Alice Springs
Trip Start
Jun 10, 2010
1
4
13
Trip End
Jul 06, 2010
Where I stayed
What I did
Mbantua Fine Art Gallery & Cultural Museum
Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia
Saturday, June 12, 2010
On the way from the Airport, we stopped in town and visited Mbantua Fine Art Gallery & Cultural Museum, see MAP, GPS(23 42 04 48S, 133 52 59.31E). They gave us an excellent tour and lecture on aboriginal art. The was also a film of the artists and the gallery's dealings with them in the outback.
We also visited the Alice Springs School of the Air, see MAP, GPS(23 40 41.64S, 133 51 57.13E), which handles the education the the children on the stations throughout the outback. It used to be that the communication was via two way radio, but it is now via the internet. This is a tiny facility with enormous reach.
Then we went to Alice Springs Telegraph Station, see MAP, GPS(23 40 19.61S, 133 53 11.31E). This was the key to opening up the interior of the continent, as well as linking the coasts together. The gentleman that guided through the station was a part of the "stolen generation". He had been taken from his family as a young child and raised in a dormitory at the station. He had mixed feelings about the situation, breaking up familes, but also educating these children and bringing them into modern society. Many of the the aborijines still live a semi-nomadic life. He worked on the Tom Sellick movie Quigley Down Under. He said that he had to teach Tom Sellcik to ride. A Train called the Ghan, for Afghan travels through Alice Springs, connecting Adelaide to Darwin. It was named for the Moslem camel handlers that were brought in to build the railroad.
Late in the afternoon, we went to the Hotel, Lasseters Hotel and Casino, see MAP, GPS(23 43 11.75S, 133 52 39.41E). The hotel was very nice, with a casino that didn't matter us us and a room with free PCs and internet access for the guests. It also had a very good breakfast, but but the location left much to be desired. It would have been much better to be within walking distance of town.
We were to have an outdoor barbie tonight, but there was a problem with the vendor's scheduling, so we ate in a restarant in town specializing in local food, kangaroo, ostrich, crocodile, etc. The place was very informal and fun. We had a good time.
The next morning we had an optional tour of the Desert Park, see MAP, GPS(23 42 27.63, 133 50 08.08E). It was to be anything from about a 4 hour to 10 hour day, depending on which bus you took back, We made it about 8 hours. The pick up bus driver was quite knowledgible and entertaining..As the park was hilly, it was quite warn, and it would be a long day, we both rented mobility scooters, and it was well worth it. There were scheduled shows and tours of various areas throughout the day. Th variety of animals would probably take years to see in the wild. In fact, you may never see the animals in the nocturnal house, which was kept dimly lighted, so that the animals would be out, but with enough light for us to see. We had lunch in the snack bar there.
We had dinner at the hotel that night
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