here all day just going up and down this wonderful track. There are two principal walks - one is called the Walpa Gorge and it is a shorter walk heading into a gorge between two enormous domes. The opening acts almost like a wind funnel and you have gale force and cold winds blowing while you walk. So this shorter walk was bracing to the say the least.

Walpa Gorge with the early morning light.

George literally a metre up on what is a huge rock slab.

Our favourite walk is the Valley of the Winds - The walk can be broken down into various sections but we did the whole circuit of some 7.4 kms. The scenery is spectacular, the wild flowers and fields are canvasses of colour on the landscape and the lookouts, areas of breathtaking beauty.

A budgie poking out of a ghost gum.

The view from the lookout.

Some of the wild flowers and the banks nearby

This is the Turtle which marks the highest peak in Kata Tjuta. Slow and lumbering it is there to remind us of the Aboriginal stories and to make sure we pay heed to the beauty around us. 

Rock Bottom

The bottom of the rock is where you need to be to appreciate that there is so much more to this sacred site. Go into the Kantju Gorge and hear the stories of creation and see the water snake who is neatly but very clearly defined nearby. Have a look at some of the rock carvings and enjoy the flowers, vegetation and tranquility of a base walk which will take you the 10.5 kms around the circumference. 

 The waterhole with the most stunning colours.

 The sky reflected in the rock pool -proud of this one !

The Path to the Gorge

 The water snake

The rock carvings

Enjoying the formations and sheer faces of the rock and finally at sunset some clouds overheard. Did you notice the cloudless skies ?

ULURU

So is it possible to be moved by a giant rock ? Well lets say the starting point is finding the right rock. Travelling to Uluru there is a turn in the road where a megalith comes into view and suddenly the excitement in the car is palpable. "There it is, there it is - oh my god it is huge and pink and changing colours" - I shout with a heightened excitement. The boys were not so convinced and we immediately placed a bet on it, in the best of family traditions - a mere 1 million Euros this time. You will be most distressed to know I am a million poorer because in this game of "Spot the Rock" I got the rock wrong. This is Mount Connor which looks deceptively, well at least for the uninitiated, like the real thing. 

But I cannot keep you in suspense any longer and though you may have seen it thousands of times, this is my own tribute to the Red Centre, this megalith in the middle of Australia which takes over and dominates the scene but in the gentlest and the most sacred of ways. It is visible from our room in the superb and much acclaimed Longitude 131 and sitting on the deck just watching it change hues in the hours of day, is a pastime that I suspect many have partaken in. 

It began to form some 500 million years ago, when sand from a nearby range of mountains formed thick deposits. At that time it was believed there was a sea there and the sea compressed these deposits. When the sea disappeared and there was movement of two tectonic plates the sandstone tilted 90 degrees resulting in Uluru. The thing you might be amused to remember is that this is merely the tip- there is probably about 2.5 kms more of it underground. Its about 320 metres high and 10 kms in circumference and it is an important sacred sight for the local aboriginal tribe the Arranghe. They   were granted their land back in 1958 and then immediately leased it back to Parks Australia for 99 years who run it with the local tribe. 

There are many creation stories that accompany any walk around the base of the rock and even though the rock is still open to climbers there are notices in a prominent position asking people to refrain from doing so as it is a sacred place but also a dangerous ascent. While we were here, three young men climbed and went off the path, got stuck on the rock and had to be rescued, a costly and dangerous operation for all. The truth is with the rock still open to climbers is an ambiguous message when read in conjunction with the warnings against climbing. It should simply be shut for climbing and left to be, rather than to be conquered, by crazy tourists, unsuspecting youths who go up in thongs and T shirts and daredevils wanting to prove their worth. I say all this as we had an interesting discussion at dinner about the mixed messages on the climb. I was not in the least tempted for all the right reasons and the others, well lets just say, that while the temptation lingered, the weather, morality and impromptu rescue operations got in the way. The right way. 

Just in case any of you are concerned about my financial state on the earlier bet, I would like to quickly say we are Even Stevens. The suggestion was made that scorpions did not exist in Australia. I said they did - and of course they do together with a host of other friendly but deadly creatures. Sighted on the road to the rock an Eastern Brown. The weather is warming up, the snakes and flies are gradually emerging but not even they can dissuade all those flocking to see the majesty of ULURU - which means " that big rock over there." More on the rocks soon. 

A Brissie Baptism

You see the notices in the park - they make you smile because a little part of you is saying this is OZ being over cautious, over protective and just too controlling.

