This week on Great Australian Walks Julia Zemiro walks around the base of Uluru, the spiritual heart of the country, to understand its magnetic pull on Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Julia starts not at Uluru but Kata Tjuta, which used to be known as the Olgas, named by explorer Ernest Giles back in 1872 after Queen Olga of Wurttemberg! Here she meets Glennon Babui, a tour guide who explains how these giant rock formations evolved some 500 million years ago.
Before Julia arrives at Uluru she wants to take in the majesty of the rock from afar so she stops at a lookout. It is awe-some, in the full sense of the word.
Then she’s at the base of the rock to meet Reggie Uluru, a senior elder. Reggie tells Julia he was there in 1985 when the government handed back the title deeds to the land. Reggie was also instrumental in shutting the climb in 2019.
Next Julia is taken on the first leg of the walk by Leroy Lester, a ranger whose father was also integral to the 1985 handback. Unlike Reggie, who signed the deeds, Yammy Lester was 100% blind – a victim of the nearby nuclear explosions in Maralinga in the 1950s.
Then she meets writer and broadcaster Benjamin Law, who has flown in to chat about Uluru’s presence in pop culture, the arts and society: from Midnight Oil to Paul Hogan to the Olympic torch.
“I remember growing up in Australia, that this is just something you saw on commercials, hey, towels, beer, coasters, magnets,” he reflects.
Finally Julia arrives back at the beginning and meets Rita Okai, artist and Anangu woman who is waiting for her with a bush tucker feast – honey ants … and a witchetty grub!
With her belly replenished they walk to Mutitjulu Waterhole, a sacred space where Anangu leaders often take visiting VIPs, including Oprah Winfrey, Prince Charles and Diana, Wills and Kate and the Dalai Lama.
Having completed the walk, Julia finds a lookout to soak in the sunset and reflect on how it has changed since she was last here 20 years ago. “It leaves me optimistic, with hope,” she concludes.
7:30pm Thursday on SBS.
links to content on ABC
TV Tonight
