Walking on Sacred Land
Australia, 2009
We are all visitors to this time, this place.
We are just passing through.
Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love…
and then we return home.
— Australian Aboriginal saying
Having been able to secure a place on a boat trip to Antarctica I have to renew my visa for New Zealand[1], as the boat leaves from the country’s Southern island. While it is said to be possible to get it done from within the country, there is also the option of leaving the country and getting back in. Visiting Rarotonga and Australia is a much more appealing option to me than diving into the paperwork. So, off I am for a week in each of these two fascinating destinations.
Of course one week is way too short for a trip to Australia, but just enough to visit one of the two places I have been dreaming of: the Sacred Land of the Aboriginal people in the desert of Australia. Visiting and hiking Fraser Island will have to wait for another time.
Arriving in Sydney on Australia day is a nice bonus, as is meeting Anita in the dorm of the Sydney hostel. There being an instant connection between the two of us, we spend the evening sharing stories about our travels and lives. She goes home and I fly to Uluru the next morning.
I have been warned: it is going to be hot and the flies will drive me mad. Knowing that the hostel has a pool and showers, I feel confident I will be able to deal with the heat. I will also manage to deal with the flies, I had assured everyone. They just laughed at me; a lot. Finally I surrendered to buying a bug net to wear over my hat. Trying it, I felt like I was imprisoned and I could not imagine wanting to wear it. Even less so in temperatures exceeding forty degrees Celsius. But, who am I to think that I will be the exception to the rule.