ULURU - Australia - THE SACRED ROCK / Uluru - La Roca Sagrada.

Hi my dear friends. Australia is a very far continent which is difficult to travel to if you are in Europe. for instance. So, today we are going to visit Australia with this post and especially we will go to Uluru, The Sacred Rock. I hope you'll like it!

Hola mis queridos amigos. Australia es un continente muy lejano al que es difícil viajar si estás en Europa por ejemplo. Así que, hoy vamos a visitar Australia con este post y especialmente iremos al Uluru, La Roca Sagrada. ¡Espero que os guste!

Info:  from Speak-Up magazine.   Photos: worldhistory.org  /  lonelyplanet.es  /  viajes.nationalgeographic.es  /  asknature.org  /  sharkbay.org  /   daily.mail.org

ULURU, THE SACRED ROCK

In the heart of Australia's Northern Territory lies Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, an expansive arid zone colloquially called the country's red centre.  Its focal point is Uluru, a mamoth red rock also known as AYERS ROCK, a name given to it by European settlers a century ago.  Now returned to the Anangu people, Uluru is a deeply sacred monument to its traditional indigenous owners, who have lived there for over thirty thousand years.

FORMATION

Uluru, which means "great pebble", started to form about 550 million years ago.  Rainwater ran down high mountains, eroding sand and rock and forming big fan shapes on the plains.  The whole area submerged, and sand and mud covered the seabed.  The weight turned the sand into sandstone and the softer rocks eroded, leaving this spectacular form.

CONTOUR AND COLOUR

Standing 348 m high, and with a total circumference of 9.4 km, most of Uluru's mass is below the surface, reaching depths of up to 6 km.  It is formed out of arkose rock: the red and grey surface is the rusting of iron found naturally in arkose, while the rock's original grey colour can be seen inside its caves. From a distance, Uluru changes colour from ochre to rust to plum and charcoal. The thorny devil (Moloch horridus) is a lizard endemic to Australia which lives there.

ANCESTRAL BEINGS

The features of Uluru have a deeper meaning for the Anangu.  According to indigenous cultural beliefs, it was created in the very beginning of time when ancestral spirits crossed the land creating landscapes and life.  The gigantic fissures in the sandstone are linked to these beings, and the caves around Uluru's base are still used to perform sacred rituals.

SONGLINES

While visitors can no longer climb Uluru, you can still walk numerous hiking tracks around it.  The Anangu welcome visitors who wish to learn about their ancient history, culture and their spiritual connection to the land, which, according to their beliefs, carries creation stories known as "songlines" recounting the adventures of their ancestral beings.

VOCABULARY

-SETTLERS: colonos.-DEEPLY: profundamente. -PEBBLE: guijarro. -TO RUN DOWN: descender.FAN: abanico -  -MUD: barro  -SEABED: fondo marino  -SANDSTONE: arenisca. -TO REACH: alcanzar.  -ARKOSE: arcosa (un tipo de arenisca)  -RUSTING: oxidación  -PLUM: ciruela  -CHARCOAL: carbón.  -HIKING TRACKS: pistas de senderismo.