The Big Rock That Is Called Uluru

I think that staying at Uluru - Ktata Jtuta National Park was great. We didn't exactly stay at the rock. We stayed in a resort near the rock in the middle of nowhere. The closet town is almost 500 km away, and the closet city is almost 1500 km away. This is almost the middle of Australia. On the other hand, the flies and heat were unbearable. They sell special nets at the resort to go over your heads, but we had already bought some in Perth. We wanted to nets because of the flies that fly all over our eyelashes and faces to get salt and moisture. They even get inside your net when you reach inside to itch a spot or lick a sucker and sometimes they even get in your eyes. They do not bite though. The heat was intense, 123 degrees fahrenheit (about 49 celsius). 

Scientists think that Uluru is part of a much larger rock underground. They think the whole thing was underground at one time and the ground around it got eroded away by rain and wind. Now, the part that we see sticks out of the ground. Uluru is very large and Ktata Tjuta (which means "many heads" in the Anangu language - the native people of the area. 

There is a lot more to tell, so I will do another entry. 

Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA)

Today we went to the Aquarium of Western Australia. We saw three kinds of jellyfish. They are very cool how they move in the water. They have no brain or heart. We saw three kinds of sharks that swam in a huge tank. We actually walked through a long, round tunnel and the sharks, giant rays, fish, and eels swam right over us. It was kind of freaky but cool. 

We also saw an octopus up close. It looked right at us as it moved around in it's tank. We got to touch a lot of sea creatures, like starfish, rays, and sea cucumbers. There was one really funny fish that would come out of the water and spit a stream of water right at us. It was so funny and he would do it again and again. 

There was also a large pond outside with many big stingrays in it. They are so cool to watch as they move in the water. These ones sometimes tried to come out of the water but they weren't scary. They seemed friendly. Tomorrow we are going on a boat to see dolphins in the wild. I can't wait!

Rottnest 2

While we were on Rottnest Island we saw animals called quokas. This is a type of marsupial animal (like koala and kangaroos) but when Europeans arrived they thought these animals looked like big rats so they named the island "rat's nest" which then became "Rottnest" later. These are not rats but they are about as big as a racoon and they are very calm. My little brother thought they were very cute .  

The Aboriginal name for the island is Wadjemup. This is a word of the language of the Noonygar people. There are hundreds of Aboriginal languages in Australia. We went swimming and we saw a lot of fish in between the reefs. It was very cool to see the fish swimming, and little scary at first when we went under the water, because I thought they were like eels jumping out. 

I also got a mood ring on Rottnest. It tells your mood by the pressure in your blood. You can tell by different colors it changes to and it comes with a little guide sheet that says what moods the colors mean. Mine was dark blue which meant 'relaxed'.

Rottnest Island

We took a ferry to Rottnest Island today. The ferry is a big boat to take people places across the water. It took almost an hour to get to the island I think. When we arrived there, I was the first one to spot a picnic area where we could eat. It was burning hot that day, 114 degrees! This island was the prison for Aboriginal peoples for a long time. The island was a sacred place for Aboriginals for at least 7,000 years before it became a prison for them. Many Aboriginals dies while in prison on the island and there are skeletons all over the island. Now Rottnest is considered a vacation place for Australians, and many of the vacation buildings and hotels are built right over the Aboriginal graves. There is nothing written about this in our guidebook. 

Sean tries new food

Trying different foods

You might ask this question: What is Sean eating? Why is he eating like that? The answer is octopus, squid, and scallops. People in Australia eat a lot of seafood because they are surrounded by the sea (the Indian Ocean here) and most people live very close to the sea. Most of these foods just taste like crusts and spices to me, but they were ok.

Attack of the Jellyfish

I exaggerated a little with the title. When we were in Fremantle, a town a few miles away from Perth, we were swimming and I only got stung two or three times by the stinging scent left behind by jellyfish tentacles. It stung pretty much, but not a lot, and it went away pretty quickly. The beach was awesome though - except for the jellyfish! I will add pictures later!