Category Archives: Australia

Silhouette

The silhouette of Uluru from the northwest with the sun just about to rise behind it.

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Buddy

My sister once told me, “I know Orion!  He’s my buddy!  He comes out for my birthday!”  Nice to see something familiar in a usually unfamiliar sky.

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Going

Looking out at the northwest face of Uluru with the sun setting behind me.Going…Going…Gone.

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Beelzebub

I always have two thoughts when I’m watching movies set in The Outback: Man, they sure do like cutting to shots of lizards Why does everyone have flies on their faces all the time? I now have answers: The lizards … Continue reading

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Sacred

Uluru is sacred to the local Aṉangu tribe, the Pitjantjatjara people, and the site’s creation & texture are accounted for in their myths.A chain was hammered into the rock in 1964 to aid Westerners in climbing to the top, even though climbing … Continue reading

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Rules

You can’t tag me because I’m touching Uluru and Uluru is safe.

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Arkose

Uluru is composed of a type of sandstone called arkose.The surface of which has oxidized to its rusty color.It is pockmarked with caves and crevices.Some of which trigger my trypophobia.(Shudder.)Another plane flying high over the Outback triggers another thought of … Continue reading

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Conflicted

I’ve driven deep into the heart of the Australian continent, thousands of kilometers, only to discover that I’ve ended up in fucking Disney World. In 1973, the Australian government relocated & concentrated all lodging facilities around Uluru to the newly-formed … Continue reading

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Autochthonous

The “island mountain” of Uluru made me think of my all-time favorite English word:  “autochthonous”. I love that “ch” right next to that “th”.  Sublime. The Greek etymology literally means “self from the ground” and the word has two meanings.  … Continue reading

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Inselberg

At some point in my distant childhood, I developed a fascination with Ayers Rock (which was so named in 1873 by an Australian surveyor after then Premier and Chief Secretary of South Australia Sir Henry Ayers although properly known by it’s … Continue reading

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Phatic

Port Augusta quickly gives way to the Outback.  An oncoming car waited for a herd of sheep to cross the road and I slowed in response.  As we passed, the driver of the car gave me a thumbs up and … Continue reading

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Wrong

See, this would have been useful information 3000 kilometers earlier.  My bad.

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Slogan

Crossing into the Northern Territory (and setting my clock back an hour) I stopped at Kulgera for gas and some food. The place bills itself as both “The First and Last Pub in The Northern Territory” and “The Most Central … Continue reading

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Hilltop

Watching the sun set over Coober Pedy, I found myself thinking of the double sunset on Tattooine. The sound of distant chicken and sheep and dogs made me think of Gyantse in Tibet.  And how in Chapter 80 of the Dao … Continue reading

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Underhill

Coober Pedy is a legendary opal mining town.  (Apparently the name is an English corruption of the local Aboriginal term “kupa-piti” meaning “boys’ waterhole”.)  Not quite Hobbiton, but the residents famously live in dugouts underground. I stayed the night in the Lookout … Continue reading

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