Monday, August 23, 2010

Bye Alice



What with uninspired job offers, outrageously expensive accommodation, and a sense that we 'had done' the major tourist offerings, we have decided to move on - Tennant creek, here we come. Alice really is a bonza place, it has a wonderful setting in a fold of the Macdonnell Ranges, and is shielded by them to the extent that the town only becomes visible when you have almost arrived. The backdrop of reddish purple rock faces looks as though it was designed by an abstract artist. There is obviously a great deal of civic pride, and the impression of being in an oasis is heightened by the fact that trees are preserved at all costs, and buildings designed around them and through their clumps. Alice has been the recipient of the Julia Gillard stimulus package, and the Kevin Rudd stimulus package, and the John Howard stimulus package, and every other stimulus package back to Chiefley and Curtin. As a consequence, there is a child minding centre on every corner, just across from the Health and welfare centre, opposite the AIDS clinic, behind the Drug Dependancy office, along from the Cultural precinct, next to the Dialysis practice, in front of Civic Amenities block, all of which overlook the Alcohol counselling services. This means that the shops selling plastic boomerangs are squeezed in to a small area around the Todd Mall. Unfortunately, the outer and more modern suburbs share with the rest of Australia those sort of non descript, uninspired and impractical houses which make assaulting architects obligatory in civilised society. My one regret is that at no point were we able to have anything to do with the indigenous people. They seem to account for about half the population, and spend the day shuffling along, or just sitting in the streets and watching the world go by. Of course there is no formal apartheid, but an informal version seems solidly in place. There seems to be no overlap between the western and indigenous worlds. All the drunks are black, as are all the vagrants, but none of the shopkeepers, or bus drivers, or bank tellers. I make this observation in a completely non judgemental way, and I wanted to talk to indigenous people, and try to learn a little more about them. The only occasion when I felt distinctly uncomfortable, was when a group of Aboriginal children came with us into the tea rooms at Hermannsburg. When their dog also followed them in, the owners of the shop, both husband and wife, screamed abusively at the children in a way, which if directed at a white child, would have been outrageous. Perhaps it was my ear, or a sort of projected paranoia, or perhaps just my imagination. Alas the kids responded as if they were used to it. So at the end of a couple of weeks, my single conversation with an indigenous person occurred when a fellow gambler explained to me the way to get change at the pokies. Incidentally, We've noticed that virtually everybody here, black and white, are morbidly obese, and Cecile and I are working hard to ensure that we do not stand out from the crowd.

Around Alice





Alice deserves its name of oasis in the desert and Cecile,lover of all trees in general, and river gums in particular fell in love many times. But the real jaw dropping scenery came out of town, both East and west Macdonnell Ranges. No wonder albert Namatjira was so inspired, we visited his quaintly germanic birthplace in Hermansburg.
A fortuitous misreading (not the first!) of walking tracks lead us to a longer than expected(4km) walk along the legendary Larapinta Trail,a geological and floral wonder where the spine of ancient hills stick out of the bush like rows of dinosaurs.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Settling in to Alice





Having tentatively settled in to Alice Springs it was time for our first little explore. we headed west along Larapinta road into the west Macdonnell ranges. We first stopped at Stanley Chasm, owned and managed by the local community,which consists of a long narrow canyon containing a small flowing stream, and culminating in a dramatic fissure in the red rock cliffs which formed a claustrophic corridor complete with a distinct overhang. Simpsons gap was next, another gorge in the rock, but on a larger scale, and complete with rock wallabies (apparantly). On the wild life side we have seen a number of lizards of various sorts, the bower of a bower bird, but not the bird itself, and numerous of the 187 species of birds which inhabit the ranges. On our drive back to alice, we observed 2 eagles circling quite low over the road in front of us. As we approached, both suddenly dived in what seemed a co-ordinated movement, landing just in front of the car, but without, as far as we could tell, catching anything.
Since our arrival, the temperature has hovered in the low 20;s, and we have been struck by how green the countryside appears - a explanatory statistic from the local paper - last year, total rainfall in Alice was 77mm, this year to date 499.6mm!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Up to Alice







First stop, a delicious lunch cooked for us by Alistair on the family farm at Wedderburn, no wonder his parents Stafford and Joy look so happy if they eat like that every day. A mini tour of the farm followed, which looked splendid after recent rains. Our route took us through Nhill (why did they put an 'h' in there ?) Bordertown, Pinaroo, Loxton, took the Punt at Waikere, Burra, Port Augusta, Woomera, Coober Pedy, Marla, Kulgara, Stewarts Well and then on to Alice Springs. The highlights of the trip so far have been a bush walk in the Big Desert national park, and our third visit to the Australian Arid Garden at Port Augusta. On both occasions David was riveted by the uninterrupted description of the Flora which was granted him. His excitement on this occasion was surprisingly surpassed however by a visit to the missile exhibition at Woomera. David enthused over all those missiles, and planes and rockets and helicopters, not forgetting the wonderful 50's and 60's architecture. " I could live here" he said, and meant it. The hybrid took its first timid steps off the bitumen on its way to our inspection of a cluster of meteorite craters just north of Erlunda.



The Stuart highway is very, very long but the landscape varied. We knew we were in the outback when a dingo wandered across the road in front of us.



A few statistics; Road trains are a maximum of 53.5 metres. We have driven 2466 kms so far. The fuel consumption of the hybrid has rocketed to 6.2 l/100 kms, well in excess of its home average.



Favourite menu item so far - Roadkill du jour - at Pimba.



Favourite graffitti so far(Cecile) - Vulgarity is the last resort of the inarticulate motherfucker



(David) - Abstinance makes the Church grow fondlers



A short preliminary







Before setting out on our adventure proper, we thought it a good idea to practise a little, and try a sort of dress rehearsal. We needed a trial, something which would test our resolution, our determination, and our courage. Something which would stretch us, and subject us to an ordeal which would render future earthquake, fire and famine commonplace in our experience. But how could we create such a dangerous exercise ? Then I had a brilliant idea - we would go on holiday with Mum & Dad. Actually we had great fun visiting Bendigo, Mildura, Broken Hill, our old stamping grounds at Loxton, and then the Flinders Ranges. In fact, if the publicity is anything to go by, it is mandatory to preface Flinders Ranges with the word 'magnificent' and I am pleased to say that they deserve the title. We had a tour with Derek the guide, in his purpose built 'enamel camel'. He is an enthusiast about wildlife, about geology, about conservation, about everything really. It was inspiring to see edicarian fossils somewhere other than David Attenborough. After 10 fun days of eating too much, and compulsory G&T's it was time to drop Mum & Dad off and hit the road.