The Red Centre
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Here is a quick Spectrum 2 map - an Australian desert scene - camels, wedge tail eagles and all. The name is aboriginal, but not in the right dialect. I am hunting for the Pitjantjatjara word for red centre.
Here is a quick Spectrum 2 map - an Australian desert scene - camels, wedge tail eagles and all. The name is aboriginal, but not in the right dialect. I am hunting for the Pitjantjatjara word for red centre.
Comments
Camels are not indigenous to Australia, right? No Kangaroos?
Australia has more camels than any other country. They were imported in the 1800's to supply northern Australia from Adelaide, along with their Afghan handlers (the railway line that replaced them is called the Ghan Express). The first grand piano in Alice Springs (centre of Australia, almost) was brought by camel - with an equal weight on the camel to counterbalance the piano!
They are highly prized by the Middle East Sheiks, since they are disease free due to their extended, very extended 'quarantine' in Oz.
I used to won 4 camels - see below. All came from the feral population. I love camels - they are so versatile, and very loyal, if you treat them right (which many owners in the Middle east do not). And proFantasy or CSUAC didn't have a symbol for kangaroos (Big Reds in the red centre) unfortunately.
My baby camel, Selene
@DaltonSpence 100% correct, there is a feral population now, they (tamed ones of course) are used for tourism in the outback and on the west coast, particularly at Uluru and Broome.
Speaking of which, @Quenten my first thought looking at your map was of Uluru. Good job mate.
Yes, it was meant to evoke the spirit of Uluru, and the Australian outback (with Rotorua springs added in)
@Quenten Thanks! I knew they were there, but wanted to make sure. The US Cavalry tried Camels for the Southwest for a time. It didn't work out and they eventually died out. Not enough for a breeding population I guess.
Map looks great. But I can see we really need to have Sue make more animals for us :)
@Quenten - Did you manage to find the Pitjantjatjara term for "Red Centre"?
I did have a brief chase-round online, and sourced a Pitjantjatjara-English dictionary, but unfortunately, it's only available in hard-copy printed format. There's some nice information regarding Uluru/Kata Tjuta online, though what I sourced about those names suggested "Uluru" is simply a proper name and doesn't have a meaning beyond that, while Kata Tjuta means literally "head many", which I'd guess means "many heads", and maybe refers to the appearance of the rocky uplands from a distance.
I also came across this Omniglot webpage on Pitjantjatjara with a sample text and translation which notes that Ayers Rock is called Mututjulu in Pitjantjatjara. Unfortunately, many of the linked webpages from this page no longer exist, including the source for this text and translation, so I'm not sure what the meaning of this - if there is one - may be.