Tuesday 31st May
We were away from TI TREE by our usual time of about 10.00 am, heading south again along the long flat straights. Our first stop was at the AILERON ROAD HOUSE for diesel and a look at their huge statues, one of an Aboriginal Man, and another of an Aboriginal Woman and child.
We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn again about 30 km north of ALICE SPRINGS,
and got to ALICE SPRINGS at about 1.00pm.
Again Know All Nancy took us straight to our chosen Camp ground. We managed to get a site for three nights, and pencilled in for another three.
From ALICE we intend to go south to ULURU for three or four days, and then come back to ALICE again. The lady at the office told us that the Annual Finke Off Road Races were going to be held over the weekend of 14th and 15th, and bookings for that would be very heavy from about the 6th onwards, so we would need to get in quickly if we wanted to stay more than the three nights booked.
We decided to go to the Information Centre to find out what there was to see and do, and then work out how much time we needed, and work our itinerary around the busy period. So much unwanted stress!!!
We parked near the information centre and were soon headed back to the car armed with piles of pamphlets. We were walking along the footpath, and just before we got to the car I thought I heard my name being called out. I sort of half turned around and there was this woman climbing out of a car parked two behind us, and calling my name. I didn’t recognise the woman but thought it must have been someone we had met at one of the camp grounds recently. At the same time I was thinking no one we had met would be calling out my name that enthusiastically. Who the hell was it?
Then this woman takes off her sunglasses, and there stood my cousin Gaylene. Bloody hell, you could have knocked me down with a feather. What the hell was she doing here? What a lovely surprise, and what a reunion. Here we are five thousand kilometres from home, in the middle of ALICE SPRINGS, and parked two car lengths behind us, was Gaylene and her partner Ray.
They are part way through a 5 week holiday, having travelled up to ALICE from ADELAIDE. They had arrived in ALICE at almost exactly the same time as us, and were staying in a motor camp at the south end of town. Turns out, the motor camp they were at, had been recommended to us, but we opted for the one we were at, only because we had been told it was more ‘child friendly’. Had it not been for that, we could have well found ourselves both booking into the same camp at the same time. Talk about coincidences.
We arranged for Gaylene and Ray to come around to our caravan for drinks after tea, and headed off to a liquor store for some suitable refreshment. This was the first time we had purchased liquor since being in the Northern Territory and we suddenly came face to face with their strict liquor Licensing Laws. Too many to bore you with here, but basically they have been put in place to help control the amount of booze being bought and consumed by the Aborigines.
When we got to the liquor store, there were about half a dozen ‘Indigenous persons’ of both sexes in there selecting their booze. Like us they were all going for the cheapest wine they could get. Obviously all they were allowed to purchase at any one time was two bottles, because they all lined up at the counter with their two bottles each.
There were signs on the counter saying booze could only be sold on production of suitable identity, eg Drivers Licence or Passport. Each of them had their identity cards ready and the guy behind the counter zapped them in his computer. In each case he refused to serve them, and took their booze off them. They didn’t argue or anything, just quietly left the shop, as if they were expecting not to be served, but thought they would give it a try anyhow.
When it came our turn to be served, Christel handed over her New Zealand Drivers Licence which he accepted without any problem. We asked him why he had taken the booze of the ‘Indigenous Persons’, (Doesn’t that sound so politically correct). He said each time he sold booze he had to swipe their identity card to check whether or not there was any restrictions or court orders against their name. It was also keeping tabs on how often they were buying booze of course.
It was also against the law for him to sell to an intoxicated person, and the computer had obviously shown that they had already purchased booze that day. If they had drunk that and were back for more, there was a good chance that they were drunk, and on those grounds he had refused them service. Basically he had sole discretion on who he sold to, and his decision was absolute. It was a bit of an eye opener on just how bad the booze problem must be, among the, here we go again, ‘Indigenous People’.
Back at the caravan we had tea and then Gaylene and Ray called round and we had a great evening catching up on family and sharing travelling stories. We have arranged to go out for a meal with them tomorrow night.
Wednesday 1 st June.
Today we planned to visit a Cultural Centre and Museum which was just across the road from our motor camp. First of all though there was a good long school lesson while a couple of loads of washing got done. The Cultural Centre was pretty good with lots of ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Art on display, plus an interactive display on water availability, conservation, usage and wastage. The museum had some great displays of stuffed animals, birds, snakes,
lizards etc as well as rock formations and the various minerals and precious stones found in the area. We never got through it all and will have to go back.
We then drove into town to check out and book a place for tonight’s dinner, and then went up Anzac Hill, which is a lookout in the middle of town.
We had a lovely meal and night out with Gaylene and Ray, before heading home for bed. Gaylene and Ray are heading off tomorrow, and we arranged for them to call round for a cuppa on their way out of town in the morning.
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