Today I was out on my bike -this time with another son, George, and we had a Brissie baptism. We both got attacked multiple times by a magpie who clearly did not like seeing us on her part of the bike path.

They are beautiful birds and their song is sweet in our valley but they protect their young, or so we are told. Maybe they too find lycra offensive and we were just taken for the real thing ! 

Park (ing)

One thing I admire about Brisbane and this might come as a surprise to people who have lived here all their lives, is that even after three and a half years of living here, the city still surprises me. How good is that - the latest is this wonderful initiative by Brisbane City Council.

Brisbane City Council is proud to support PARK(ing) Day 2016. PARK(ing) Day is an annual worldwide event where teams transform on-street car parking spots into temporary public parks and other spaces for people to enjoy.

Join us on Friday 16 September 2016 as together we transform parking spaces across Brisbane into engaging, creative and people-friendly spaces. Go along and enjoy them and then vote for the winner. 

Check out the website for details : Brisbane Park( ing)

On yer bike

"Mum lets go for a bike ride".

Now for those of you who know me, while an able walker and reader I am not famed for my biking abilities, but I did get one for my Birthday last year, and it has been very underused. 

Ant is here in all his glory, so he pumped up the tyres, made sure I was wearing my helmet the right way round and we set off from home in Red Hill ( note the word hill in the name)  to head down to the Brisbane River which is blessed with bike paths all the way along from the City both left and right of it. Brisbane is a biker's paradise. I just haven't found it yet. 

As we approached our first main hill and I was grappling with the gears, which incidentally are still a complete mystery, he put out a helping hand on my back and shoved me up the rest of it - oh the joy. Then with wind in my hair and doing death defying speeds we headed down Enoggera Rd and had to turn a sharp corner for a short cut. I applied the brakes sharply and felt myself lose balance. The path was steep and I could just picture myself rolling rather indelicately down it. I righted myself quickly and applied the brakes, this time the way Ant suggested and off we went again. We zoomed down roads and passages I had never explored before and ended up at the River and happily cycled on the flat nearly to St Lucia, chatting and laughing, overtaking other bikers and being scathing of their lycra. We headed back to the City for a well earned fresh orange and passion juice and the ubiquitous but unbelievably delicious soft shell crab hand rolls. 

I wasn't quite sure I would make it back but that moment of doubt just faded as we headed off. He waited for me when it was uphill and let me overtake him when it was downhill. He coaxed and encouraged, never once disappeared from view, only once did he roll his eyes. We got back and I did not dismount once to push, so I consider that I have earned brownie points, the wry admiration of my son and husband and now consider that 12 kms is a mere bagatelle - Tour de France here I come. 

North Stradbroke Island - Straddie

The joy of being in Queensland is that there are so many lovely places to escape to. The last time we went to Straddie, the island had been ravaged by fires and about one third of all the forest cover was lost. We returned to find that the forests have all regenerated, it is as beautiful as ever, and so within our reach. 

We took a walk along the beach almost as soon as we arrived and came across some very strange objects - blue, almost paper thin sacs of nothingness which we were washed up onto the beach. I now know that these are Blue Bottles or Pacific Man oWar which are not a single animal but a colony of four kinds of highly modified zooids which depend on one another to perform different functions. They are also hermaphrodites.They have a painful sting and what I didn't know is that even when dead they can deliver a sting. We prodded them but actually stopped short of picking them up. Just as well. It seemed to me there was fine stitching on the top and wondered how nature did this. 

A little further we found shells with the most intense blue on their underside. 

The ocean in all its glory and other hues of blue and aqua. 

Point Lookout on the far northern corner of the island is a small hamlet with a few shops and the Great Gorge Walk. This is a lovely board walk on the edge of the ocean with some stops along the way where you can sit and watch the whales, the dolphins and the turtles all swimming in the ocean below. 

 The Gorge Walk

When we had our fill of them, we drove the car onto Main Beach and had fun exploring the long coastline, watching the birds, exploring the flora, and picnicking by Brown lake which was so inviting.

Main Beach. 

We took a 5.2 km walk to Blue Lake which is a sacred place for Aboriginal women and enjoyed the walk and the serenity of the lake. 

 The Blue Lake

 Brown Lake and a resident monitor lizard that was sunning itself among the reeds.

We drove to Flinders beach for the boys to swim and returned in the evening to catch the most sensational sunset.