To climb, or not to climb Uluru?
Wayne wanted to, I didn’t!
*insert heated discussed here*
As a child, whenever I dreamed about visiting
Ayers Rock it always included me climbing to
the top. When I grew up, this didn’t change. I
figured if I was fit enough, I would give it a go.
When I met Wayne, he felt exactly the same
and we couldn’t wait to tick the Climb off our
bucket lists.
But something changed! When we began to
research our Red Centre Adventure, I read so
many articles and found myself diving into
Aboriginal history. Ashlee was learning about
our land, the ‘white man’ and dream time and I
found myself wanting to know more. The more
I read about Uluru and the makings of Yulara,
the more I started to sway against doing the
climb.
A few months before we left I broke the news to
Wayne. I will not be climbing the Rock…and…I
don’t think you should either! Well, you can
imagine how that comment went down. What
followed were some heated conversations
which struck a chord for both of us. Despite
being confronting, I loved that we could
communicate how we felt. We listened and we
respected each other’s opinion.
the idea of doing this with her Dad outweighed
any argument I might have.
Her young mind was set – I believed it was set
on making her Dad proud, she was 8! This had
nothing to do with the Aboriginal people, this
was a little girl who wanted to do something
with her Dad. Geez…this was a tough one.
I put forward my case: “She is too young, it
is dangerous, I really don’t think she should,
when she gets older she can decide”.
So did he: “She will be fine, I will be with her,
our friends younger than Ash have done it”.
This went around and around right up to us
arriving in Yulara. I told Wayne that I wanted
her to read all the signage at the rock BEFORE
she climbed and I voiced very strongly that I
was not happy. Wayne wanted her to make the
decision, so right up to getting out of the car
we were not too sure which way this could go.
(I think in the back of my mind I would pull the
MUM card if I needed to…lol).
I got out of the car and saw all the people
clambering up the rock face and my heart sank.
My gut feeling was right, I really was dead
against climbing.
My belief was based around a gut feeling and
all the information that Dr Google had given
me; the Aboriginal people didn’t want me to
climb it and I respected that! It was dangerous,
36 people have died. I got it and my decision
was made. Wayne’s belief was very simple:
“I have always wanted to climb it so I will. The
Rock is Australian and I am Australian so I have
a right to climb it.”
In the end, he was very firm with his decision and
I with mine. All good… until… Ashlee decided
that she wanted to climb it with Daddy!! My
stomach lurched….crap!
He said YES…I said NO! I am not sure why, but
this thought made me feel sick to the tummy.
After everything Ashlee was learning at school
I really thought she would decline. However,
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We wandered over to the massive signs at the
base of the climb and I made Ashlee read it all.
“Mum, can you really die?” “Why don’t they
want us to climb”. The more we talked about it
all, the more upset I found I was getting.