These Pitjatjantjara children are delighted to show you their homelands in the Central Deserts of Australia. The world's largest monolith, Uluru or Ayer's Rock, is at least 500 million years old and is growing larger, as the sands around it erode. An Aboriginal sacred site... Swags and tents on the campground at Ayer's Rock.  A swag is a sleeping bag set on a thick foam mattress, both of which are encased in a canvas envelope... Teenage girls' bedroom in her underground house, Coober Pedy.  When her parents need another room, they just dig it out -- hoping to find a few opals to finance the cost! In Coober Pedy, everyone lives underground because it is often over 120 degrees in summer.  This is a major opal mining area.

This Aboriginal woman will dig a hole as much as 3 feet deep to find witchetty grubs.

The dog fence runs 9,600 kilometers across Australia, to keep dingoes out of sheep country.

 Helicopter, Western McDonnell Ranges.

Kings Canyon can be visited on an overnight trip between Alice Springs and Ayer's Rock.

 Sunset on the Oodnadatta track. This Parenti lizard was about three feet long - one of the most beautiful lizard's you'd ever hope to see!

Pitjatjantjara woman displays clap sticks she has carved and decorated for sale to tourists.  Raised in the Hermansburg Mission, she now teaches her culture to visitors.

 This girl goes to the School of the Air, sending her poems via email to a teacher hundreds of miles away.  She takes piano lessons by telephone. Three Pitjatjantjara women sing the songline of the Parenti lizard in their search for bush tucker (honey ants and witchetty grubs). The Western MacDonnell Ranges, west of Alice Springs, are one of the most stunning parts of the Australian outback. William Creek, South Australia, is the smallest town in Australia.  An old cattle track, the Oodnadatta, doubles as a landing strip for small planes.  Travelers stop for lunch and a cold beer while the pilot tops off the petrol.