Invasion or Immigration?

[spacesailor]

It won,t make any difference to the original owners , as their money comes out of our tax dollars .

Also

Cape York used to have ' toilets ' ( for tourist- visitors  ), they were not maintained after the place was returned to the native ' owners  '. Now , this year it,s said " no toilet facilities " . But they keep collecting royalties. 

spacesailor

[Jerry_Atrick]

12 hours ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

I wonder what will be asked for if the "voice" referendum goes through. I bet it will not be extra ( or any ) responsibilities.

My guess is that it be more money. Or more power to stop whitefellers doing awful things like rock-climbing.

Hey I read that Uluru was being re-enstated for climbing, on account of how visitor numbers have fallen. Is this so?

This coincided with COVID not too long after.. so I wonder how the numbers will stack up in a couple of years.. For me, although it can no longer be climbed, its majesty would still see me visiting. And the offspring want to go...

 

 

 

 

[onetrack]

I was fortunate in that I visited Uluru (or Ayers Rock as it was known then) in 1969, when it was still a remote and interesting place, and wasn't just a tourist destination with vast amounts of organised, standardised group tours, restrictions, kow-towing to Aboriginals, and a lot of general booming up of a culture that is still centred in the Stone Age, and which still refuses to indulge in basic levels of civility, cleanliness, and respect for others property.

 

It always gets me that the Aboriginals claim they are the "custodians of the Land", to be worshipped as such, yet they are the biggest litterers, and the most violently destructive of all the cultural groups in Australia, and expect the the whites to sort out the regular destruction and mess they make, on a constant basis.

They have sucked hundreds of billions out of the Australian taxation system, and have contributed very little in return, apart from a few outstanding "black trackers".

[facthunter]

The  "set up" at Uluru is high investment, high cost and not a REAL"OUTBACK" experience. The "Guides" come from Katherine and can't speak the local dialect. The Rock  is not very safe to walk on and I accept it  is sacred to the Natives who only walked on it on rare  special occasions.  The most common comment was "Well I've seen it and won't need to again."   In my opinion the Grampians and Mt Buffalo are far better spectacles Nev

[old man emu]

1 hour ago, facthunter said:

 In my opinion the Grampians and Mt Buffalo are far better spectacles Nev

You simply must see the Warrumbungles.

[facthunter]

I have and I agree. Nev

[Yenn]

Or Mt Connor?

We have to revere the Aboriginal culture, but what defines culture and did the Abo

riginals have any?

[spacesailor]

Mount Conner is almost  ( only about 35m shorter ) the same night as Ularu ,

And would mahe a better climb for the adventurous. 

It is also rumored that Western Australia has a higher ' rock ' .Than Ayre or Conner ! .

spacesailor

[willedoo]

9 hours ago, onetrack said:

I was fortunate in that I visited Uluru (or Ayers Rock as it was known then) in 1969, when it was still a remote and interesting place

I was lucky enough to see the Bungle Bungles like that, before the majority of Australian city dwellers and tourists had heard of it. A mate and I camped there for a while when we went out to quote on a road upgrade into the Bungles. An Aboriginal mob had claimed traditional ownership and a settlement was to be built. The road needed to be road train standard and in it's existing form had too many jump ups, hence the reason we were there.

 

There was nobody there except me and the mate, and a driller with his wife and kids a few k's down the track. He was putting down a water bore for the future settlement. I still remember sitting by the fire with the Bungles as a big backdrop and having the place all to ourselves. Now, you're lucky if you don't get run over by a tourist bus.

 

I don't know if it's still accessible, but there was a track that went around the south side of the Bungles and halfway up the east side where the cones are. Over toward the horizon in the east was some good looking rock formations like hammer heads and the like. Real cowboy movie stuff.

[rgmwa]

I circled Mt  Connor on the way to Uluṟu. Approached it from the south east after leaving Kulgera. It’s spectacular from that side jutting straight up out of the flat country, but the back looks a lot less steep and would be easy to climb. When I first saw it in the distance I thought for a moment that my navigation must have been  out and I was looking at Uluṟu. 

[Jerry_Atrick]

So much of Aus I still have to see...

[nomadpete]

F

On 08/09/2022 at 9:32 PM, spacesailor said:

Mt Augusta, in W.A. ........

All the colours of Ayers Rock, without so many tour busses

[Bruce Tuncks]

I don't think that Uluru was sacred to the Aborigines, well not until they saw how much money it made. Mt Connor will become sacred if enough people change.

There is an interesting book written by the pilot who accompanied the Lasseter expedition. He hid from the locals while whittling a new prop.

