My average work day is thick with marketing articles and blogs I wade through in order to find content that peaks my interest. Today I lucked out and found an absolutely beautiful short memoir from veteran marketer Gavin Heaton. The story is about his winter motorcycle trip to Uluru, a sacred place in the outback of Australia and how it changed his perceptions… he made me so want to there myself. Here is the full article and here is a snippet to catch your imagination.
“The Honor of Visiting and the Challenge of Staying” by Gavin Heaton
Some years ago I rode across Australia on a motorbike with the aim of visiting Uluru. With a group of friends I had been working through the Australian Reconciliation Council’s self study workbook and wanted to take this further. I wanted to visit “the dead heart”.
It took five days riding in the middle of winter to get there — and they were long days. It was bitterly cold, the towns were far apart and the physicality of riding was exhausting. Stopping at each town for petrol, I would stumble into the shop (sometimes the only one in town), hope for a cup of warm soup and a heater and then trudge numbly back for the next stint. When I arrived, finally at Yulara, the town closest to Uluru, I was relieved and thankful to be able to rest and not ride — there were five days ahead of me and I did not know what to expect.
As you approach Uluru the road turns away so that the rock disappears from your direct vision, and as you take the last turn into the carpark, you sweep around toward the base of the rock and the sheer size overwhelms you. It literally towers over you, suprises you, makes you gasp. No wonder the traditional owners believe it is a magical place. But what I was not prepared for was the lushness of the surroundings …