Journey's Beyond The Nest: Days 78-83 Alice Springs

(Kate)

We stayed at G’day Mate Tourist Park in Alice for 5 nights. It was run by a friendly couple and their daughter, who provided lots of useful info for our stay. On our rest days we relaxed and enjoyed the extremely refreshing swimming pool (i.e. cold!) https://www.gdaymatetouristpark.com.au/

First Pfizer shot for Ben and Kate. Fatigue and minor sore arms the next day but OK.

We did a tour of the Royal Flying Doctor Service – a 20 minute video explaining the history of the RFDS, and lots of other historical displays to investigate. There was a plane there that you could climb into. Pretty squishy inside, but amazing to consider that the plane is basically a flying ICU.

Birthday of Nicole! We celebrated with dinner out at the eatery next door to the caravan park. Nachos and Schnitzel. Yum yum. What a great journey the last 17 years have been. We love you lots, Nicole.

Alice Springs Reptile centre for Ben, Nicole and Keith https://www.reptilecentre.com.au/

Old Telegraph Station – great tour guide. Lots of info. Very interesting. Some honest and somewhat shame-inducing stories of the impact of European colonists on the lives of indigenous Australians. https://alicespringstelegraphstation.com.au/

School of the air – again, a great tour guide. Connection with the RFDS – a retired school principal called Adelaide Miethke approached Dr John Flynn and said “is there any reason why we cannot use your radios to teach outback children”, and he said what a great idea, and from there the school of the air was born. We could see a studio where a teacher was conducting a class. The tour guide promoted a trio of books by former student Tania Healslip, and we bought them to support the cause. Tania is a wonderful writer. Kate read all 3 books in a week. https://www.schooloftheair.net.au/

https://www.tanyaheaslip.com.au/

The Women’s Museum of Australia and old gaol of Alice Springs. Again, lots of info. We spent most of our time in the Women’s museum, as the gaol was rather depressing. https://wmoa.com.au/

Transport museum – https://roadtransporthall.com/ B and Ke. Trains and automobiles – what more could you want!

One night we had dinner with a long-time friend of Ben’s from his early days at Westbourne Park Uniting. It’s one of those friendships where you don’t see each other for 25 years but can just pick up where you left off. Graeme and his wife Michelle and their children welcomed us into their home, and it was a great evening.

Our time in Alice was characterized by warm to hot days, and cool evenings. On our last day there were storm clouds on the horizon and rain was forecast. It was strange seeing dark clouds over the palm trees. Palm trees I guess not indigenous to Alice, but never the less contributing to the holiday atmosphere of the caravan park. It rained lightly but steadily overnight, washing the dust of the Tanami off the tents and the car and trailer. 5.4mm the BOM said.