This winter I went to Australia with my son. Its the perfect place for a California Landscape Designer to explore, as its just one of the five Mediterranean climates around the world. I use a lot of the plant material from there, and to see these plants in their native environments is interesting and instructive.
I was in Australia for several months over twenty years ago, so this was my second visit. I planned to go back to Sydney (I almost moved there 20 years ago), then venture up to the Daintree, the world’s oldest tropical rainforest and a UNESCO site (north of Cairns) and then to Atherton Tablelands wetlands retreat in a savannah ecosystem. My son has a teacher from Australia who said “You MUST go to Uluru.” I hadn’t planned to go there. I knew about Ayers Rock for a long time. It’s a long trek, by plane or otherwise, to see ‘just a rock’ I thought. Besides, I live in a most beautiful place, surrounded by magnificent mountains and rock features, geysers and wildlife. I’ve visited many deserts and spent a lot of time in Death Valley and Joshua Tree. What could one rock in the middle of the country possibly hold for me?
My travel agent also brought up the idea, and since we were in Australia over Christmas and many places were shut down for several days, Uluru seemed like a likely ‘detour’ during that lull. We were to be there for a day and a half and then drive to Alice Springs. But the holiday put a wrench in the travel plans…ferries didn’t run, planes had restricted schedules, etc…so we spent an extra day in Uluru/Kata Tjuta area. It wasn’t till later that I realized things had conspired to bring us there for a fuller experience.
Filed under: Indigenous cultures | Tagged: Aboriginals, Australia, Dreamtime, Sacred Sites, Yellowstone National Park |
Leslie Patten Books: Wild Places, Sacred Spaces 
Leave a Reply