Alice Springs

Tue. Sept 27th: At last some heat though there was much evidence of recent rain in the greenness of the land and the puddles of water. Strange to have heat in the mid-twenties accompanied by a ‘cool breeze’. Alice Springs has grown from 125 years ago when it was just a station on the Overland Telegraph Line to a small town which now has about 28,000. 2,000 of these are Americans who have a secret base at Pine Gap a few miles outside the town. I could tell you what they do if it wasn’t a secret! You can see the Yanks driving their left-hand drive cars in town. 33% of the population is what my Canadian friends call First Generation. They are more in evidence here than anywhere I have been in Australia. The money they get from the Federal Government is called ‘Sit Down Money’ and you can see a lot of them doing just this in Alice. They call it ‘The Alice’ here and it is the main jump-off point for ‘The Rock’. It very easy to get around. I stayed at The All Seasons which has four stars because of the swimming pool which was being refurbished: I would have swum but there you go. The rest of it is a little ‘tired’ but it is clean and breakfast is included! I was able to walk to the Old Gaol and RFDS. The former was nothing spectacular except it had a ‘National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame’. This celebrates the first European women to brave the elements in the Outback up to 170 years ago. What they had to endure before ‘civilisation’ came in greater numbers was awe-inspiring. Sisters were doing it for themselves long before the song was written. The latter is The Royal Flying Doctor Service: you have seen the TV show. They bring medical aid to isolated communities in an area within 600km radius of Alice. An area as big as Western Europe is serviced by medical aircraft and radio consultancy.
I hired a bike for the afternoon and rode into town. It was only about five minutes away. Got some souvenirs and postcards and visited Anzac Hill which has panoramic views of the rugged Mc Donnell Ranges. Went for something to eat and found an Internet Café before returning for the sunset. I had to get off the bike as the hill was a little steep and then by the time I got to the top the sun had set. Other than that it was a great day. Early to bed as I have been up since four this morning and have to get up at six tomorrow. I will need a holiday to recover from this lark!