Opening Up To the Australian Outback
IT WASN’T UNTIL my final day in the Outback that I heard the Aboriginal belief that in order to truly understand and appreciate the sense of place and spirituality of Uluru, you have to sit and listen to it — not just Uluru for that matter, but all of nature. As I thought about that and started listening to the land, many of the questions I had about the Outback began to answer themselves, and I felt like for the first that I was connected with that red earth I was standing on.
The Outback, in Australia’s Northern Territory, is a thought-provoking place. The continent’s Aborigines have been living off its resources for nearly 50,000 years. It’s a place that on first glance may look like an arid desert, but the deeper you dig at its surface the more you find. It’s difficult, however, to finger the real Outback: Is it the road trains carrying hundreds of heads of cattle, or the monstrous tour buses that stop at predetermined locations unloading thousands of camera-yielding tourists?
There are just as many different experiences that one can have in the Outback. If you do go, may I make one recommendation…don’t force it. Sit and listen — it’ll give back.
This post is proudly produced in partnership with Travel NT.