Ayers Rock Resort

Ayers Rock Resort puts on multiple, free presentation which start at 9 am.  Only problem is that the resort shuttle bus doesn't start service until 10:30. That's ok if you are staying in one of the various accommodations that are in that part of the resort but the campground and the Outback Pioneer Motel, where we were staying, are on the far side of the loop.  Therefore we had to take this sandy path across the middle of the resort to get to the earlier presentations.

The first two presentations started at this stone circle with the same person doing the presentation.  The first presentation was the Garden Walk.  This consisted of a walk around the town center discussing the various vegetation and how it was used by the aboriginals before European settlements. 

The Ghost Gum is endemic to central Australia and has a smooth white bark that has a powdery surface. The powder dust is used to whiten tribal headbands for ceremonial occasions while the tree provided good firewood. Gum from the tree was used as a leech repellent and an antiseptic relief from burns. Properties and preparation from the bark were used to fight chest infections and sore eyes. Generations believed and were taught the glow of the trees at night was evidence of the presence of living spirits.  Our guide says it is also called the widow maker because of how it can suddenly shed branches.  

This Acacia tree produces the second strongest wood in Australia which is called molga wood.  Molga wood is used to make most of the aboriginal weapons.  It is a slow burning wood. 

Native mistletoe grows on this acacia.  For Aboriginal people, mistletoes were primarily a source of food because their sticky fruits were sweet. The medical properties of particular species were even used to treat common colds. Birds eat the seeds and that is how mistletoe is dispersed. What you might not know is that Australia is home to over 90 different species of mistletoe, more than anywhere else in the world. 

This is a Sturt Desert Pea, the floral emblem of southern Australia.  

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This is a Chocolate bush... yeah don't I wish it produced dark chocolate bars, but no, it just smells a little like chocolate.  But the aboriginals used its seeds as a laxative.

Old Man Salt bush has been used by the native Aborigines of Australia for centuries for both culinary and medicinal purposes. The indigenous people collected the seeds to roast and grind for adding to damper, a traditional bush bread cooked over an open fire. They used the ashes of the burnt leaves like baking soda and ground the seeds as a flour substitute. Leaves were used as a poultice for burns or wounds.  The plant also provided good shade for edible snakes that coiled underneath.

The desert oak is a slow-growing tree found in deep sands.  This one is thought to be 200 to 300 years old.  The next photo shows juvenile trees that look more like feather dusters.  The Anangu extract desert oak seeds from the woody cone for roasting and eating. In the warmer months, the cones exude a sweet, white fluid that is good for drinking.  These trees are fire resistant and need fire to propagate.  The Anangu practiced patch burning where they would purposely burn an area to get the trees to release their seeds. 

The young juvenile desert oak trees have a prickly foliage, deterring grazing animals from eating it. They send down a strong tap root looking for the water table and a more reliable water supply. When they reached the water table around 20 to 50 meters down, they grow taller and become adult trees, sending out side branches, transforming into a tree with weeping shape and smooth foliage.

 The Desert Fig is endemic to central and northern Australia. It is usually found growing on rocky outcrops, reaching up to a height of 30 feet.  The roots of the figs can penetrate half a kilometer into rock crevices in search of moisture. The broad, evergreen leaves have a skin which is glossy on one side, to reflect the sun’s heat, and thick, to cut down water loss by evaporation.  The fruits change from yellow to orange red as they ripen, and can be eaten once ripe and soft.  The fruit of the native fig in Central Australia are an important part of Aboriginal ‘bush food’ diet and such that the trees and where they grow were often regarded as sacred. The figs were eaten raw or dried and ground into a paste and eaten with water or honey.

Now this looks familiar.  I see these bottle brush bushes and trees in Arizona.  These are endemic to Australia, and we just happened to be there during their peak flowing time. 

See next photo

The Anangu made an ointment for burns from the bark of the Red River gum tree.  

See below

The Grey Cassia is a relative to the chocolate bush but don't get them confused... one makes edible food and the other is a laxative.

Close up of the Grey Cassia foliage and flowers. 

Lemon Grass

The next presentation was called Bush Yarns so we expected to hear some Anangu stories.  No it was a presentation about their weapons instead.  The following website gives interesting information about both the food and weapons of the Anangu.  https://parksaustralia.gov.au/uluru/discover/culture/bush-foods-and-tools/

Pretty but still a pigeon.  A Crested Pigeon

Found this photo online.  

Next stop was the resort grocery store.  These short, thick carrots were definitely different.

Now that's an apt name for Rice Crispies

No we didn't eat Dory, she's too cute of a fish. 

In the afternoon, we watched this musician try to teach people how to play the digeridoo. 

Our last presentation of the day was Bush Food.  Some of this was repeat information from the morning's garden walk.  They explained how the Grey Cassia seeds could be ground into balls and fried.  Another tree produces orange sugar crystals on the ends. 
Then there's the Honey Ants.  If you go to the link under the Bush Yarns post, you can read how they fill their abdomens with honey so all you do is bite off their bums for a sugar rush.   
The Harlequin mistletoe produces sticky berries that are called Snotty Gobles.  They are used as an appetite suppressor.   
Dig a meter below an acacia tree and you might find Maku or witchetty grubs. 
There are 36 varieties of bush tomatoes but only 6 are edible so you have to know what you are doing if you are going to make them into soup.
 

The evening's entertainment was a bus ride out to an overlook where we watched the sun set on Uluru and a light art installation.

Just as it's getting dark enough for the lights to come on.

Once it was full dark, we followed a footpath down the hill and walked through the light display.