IN the middle of Australia stands a rock– a very big rock. It is one of Australia'smost famous natural landmarks createdover an estimated 600 million years ago.This giant of the desert is known by itsindigenous title, Uluru, but also referredto as Ayers Rock.The Aborigines have known about the

rock for thousands of years. It’s consi-dered a sacred site with importance indreamtime legend.Uluru and the surrounding areas are

of enormous cultural and spiritual signif-icance to the Pitjantjatjara and Yanku-nytjatjara people from the western des-ert region of Australia, who refer tothemselves as Anangu – the Aboriginaltraditional owners of the land.They believe all the features of the

landscape were made by their ancestorswho travelled the earth in creationtimes.Even though Ernest Giles sighted the

feature during an expedition of the areain 1872, describing it as “the remarkablepebble”, explorer William Gosse is be-lieved to have been the first non-Abori-ginal person to come across the largesandstone monolith.In July 1873 he recorded: “This rock is

certainly the most wonderful naturalfeature I have ever seen”.Gosse named the feature Ayers Rock

in honour of the then-Chief Secretary ofSouth Australia, Sir Henry Ayers.He explored the site, discovering wa-

terholes and springs, also noting evi-dence of Aboriginal occupation in thecaves.Uluru/Ayers Rock is one of the two

major features that can be found in the125,00ha Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Parkthat was established in 1958. The othersignificant site is Kata Tjuta/Olgas.The Australian government returnedownership of Uluru and its surroundsto Aboriginal people on October 26,

1985 under the condition that they wouldlease it back to Australia’s National Parksand Wildlife Agency for 99 years jointlymanaged.

Dual NamesTHIS is where a physical feature has beenofficially given both the traditional Abori-ginal name and the introduced European(or English) name.

The Aboriginal sacred site was recorded by explorer WilliamGosse in 1873, who described it as a wonderful sight

Two names, one rock

HAVE you ever come across a wordin the newspaper that you haven’tseen before or don’t know what itmeans?This week’s word is PLUMMETDefinition – to drop down orplungeFound in the news:

What’s OnlineNiE online is an integral part of theprogram and provides extrainformation and resources thatsupport this page.Go online by visiting yournewspaper’s website. You’ll find theaddress on the front page.Look for the NiE logo at the top ofthe page and click. This will linkyou to APN’s NiE webpage.

WORDY NEWSWHAT are the best Australian TouristAttractions and places to visit?That’s not an easy question toanswer as there are so many tochoose from. Australian Tales haveput together a top 10 list of whatthey believe are the best. Check itout and see if you agree. (watchvideo link online)1. Sydney Harbour (pictured)2. The Great Barrier Reef3. Tasmania4. Melbourne5. Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park6. The Great Ocean Road, Victoria7. Kakudu National Park8. Gold Coast, Qld9. The Barossa Valley, SA10. The Kimberleys, WA

News In The SpotlightDISCUSS the following topic and letus know what you think.

To Climb Or Not To ClimbTHE issue of whether or not touristsshould climb Uluru has been thesubject of debate for many years,especially since the rock washanded back to the traditionalowners in 1985 and they were givena voice in managing it.For many years the advice tovisitors has been that the traditionalowners would prefer people not toclimb.The topic has come up againrecently because the Director forNational Parks has released aproposal to close the Uluru climb forsafety, cultural and environmentalreasons.However many people feel thatUluru is a national icon and that allAustralians have a right to climb it.

In Your OpinionDO you think visitors to the Ulurushould be able to climb it or not?Let us know what you think. Goto NiE online and take a poll.

CHECK ITOUT

CHECK ITOUT

Who were the winners of thereality television show The

Block?1

A 6.5 earthquake andaftershocks were felt near

which New Zealand city lastweek?

3

Did the Duchess of Cambridgeand Prince William have a

baby girl or boy?

2

QuizzicalEach week we willtest your knowledge on

what’s been happening in thenews. The answers to thequestions can be found

on NiE online.

QuizzicalEach week we willtest your knowledge on

what’s been happening in thenews. The answers to thequestions can be found

on NiE online.

NEXTWEEK:WHAT’S YOUR

VIEW?

NEXTWEEK:WHAT’S YOUR

VIEW?

DID YOU KNOW?● Uluru/Ayers Rock is located veryclose to the actual geographical centreof Australia.● Uluru/Ayers Rock is not the world'slargest monolith. This title belongs toMt Augustus in Western Australia.● Uluru is 348m high, 3.6km long,1.9km wide, 9.4km around the base,covers 3.33sq km and extends manykilometres into the ground (no exactfigure can be given).● Surface oxidation of its iron contentgives Uluru its striking orange-redcolour.● Each year, about 400,000 touristsvisit the national park● Uluru was added to the WorldHeritage List for its natural values in1987 and as a cultural landscape in1994.● Depending on the time of day,temperature and weather, Uluruchanges colour from blue to violet tored.● The Anangu ask people to respecttheir culture and law by not climbingthe rock.● Uluru is1395km south of Darwin and465km south-west of Alice SpringsIt experiences an average of200–250mm of rainfall per annum anda typical desert temperature rangewhich can fall to -8°C at night-time inwinter and rise to 47°C during the dayin summer.

PHOTOS:AAP

User: greg.dawkins Time: 07-28-2013 22:49 Product: SSH PubDate: 30-07-2013 Zone: All Edition: Main Page: SHARED_14 Color: CMYK