Location: we were about 200 miles southwest of Alice Springs, the largest town (5000 people?) in the interior of Australia. There is one paved road which goes north-south through the center of the country, and Alice is on that road. There is a paved road out to Ayer's Rock (Uluru) and one which covers half the distance to King's Canyon, both of which are about 140 miles west of the main road. Everything else is unpaved, for the most part, and generally vary in roughness from near smooth to pot holes big enough to swallow a small car. Interestingly, though, there are numerous airports around, as much of the medical treatment in the region is provided by "Flying Doctors". We flew Canberra->Sydney->Alice->Ayer's Rock, which was about 5 hours total.
Climate: it was moderately hot (in the 90's) and dry (12%humidity) while we were out there, though it cooled down to the 60's at night. It will get up to 120 degrees in mid-summer and in the low 20's at night during the winter. They get about 10 inches of rain per year, virtually all of it in the winter. It can come down so hard that roads get flooded out, and the waterfalls which can be created on some of the large rock formations can be quite spectacular, I'm told. The air is heavy with iron oxide, which turns most surfaces red and makes surfaces very basic (as opposed to acidic). After a few days it felt like my hair was continuously coated with chalk, especially after swimming.
Flora and Fauna: We were very fortunate that the winter had been quite wet, as the desert was covered with a dazzling variety of flowers, bushes, and trees. At some places it is so colorful that you forget you are in a desert. I'm told a month from now everything will be burned and brown, but for now it is wonderful. Some flowers are quite 'intelligent', waiting until after mid afternoon to bloom, though some are strong enough to bloom even in the hottest parts of the day. The bird life is quite diverse, ranging from little finches to eagles. I don't know what they eat during the summer - probably flies, which are incredibly plentiful. We saw a number of lizards and snakes in our travels. Some of the lizards grow up to 6 feet in length! (I'm told they are quite tasty). Virtually all mammals are nocturnal, including various sized marsupials, dingos (wild dogs), and mouse-like critters.
Geology: The surface geology of Australia is among the oldest on Earth, as it has been relatively unchanged (except for erosion) for countless millions of years. This is because there isn't much in the way of tectonic pressures on things. The major mountains which once towered as high as the Himalayas have long since been whittled down to less than 1000 feet in height. The most prominent structures are actually rocks which originated in the runoffs of these mountains which have since been pushed up and exposed. This can be seen in Uluru (native name for Ayer's Rock), where the layers of stratification are clearly evident. The layers run vertically instead of horizontally, as it had been rotated while being pushed up from underneath. Uluru is 1/4 mile high, 5 miles around, and fairly flat on top. It stands by itself in the desert - the next nearest structure (Kata Tjuta, also called the Olgas) is 30 miles away. This structure has a totally different geology - a set of 36 smooth domes made mostly of rocks and boulders glued together with some form of mud. Both structures offer incredible views throughout the day, mostly due to their prominence on an otherwise flat landscape and their orange-red color. Then at sunset the surfaces seem to glow bright red - very strange.
Culture: This area has been inhabited by the Aboriginal people (referred to as Ananga or traditional owners) for 12,000 years, though their rights to the land have only been agreed to by the white government for about 10 years now. Uluru National Park is now jointly managed by whites and Aboriginals, and is one of the few success stories in the battle for native title. The Aboriginal time of creation (referred to as Dreamtime) consisted of a series of spirits of various forms, who now manifest themselves as natural objects - the mountains, animals, plants, water, etc. The actions and interactions among these spirits form the basis of Aboriginal beliefs and laws. Each person is associated at birth with one of these spirits, and it is that person's responsibility to see that the stories regarding their associated spirit are passed on correctly. However, the stories are taught in parts, and a child is only allowed to hear the next part of the story after they fully comprehend and believe the earlier parts. This is causing a problem now, as Western culture is luring children away from the traditional beliefs. As outsiders, we were told the same stories presented to 4 and 5 year olds. Anything beyond these stories is too sacred to relate to non-believers. Uluru figures prominently in many Dreamtime stories, and each cave, rock outcrop, and surface marking seems to be part of one or more stories. Many of these places are so sacred that visitors are not allowed to approach or photograph them. Aboriginals believe that a photograph contains some of the spirit of the object in the picture, and that taking the picture away removes some of the spirit. It is for this reason that most Aboriginals refuse to have their pictures taken. Our greatest disappointment on this trip was the total disregard for the feelings of the Aboriginals shown by the majority of tourists (mostly Americans, Japanese, and Germans). There were signs everywhere saying that the traditional owners would prefer that people do NOT climb Uluru, as it is very sacred to them (Aboriginals themselves have only been known to climb the rock in very sacred ceremonies, which may occur only once every hundred years or so, and only by the elders of each tribe). Yet most tourists just ignored the signs, and only come here to climb the rock, buy an "I climbed the Rock" t-shirt, and see the sunsets. They get over 200,000 visitors a year here, but most places we traveled we didn't see more than a handful of other visitors (except around the pool!). We found no shortage of activities and sights to see which could be done without offending the traditional owners - too bad others are so self-centered that they see the rest of the world as their playground. Ah well.