Alice Springs
Trip Start
May 07, 2008
1
40
90
Trip End
Jan 06, 2009
Alice Springs,
Northern Territory,
Australia
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Well, we arrived in Alice Springs back to a lovely warm climate. Hurrah! It was as if we hadn't seen the sun for months! Not days!
(David: To get to Alice Springs we had to fly over the surface of Mars. If the Americans wanted they could probably hoax a Mars mission using this area, I'd be convinced. You can even see some Martian canals: arrow straight shimmering lines cut into the landscape, extending into infinity. But in this case they're roads rather than geological illusions... or canals for that matter, since the place screams out dryness.)
Well Alice Springs was certainly interesting. I, personally, was expecting Alice Springs to be quite tiny, feeding off from Ayres Rock and Kings Canyon tourists. The reality was a small town with a pedestrianised 'precinct' with a small shopping mall, pubs, hairdressers, souvenir shops but with lots of other industrial units around to shop in. Alice Springs is so called after Alice Todd. She was the wife of Charles Todd and in 1865, they came to Australia and had the job of manning the first telegraph repeater station in the empty and vast centre of Australia. The station was next to a waterhole which Charles called Alice's Spring. And the repeater station ended up taking this name. Eventually, this name stuck for the town which was growing up nearby. So the town in the centre of Australia is named after some blokes wife.
Priscilla Queen of the Desert filmed scenes here too, I am told!
It's a weird place.
Mars from our aeroplane!
It doesn't really overpower you with a warm welcoming hospitality. All restaurants close in-between 3pm and 6pm so if you've just stepped off an aeroplane and are starving it's KFC or crisps! Hanging above the entrance to this pedestrianised bit was a massive banner advertising a 2-day music festival for today and tomorrow. Sounded like good fun. When we went into a pub, we asked the bar girl what it was all about. She said she had no idea what it was and that we would find no information on it whatsoever. She said no one really knows what goes on and true enough finding any information about it was like trying to find Lord Lucan! There were no visible preparations going on for it, no subtle signs of excitement brewing in the air and certainly no sounds of bands tuning up. Bizarre. Furthermore, in the whole of this pedestrianised area were camped out on street corners, under trees, on benches, groups of aborigines with their babies crawling about in nappies. Quite intimidating as they stare at you as you walk past. They just seem to sit there all day doing nothing. One aboriginal woman started shouting at David as we walked into a café..I think he just ignored her but there were two white girls sitting before their uneaten pizzas just staring in frozen shock at this mad aboriginal woman growling at passing people (David: quick diagnosis would say she was probably schizoid in some way - that, or drunk.). David and I rushed out of that café. They are everywhere though congregating in groups, in supermarkets, on street corners.
Alice Springs or Mars??
I'm sure they wouldn't hurt a fly but it's just a new experience and an uneasy one. (David: They don't return your smiles or acknowledge your existence in any way, it's as if they're the walking dead. Trying to find out about their culture is nigh on impossible - oh, there's plenty of museums and aboriginal information centres, but they're only filled with aboriginal art exhibits, boomerangs and d'doos. Actual hard information about their culture is sparse. Although, I did feel that this situation was changing, a lot of sites are being protected. There are places you can't visit at all since they are of spiritual significance. And there's been endless adverts on TV about a documentary that's coming soon all about the aboriginal culture - but we won't be here when it airs unfortunately, but there appears to be a level of respect towards them now. At least that's the impression given to us tourists.)There's a massive river that Alice sits on, except the only thing roaring down it is the odd trials bike. It's as dry as a bone - which is how it normally remains for the majority of the time. But, when the rains come, it must be quite a torrent going by the width of the thing and the evidence of washed up trees. Not to mention the huge bridge that goes across it... not to mention that, so I won't.
While watching tv one evening before going out, we laughed out loud at adverts selling cattle! Makes a change from panty liners or washing powder! 'Big red, pound for pound you get a better return on...' and then something only comprehensible to farmers.
The landscape around Alice is stunning.
Bojangles Bar
Just barren, dry, red sandy land. Dry, cracking riverbeds, dusty forlorn trees. The heat is stunning, but incredibly dry. After months of sweating our way across the humid Asian continent it was weird to be so hot and not get soaked from your dripping pits! David was relieved by this, he was under a slight suspicion that he might have been broken, because he doesn't normally sweat very much and Asia meant dripping wet every day.We did find the fabulous BoJangles bar. It announces itself as a Saloon, and as if to confirm this you have to push yourself through some authentic saloon swing doors. Inside is crammed with outback-a-belia: Roo skulls, etc. The food is fantastic - steaks the size of small countries and cooked to perfection. You can even go for the mixed grill: Kangaroo, Emu, Shark and Croc. (David: A 'must have' selection for any self respecting Outback greasy spoon). They also have an interesting gimmick: a live webcam. So at any time of the day you can observe the clientele doing what clientele in bars across the world do best: drink. If you have friends there, you can observe them too... drinking. You even have the ability to buy them a round of drinks online for them to...er...drink. We'd been told about this before we got there by Greg in Melbourne, so we could have announced when we'd have been there so you could all have bought us a drink. But then, as Greg pointed out, how much fun would that have actually been: 'Oh look, there's Lois and David... they're... drinking, and chatting a bit. Oh look, David's getting up... oh no, he's sat down again. Lois is getting up, she's going to the bar? No... the toilet...' Truly gripping stuff. Not quite the Truman Show, and easier to escape from (Just exit via the swing doors). Go and have a look, you'll see what we mean, they're at: www.bossaloon.com.au
We hired a car and once again Hertz failed to give us what we ordered online, a simple sedan, so gave us a 4x4 instead. Ok. Hertz are good after all! So, off we went to drive and explore. Next day for Uluru... or Ayres Rock.
Love, us xx
