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American Morning
CNN TRAVEL NOW Offers Overview of the Australia Outback This Weekend
Aired May 04, 2001 - 09:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: As we told you, as many as 40 million people were expected to be tuning into CBS last night to see who would be the ultimate "Survivor" of the Australian outback.
We have our own survivor, CNN travel correspondent Stephanie Oswald, was in the Outback herself, and has survived, and has come back here to tell us all about it and give some sense of what this week's program is all about.
STEPHANIE OSWALD, CNN TRAVEL CORRESPONDENT: That is right, Stephen.
Even if you are not a fan of "Survivor," you can be a fan of Australia. And we are headed out into the center of the continent this weekend. We are going to out to Uluru, which is one of the biggest highlights to any trip to Australia. It's the giant sandstone monolith in the center of the continent.
FRAZIER: It's not always called that, is it?
OSWALD: Well, it's also known as Ayers Rock.
FRAZIER: All right.
OSWALD: Depending on whether you use the aboriginal or the other, more modern term.
FRAZIER: It looks pretty remote. How did you get there?
OSWALD: Well, you can either drive up. And this is something -- you drive for miles, and all of a sudden you see this amazing stone rising from the center of the desert. And you can go all the way up to it. And then you could hike around the base, which is about a 6- mile hike -- not too bad.
FRAZIER: You did that, of course.
OSWALD: We did. And then we were really lucky. We also had a chance to go out on camelback. And that was beautiful. We went on safari in the middle of the night. You get up at 3:00 in the morning. And you go out in the dark. And you head out on these camels. And you watch the sunrise over Uluru or Ayers Rock.
FRAZIER: And is it true that the rock changes color with the position of the sun, as the sun rises and sets?
OSWALD: It does. It's the one of the most magical and mystical places. It's the physical heart of Australia, but it's also one of the most spiritual hearts, one of the most spiritual centers in the world. People come there and they say that there is an energy about Uluru or Ayers Rock. And for the Aboriginal people who live there, it is something that is very -- it's very spiritual and sacred to them. In fact, they don't even want to you climb it.
FRAZIER: It looked like you were feeling some of energy there as you road on a camel at 3:00 in the morning. You were smiling too much for that to be 3:00.
OSWALD: It was really neat. It's one of those things, you forget about the time, when you are on a camel looking at this amazing site. But if you don't want to go out on a camel, there's another option. It's a lot smoother: the Harley-Davidson ride.
(LAUGHTER)
OSWALD: You can take a tour on motorcycle.
FRAZIER: One last thing It used to be you could -- here are the motorcycles showing how you get there. And you can see the kind of scrub that you are riding through.
It used to be popular to climb all over the rock. And there are little handholds and like an arm, a rope that you hold onto
(CROSSTALK)
OSWALD: You can. As I said, it's very controversial, because the Aboriginal people don't want people -- they encourage tourists not -- they encourage people not to hike up the rock.
FRAZIER: Got you.
OSWALD: So -- but we didn't go -- we didn't hike it. But we certainly did take in the beauty. And it's gorgeous.
FRAZIER: Now, you show a lot of respect for Aboriginal customs in this program, too. You spent some time at a dance ceremony during this visit.
OSWALD: We did. We will take -- if you tune into tomorrow, we will take you to a dance performance. You can see here these amazing pictures. They are dancing. These are travel dances. The people are painted in colors of the earth, different colors of the earth. And each dance has a different meaning.
And if you watch, sometimes it's interesting to note they are imitating different animals. So if you look, you will see a kangaroo. You will see an emu. And they each tell a story. It's all from what they call "dream time."
FRAZIER: Which is what happens when Aborigines go walk about and have this sort of 40-days-in-the-desert kind of experience that
(CROSSTALK)
OSWALD: It's very spiritual.
(CROSSTALK)
FRAZIER: ... manhood, womanhood
(CROSSTALK)
OSWALD: Exactly. And we will tell you all about that tomorrow on "CNN TRAVEL NOW," 6:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Eastern.
FRAZIER: Great, Stephanie. It looks exciting. We'll see you then. Thanks very much for explaining it to us today.
OSWALD: Thank you.
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