Out of Body Experience

October 16, 2016

In my twenties, I lived at Yulara (the town near Ayers Rock) for nine months. I was there when the matinee jacket was found that undermined Lindy Chamberlain’s conviction for murder (a dingo really did take that baby). I was also there when the Australian government officially handed back the rock to the Aboriginal people.

The desert is a peculiar place. There is very little in the way of foliage but the place is alive with reptiles and insects, many of them poisonous. I once saw a centipede that was the size of a small snake. It came hurtling through an open door and ran up the wall. I had to trap it with a glass, which was tricky because it moved like a high-speed train and was enormous. They bite.

Uluru (Ayers Rock) itself is spectacular, particularly at dawn and sunset. I once walked around its base with a friend. It was a hot day. We took no water. My friend brought us Toblerones to eat. It was a very, very dry 9.5 kilometres.

I had a series of out of body experiences while I was living at Yulara. They scared the hell out me. They began with ringing in my ears and a heavy presence on my chest. My body was paralysed but I was awake. I could feel and hear something, a small animal, walking around me. I was suspended, no longer at the controls but aware of everything.