Well today is our last day in Alice Springs until we come back down again in a few months. Tomorrow we start our journey to Darwin.
Our last three months in Alice have been awesome. I've fallen in love with the people and countryside. The town itself isn't what we remember when we passed thru ten years ago. It was so crowded with tourists that you would be shoulder to shoulder with people in the Todd Mall, today it's so empty. It's real sad really as Alice has such a great community of people, full of fun and spirit. Some visitors just see the negative side with a very minuet amount of drunk aboriginals around the town, but l suppose l have worked at the hospital and seen another side to them.
Talking about the hospital, l was a bit sad on my last day of work. The staff are a bunch of amazing people and l take my hat off to them as they continue everyday to improve indigenous health. I started with alot of hope and thought what l was doing would make a difference, but l soon saw that the problems faced in Central Australia are so big that l didn't know where too start. Once l got over the fact that l wasn't going to solve anything in my short time here, l was able to concentrate on making a little difference to my patients. Whether that be having a laugh with them or just going that extra step further to help them, l felt rewarded at the nursing l experienced. It was so different from anything l have done before in my career. Totally new illnesses and diseases that l had to learn about and also the biggest thing was learning about this complex culture, the aboriginals. It has been the most amazing experience and l feel l have grown both professionally and personally in my time here, how could anyone not? I can't wait to come back and work again, anyone needing to see what Australia's history is all about needs to come and experience Central Australia! It's another world out here!
The only thing l am disappointed in is the fact the girls didn't get to interact much with the people in Alice, they were stuck in the caravan park alot of the time while Marty and l worked. But we hope to head out to a remote community on our trip sometime when the opportunity arises.
It's been a busy few last days in Alice packing up and cleaning the caravan ready to get on the move again. We quickly ticked off a few more things we wanted to do. We went to the Heavitree Gap Resort just down the road at dusk and fed the rock wallabies. You only have to buy the bag of food for $1 and then head down, it's available every night to do. The girls loved it! They made funny faces when the small rock wallabies reached out and grabbed their hands saying they tickled them. Meg was in awe and it is always great to watch her around animals. She just sits there and takes it all in, interacting with them and being so gentle. Marty and l always say we wouldn't be surprised if she became a vet when she grows up. After we fed the wallabies we headed down to the Heavitree Tavern for a feed of roast and beef. It wasn't the best but l wasn't complaining seeing l didn't have to cook and clean up. We had the best desert though, triple chocolate cheese cake, mmmmm delicious. At the tavern there was some entertainment, some country singers which were ok but also a reptile bloke. He gave an interesting talk on local lizards and snakes. He pulled a few put from his sacks and showed them off, the girls looked on very intensely. At the end he asked all the kids in the audience to come line up from tallest to shortest. Meg was on the end. Then he pulled out a three meter Olive Python and got it to weave in and out over the kids shoulders, starting at Meg. The girls faces were priceless. Was so impressed that they didn't freak out and cry, although l though Boo was going to at one point when the python decided to puts its face up to hers for a while. I wouldn't have blamed her, l would have freaked out myself! We all had the best time, was a great way to wrap up our end in Alice.
Alan and Mandy, some workers at the caravan park, are people we will remember. The girls especially as the helped Alan out every Thursday night at 'bickies and cheese' night up on the hill. The girls ended up taking the tubs of biscuits and cheese around to everyone, when we left Alan gave them $5 each for helping out. Was such a nice thing for him to have done, the girls were so excited, but they were honestly as excited every Thursday night when they got to be the waitresses.
As always, when we stop to work we run out of time to do some of the tourist things. So we're glad to be coming back this way to finish it off. So tomorrow is the next part of our journey, mixed emotions but we are glad to be heading off to explore this awesome country a bit more. Funny how Marty and l get itchy feet after two to three months of being somewhere. Wonder if we will ever stop living this dream????
Bell Xxx