Monday 29th January 2007. Uluru, Northern Territory.

This morning I had the privilege of being one of the small band of people worldwide who have enjoyed the spectacle of sunrise in the Australian outback. The beauty of the sun rising over Uluru was simply breathtaking. I also got to see my first dingo up close and personal.

Bettina and I set quite a pace this morning on our hike around the perimeter of Uluru, but for me this was much more than a tourist experience. There is something very spiritual in the realisation that we are but cogs in the wheel of time and despite man's continuing inhumanity to his fellow man in the race for materialistic superiority the forces of God and nature will always prevail over man's so-called progress.

I am horrified though by the cultural vandalism that I have seen. Cheap flights and mass transit mean that every idiot can travel and destroy that which they do not understand. It is sad that so many tourists lack the brains to respect these sacred sights and continue taking their insignificant tourist photos when asked not too. Indeed, we even witnessed two French tourists climbing on the rock for that 'special photo'.

I have been fascinated by Aboriginal culture and the more I read the more I am convinced that the Western world whilst supposedly strong is infact weak from fighting the unwinable fight against time. We fight with modern machinery, we fight with economics, we fight because of religion and ideology and we fight to be the richest most successful material beings we can be. We fight the ravages of time even to the extent of betraying our beauty in the actions of cosmetic surgery...what we don't do is teach the next generation to care for and enjoy all that is special here on earth!

We really need to consider what we as westerners have done to traditional cultures worldwide. I personally draw similarities with the Aboriginal, the Native American and the Yamana of Ushuia. Our scientific advance has challenged and betrayed traditional beliefs but what have we brought these communities...the cultural progress of the concrete jungle and materialism?

From the beginnings of our exploration we brought the diseases of the West and the 'currency' of alcohol to a gene pool ill-equipped to deal with the excesses of modern life...Call this real environmentalism, real progress, real advance???
I think not!!

Here in the Northern Territory Western influence is even more marked. In the early 21st century Elders are fighting to hold communities together against a tide of cultural imperialism. The remote Northern Territory is no longer isolated. Mothers want their children educated in the way of the white man, but that said there is no secondary school provided in this supposedly first world nation. If your child is to further their education they need to leave the community and live hundreds of kilometers away in Alice Springs.

The problem is that such division of the community does not allow for the passing on of traditional skills. Boys traditionally would be educated in the community learning the skills to become men from their fathers, grandfathers and the men of the community. Whilst boys learnt to be hunters, girls learnt to be gatherers from the women of the community. Such skills will be lost to history as communities become more and more Westernised.

Tribal beliefs after all teach not just about creation and how physical things came into being but also about how we should behave and act towards each other and how and why things happen.

Such tribal beliefs act as 'laws' explaining the relationship between people, plants, animals and the land instructing us how to relate to each other and the environment.

For individual communities the totem may be a special plant, animal or natural force that an aboriginals family will have in their Dreaming Sign.

Just like the North American Indian there is a strong belief that no-one owns the land. Land can never be owned and indeed Dreamtime creatures have paths on which they travel across the land and this is why tribes living at long distances are still connected as part of the Aboriginal nation. The tribes belong not to Australia as a single country but to the land where they live.

Today aboriginals believe that rocks (hence Uluru) water-holes, land formations and trees are special signs marking the areas where spirits or ancestors once lived, learned lessons or fought battles. Ceremonies are held in these special places as aborigines believe the spirits are still a part of the area.

We walked to Kantju Waterhole at Uluru where the Mala ceremony culminates with boys becoming men.

When you take a photo you have simply a snapshot in time. Traditional beliefs view the "life within" Uluru for example as the important thing.

I then took a Harley ride around Uluru. The last time I was on a Harley was in Cleveland, Ohio and it is appropriate that I rode on one in the world's other big road country...But, trust me, I got the guy who liked to ride on the wrong side of the road...but, I also got the opportunity to be driven back to Yulara on the bike. What a cultural treat to have my last sight of Ayers Rock from the back of a Harley. It was so cool and I took the whole ride with the look no hands approach which allowed me to lean right back and get the full wind burn in the face...and one thing I really note today is how the colours of the rock change throughout the day.

Back on the road after lunch and we make a pit stop at Curtin Springs before heading to the Mount Connor viewing point where I witnessed my first sand storm.

Our destination today is Kings Creek Station where we all enjoy a refreshing swim before dinner round the campfire and our first night under the stars sleeping in our SWAG's. It really is the most beautiful night sky with the moonlight swimming through the trees and the sky illuminated by the stars.

Point to note... The Emu with the dust of the red Earth Mother on his feet reminds us to protect and always put back as much as we take from the land. The Kopoo, or Red Kangaroo, the colour of the land reminds us to always take time for ourselves. The Mungoongarlie with its short legs brings news that we the children of the earth are failing to make time for each other.