Alice Springs

Stayed in Alice for almost 2 weeks at the Big 4 MacDonnell Holiday Park. Great park for kids and adults with activities in the evenings such as star talks, wine and cheese, music evenings, 4WD talks and pancake Sundays. Ended up fairly cheap with membership which you pay off in one stay at a Big 4 and they have a 10% discount as well at the present. Great swimming pools and massive jumping cushions and TV room for kids plus more. Down the road is heavitree gap and we went there to feed the rock wallabies at sunset. $1 for a bag of food at the caravan reception.

Spent the first week catching up on schoolwork and relaxing a bit, then we started to see all the things there are to do in Alice. Kids and papa did a free didgeridoo lesson which is in Todd mall most days of the week and then they bought a didgeridoo to practice on the way round Aus. I hope they improve soon as the consistent farting sounds are making me reconsider their diets.

We spent a day driving out to Hermannsburg, an old German mission, which was spoken about quite favourably by many aboriginal people as they believe the missionaries really thought they were doing the right thing and they showed a genuine interest in the customs and beliefs of the Arandic tribe and its people. They studied and translated and wrote historical accounts of the aborigines in this area which has lead to a better understanding of this tribe, their customs, language and beliefs, today. In the photos at the mission, all of the aborigine people are dressed in European clothes and look far from happy, however many accounts tell a different story. Albert Namitjira was born and brought up in the mission and married a female outside his tribal group which was a little frowned upon at the time, however due to different tribes being brought to the mission it was difficult to adhere to the marriage guidelines that had been set out by the ancestors over 30,000 years ago. Therefore there was some allowance, although in the accounts of his life it says he found the strain of his life related to painting and his tribal obligations difficult. He passed away in his 50's.

After Hermannsburg we went on to Palm Valley which is also a fascinating place, well worth a visit. It is off road to get there and although only 18 km in it took well over an hour. By the time we did the 4WD track into the valley there was little time to do the walks so we wished we either had an off road caravan or brought the van and explored more over a few days.

The Sunday market in Alice was great, although small. We started to do some early Christmas shopping. Some great ideas that I must remember. Australian animals decorated with coloured seeds were a great idea to do with the kids and the banksia candles were also great. The banksia's are found in South Western Australia and made great candle holders.

The Desert Park was also a fantastic place to visit. We learnt more about bush tucker and where to find it and how the aboriginals hunted for food. We found out that there are many different aboriginal languages throughout Australia and none of them are the slightest related to the other. I questioned the guide as to how this originated but the dreamtime stories passed down through generations say that each tribe was always there, in that area, with their own distinct language, culture and customs. It would be interesting to read about the linguistic study done into tribal languages as with the Teutonic and romantic languages it is obvious where there are links. Although many of us see the aboriginals as one group, it is far from this and each group is very distinct from another. The didgeridoo, for instance is from a tribe up near Darwin and shouldn't be played by a person elsewhere unless the elder from that tribe has been asked. Ooops! And we just bought one. Lucky we're heading north. We also saw a fantastic bird show at the park with falcon's, eagles and different sorts of owls and cockatoos. There are amazing birds all throughout the park and you can just sit amongst it all and try to identify all the species. The kingfisher is my favourite.

Anzac Hill was also great to visit at sunset and take some snaps of the West and East MacDonnell Ranges. Heavitree gap separates the two sides. We took jack who was hungry up with us while waiting for the sun to go behind the mountains. Great night.

We also spent a day visiting the reptile park which is where the family got to hold a python, a blue tongued lizard and a bearded dragon. The kids had a ball and the ranger was amazing, so interactive with us all and very hands on. We touched perenties and learnt that they are handy to have around if you live where there are venomous snakes as they gobble them up. The only issue with this, if you have small kids, is that they may gobble them up too. They also have a crocodile show but unfortunately this was not on the day we visited. After the park we headed across the road to the flying doctor's which was interesting. They showed a movie of them in action with 3 examples of jobs they had attended. There was a small museum and Luuk and I managed to find some good, big, coffee mugs which has saved us from needing to make a second cup after the first. Luuk trying to be funny, asked the guide where the Charlie, Charlie, foxtrot plane was at the moment and the poor guide was actually trying to find it on the satellite screen which showed where all the planes were throughout Australia. People who ever watched The Flying Doctor's soapie would understand this. The Dutch are mad about this program. Luuk grew up on it.

We have decided to head off tomorrow to see Simpson's gap in the morning, Reverend Flynn's grave ( started the Royal Flying Doctor Service to outback Australia) afterwards, and the telegraph station after we consume as many Sunday panakes as possible first. We'll then head straight on to Ross River in the Easy MacDonnell Ranges. We have missed the School of the air, which was a must whilst in Alice, but we have to journey back after Ross River so will pop in. Then it's on to Tennant Creek and Darwin for our next big stop.