[Bruce Tuncks]

At the base of the rock, there is a plaque of all the people who died climbing... there are 2 distinct groups...

1. silly old buggers who had a heart attack.

2. Silly young buggers who were running and couldn't stop what with the increasing grade.

[Bruce Tuncks]

The book is called "Hell's Airport"  by Eric Coote.

I reckon he was a poor pilot who continually got stuck in darkening conditions, after last light.

Further, he failed to diagnose that Lasseter clearly was a severe mental case. Apparently Lasseter used to sleep alone in the locked truck, surrounded by all his many guns and their ammo.

[onetrack]

I climbed Uluru pretty easily in less than a couple of hours, but I was only 20 when I did, and extremely fit. I reckon a lot of people over 60 today would struggle to do it. The view from the top is fantastic.

I also climbed Mt Toolbrunup in 1978 with a much younger mate - who was really competitive. I was 29 and he was only 20 - so he decided he was going to beat his "elderly" mate to the top.

Mt Toolbrunup is a real killer, the slopes are that steep the last 800-900 feet, you're close to being on your hands and knees. Despite that, I still beat him to the top! He couldn't believe it!

 

https://trailswa.com.au/trails/trail/mt-toolbrunup

 

Mt Augustus in the W.A. Murchison region is much larger than Uluru, but not as steep and covered with quite a lot of vegetation. It's not anywhere near as impressive in appearance as Uluru.

Mt Connor is often mistaken for Uluru by first timers in the region. It too, is an impressive piece of rock.

 

I bought a 2WD Hilux from an Alice Springs auction in Oct 2014, flew to Alice Springs and drove the Hilux back to Perth. I had an excellent run, the roads were pretty good, and the worst section of the Tjukaruru Road had recently been graded (between the Olgas and the W.A. border). Here's a photo montage of my solo outback trip.

 

https://www.pbase.com/onetrack/tjukaruru_rd__grt_central_road

 

Another scenic spot is the curiously-named Schwerin Mural Crescent, a crescent-shaped range of low mountains between Giles/Warakurna and the W.A./S.A. border. A bloke who worked at Giles weather station has a good video on YouTube about the Schwerin Mural Crescent. Just search "Schwerin Mural Crescent Youtube".

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by onetrack

[facthunter]

  You get better views from your plane than any mountain in Australia.. Nev

[willedoo]

14 minutes ago, facthunter said:

  You get better views from your plane than any mountain in Australia.. Nev

As long as you polish that perspex.

[red750]

I have never visited central or Western Australia, but in 1962 I did climb Cradle Mountain in Tasmania. Somewhere in a cupboard I have some colour slides, but haven't seen them in many years.

[old man emu]

You blokes ought to visit the Warrumbungles. 

[Bruce Tuncks]

Great pics Onetrack. I personally stayed at Docker River helping to wire the school for the  internet.

I reckon you didn't stop at Docker River. But the Petermann Ranges were better than I thought they would be.

I well remember how busy the road was on the way home...   every few minutes, a pair of grey nomads with their big Jayco pulled by a Landcruiser would come the other way. And this is as remote a part of Australia there is ! Just past Lasseter's grave...

[onetrack]

Bruce, I didn't stop at Docker River, because whites are no longer welcome there, and any tourism facilities are trashed beyond belief. Warakurna Roadhouse and Caravan Park was good, I stopped there overnight. I gave Warburton a miss, too, because I've been to Warburton before, and it makes Docker River look good. Warburton resembles some of the worst black slums and ghettos in South Africa.

 

The sign on the Warakurna Roadhouse says it all - never take your eyes off your petrol, and lock everything and bolt everything to the ground, the instant you plan to walk more than 20 metres away from it.

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by onetrack

[nomadpete]

Went down Gunbarrel Highway in 2001. Loved the country. It has a timeless unforgiving beauty. Not impressed by modern indigenous culture along the way.

 

It seems I was an invader (back to topic)

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by nomadpete

[willedoo]

9 hours ago, onetrack said:

Here's a photo montage of my solo outback trip.

Nice photos onetrack. Now you've got me wanting to see the country again. I thought I'd seen enough of it for one lifetime, but those pics get the  nostalgia going.

[Bruce Tuncks]

I got offered a job at Docker River, as the Buildings superintendent. When I asked just what was involved, I was told that the indigenous didn't know to stop using a blocked dunny, so on Monday the Building Super had to get them cleared and working again.

I wonder if the job was ever filled...

PS...  my vote is for immigration not invasion. And I grew up in a town with lots of indigenous.