Alice – who the **** is alice?

Wednesday 27th December 2006

A wake up call today at 5.00am to enable us to take the treck to Alice Springs. We almost had to treck by foot after the antics that were about to experience at Melbourne airport. Arriving at the airport there were queues as far as the eye could see. At first we thought it was just the holiday rush getting away but we were to soon find out that the luggage belts had stopped working so check-in had come to a hault. Chaos arose around the airport as people got frustrated and angry about the wait. Mr Happy, Mr Calm and Little miss Destress meandered their way around the airport to help calm down the passengers. We got through to our plane on time, unlike some who rushed on quite a while later. However we were not expecting a further 1 3/4 hour delay whilst sat on the airplane waiting for the 700 or so bags to join us. Whilst the chaos no doubt continued inside the terminal. Eventually the plane left the ground to the sound of clapping, we disapeared into the clouds and popped out somewhere in mid Australia. Panaromic views of desert stretched limitlessly away. Such a vast country that is only realised when such a journey is taken. Tree lines cut effortlessly through the dry land resembling rivers meandering around. Alice springs was our home for two nights, a “resort” complex, with a nice big room, swimming pool (which in the end I didn’t have time to try out) and wireless (which in the end I didnt have time to try out either) but that was because we had lots of things to cover in the next couple of days. This is the outback remember – distances are frightening! A trip to the flying doctor was on the agenda this had nothing to do with my excessive intake of tablets to get my insides moving but more an educational experience to fully understand the significance of this service for Australia’s outback. We also visited Telegraph Pole and managed a walk around the area as it was apparently very very cold for this time of year (but well into the 30’s). I look forward to seeing what very very hot is later. With the rest of the afternoon spare we visited “desert park” a plant and animal park in the middle of the sea, I forgot sorry we are in the middle of the desert so I had to put my mask and snorkle away. That’s for later. The park was interesting mix of animals and plants, including a noctural dome where native animals such as geckos could be viewed (no Kiwi’s thats for later too). Signposted well throughout it was a good introduction to the area. A trip to the local supermarket to pick up some food for tea (we were not paying resort prices for tea) also introduced me to my first sighting of aborigines, which I had never seen before. Not being a mixed cultural place they definately stood out with their dark skin, white hair and even whiter than white teeth, even Daz Automatic can’t get things that white. I have now been away from home for 6 weeks, shared the first snowy christmas in Melbourne with locals, an honor! climbed mountains, walked gorges, tramped along great walls, eaten dumplings for breakfast, avoided savouring dog, snake or turtle, and am currently pill popping everything off the pharmacy shelf to bring my bodily functions back to normality. The up’s and downs of travelling. I am glad to say that the up’s definately tip the scales in the right direction.