Our time in Alice is up and Marty can't be any happier!!
Last month l thought it was bad, this month hasn't been much better. Marty and l are bickering a lot, although he has tapered off whining about Alice a little. The weather hasn't let up, summer has hit and s*** it's hot. I can't actually wait to get down south muskeg to be honest. Besides the weather being exhausting, work has been getting me down too. It has really been hard this time round and l think it would have been better to drive thru Alice this time rather than stop. Work had its pluses, the nurses are a fantastic mob to work with, but the clients we treat actually singer your mood down. So many drunks, so much abuse, so much pain and helplessness. s*** it got me down to the point that l could t lift my mood at all. I got a little drunk one night, again, and things got out of control where l actually had troubles with Amanda. I never wanted this trip to be this way and change me back to the sorrow l was, so luckily l was able to mend things with Amanda, and hopefully in time Marty and l will get back on track.
The last month hasn't been all bad either, don't get me wrong, there has been good times too. We went to the Todd Mall markets and had some great food from the stalls while we all watched a local music group perform. I also got to purchase some unique earrings, thanks to Amanda helping me by the way. Amanda and l also got to go and look at some aboriginal art one day in the arvo, which was nice to get out just us two alone, especially without the kids annoying us. We went to this art store in Todd Mall, rather than back to the warehouse where Ton took us, as it was more affordable. (Ton took us gals to an amazing art workshop about a month ago that her friend owned. The artwork was amazing but also a little pricey). Anyway back to the story, so I was a tad confused and undecided to what l wanted. There were so many choices!! Eventually it was again thanks to Amanda that l purchased an original Colleen Wallace and also a Tommy Crow painting. Amanda had picked a few Colleen paintings which she liked and had them lined up to sort which one she wanted. When l saw this one and l hoped she wouldn't choose it, and thank god she went with the one she picked first. The painting is of the dreamtime sisters and the colors are amazing, it has reds, whites, greens and gold. She is quite famous in the aboriginal painting world, her artwork is magical. The dot work is spectacular! The Tommy Crow painting is again wonderful. It isn't traditional central artwork, that is dot painting, it is a piece painted with silhouettes of aboriginals having a ceremony around fire with the sun setting in the background. The colors are again fantastic and thanks to the use of text, Marty chose this one when l sent a few samples thru on the phone. After our purchases Amanda and l went and celebrated with a final secret gelato at Eddies Icecreams.
In our last week Marty, the girls and l went for a drive after work in the arvo to go and see Standley Chasm and Simpsons Gap. First we went to Standley Chasm and paid our entry fee, yes that's right they charge entry now! Since being handed over to the aboriginal mob they have made it a paying tourist attraction. Such a shame as we know do many people have refused to pay the $20 family fee to see this wonderful place. Lucky we were charged as locals ($10 family fee) and we got to show the girls. To be honest the only time to come here is at midday when the sun passes overhead and sprays this amazing light into the chasm. We trekked up and were slightly disappointed with the chasm this time, however the girls loved it and "koo-wee'd" all the time we were there. Although a little disappointing, maybe we have been over sensitized with everything we'd seen here. The place was still great, just didn't overwhelm me like last time.
We then headed back towards Alice and stopped off at Simpsons Gap where we did the short walk down to view the gap and small waterhole. Some locals were down there and it was cool to watch the little kids play in the water having fun. Boo and Meg loved trying to skim a rock over the water.....
Our last weeks in Alice were with ups and downs and l also had a great professional reward. During our time here we decided to get proactive with selling the van. Yes thats right, we've decided to upgrade the van to a bigger and better one that requires less set up! A few weeks before we planned to head off we actually sold it to a guy who lived in Alice. Long story short, he was a w***er and stuffed is around so the sale fell thru. Worked out best as it was getting a little tough finding an economical way to get our stuff down south. So we will have to wait to we get to Adelaide to upgrade, hence, this was a little disappointing for Marty..... My positive story from work is that l met an aboriginal woman "Paula" who had profound illness but had so much light. She embraced me and was hesitant about being in hospital but only kept coming back because of me, 'sister Bell'. Never will l forget her or her smile. I live with hope for her.
In Alice we also met some more amazing traveling families, Kaz and Dan, and Ton and Cam. We had great laughs and some fun times. All four of us families were in the same street and were living with the same challenges, the heat and nothing to do! At least we were all making money and having some laughs along the way. My favorite memories are our communal dinner, Mexican night and also the night Amanda got a bit plastered. Was quite funny being sober and seeing her run around the caravan trying to find Marty!! Also the midnight swim with Kaz gave me a little chuckle...lol!
One really sweet friendship was between Meg and Zac. They got "married" one day when l was at work. Apparently they had a ceremony and all!! They sort of acted like astride couple too. They played, fought, loved and laughed together, occasionally also having a bubble bucket bath outside side be side each other!! They played with Zacs cars for hours and was really nice to see Meg find a friend seeing Boo has Charlotte Woods.
So now our time has come to pack up and leave Alice Springs again. Somehow l don't think we will be back, well not if Marty has his way anyway. I must admit it wasn't the best this time round, but l still love the work here. I love looking after aboriginals, even if we are just putting a bandaid on the situation. I will miss this work the most l think....even though it has upset me, l still crave the interactions.
We have made some great friendships with some other families and look forward to meeting up on the road with them again in the West. We have also enjoyed our time with 'The Woods' family again, although not like Townsville, we still did have great times together. The girls have been the only ones that have had the best experience here. Not once did they whinge about the heat and they loved playing with Charlotte, Jake, Jordan, Riley, Sam, Will and Zac. We also met the Cronan family who passed thru and knew the Woods. I didn't make a good impression with them l think as they turned up only silly night, but hopefully they will forget in time for when we see them again. They were all pretty cool people (Nikki, Matt, Hazza, Will and Emma).
Alice Springs l have mixed emotions about departing from you but now it is time to continue this great adventure of ours. We will now make our way down south over the next few weeks to get to Adelaide for Christmas where we will meet up with The Woods and Cronans again!!!!
Onwards and upwards don't they say???

Bell Xxx