We had
our coffee and cereal with J&B, then packed up, said our
goodbyes, and drove into town. It seemed incredible to us that by
that time the next day they would be out scuba diving on the Great
Barrier Reef.
Alice
Springs is not what I had imagined. I used to picture it as a one
horse (camel) outpost in the outback, dusty, sleepy, flat and worn
out. Actually, the 26,000 people who live there have all the basic amenities of any city in Australia. There are green(ish)
spaces, it's surrounded by low rocky ridges, and quite bustling.
Nothing photogenic of note, at least to our scenery saturated eyes,
but it was a good place to take care of our business. Like most
small cities with more than 10,000 people, they have both a Coles and
a Woolworths, which are as usual situated nearly across the street
from each other. Both are well-stocked grocery stores, and it would
be like having Krogers and Giant Eagle in the same shopping center.
We had
planned to use the library as a cool, relaxed place to take care of
our ballot issues and do some blogging and emailing, so we were
dismayed when we got there and saw it was closed until the 5th
for renovation. We went next door to the information center, and
they were able to help us with our printing and scanning needs. I
went over to the shopping center and sat on a bench in front of the “Wooly's” enjoying the AC and writing until my computer ran out
of power.
K&D Taxi, At Your Service
We had
almost finished all our business in town and were ready to find a
campground for the night when our phone rang! We don't get too many
phone calls. Britta was on the line taking us up on our earlier
offer to transport them from the car rental drop-off spot to the
airport. They had assumed there would be a shuttle or some other
easy way to get there, but the only possibility was a taxi, which
might have taken too long for them to meet their flight. Of course
we would help! With our current set-up in the LC (bed up) we've only got
spots for three people, so Diana hung out in the shopping center
while I fetched J&B.
We
threw their stuff on the bed in back, then I drove them the 12 km to
the airport. Along the way we aw two road trains, one with three
cattle trailers named “Beef Bus” and another with four full-sized
fuel tanker trailers in line. I haven't gotten used to seeing them
yet, they're soooo long!
Alice
Springs airport has a small but modern terminal. However, when I dropped J&B
off there was no one else there. But they were on time, and we said
our goodbyes and I drove back to AS.
Throwin' a steak on the barbie
I found
Diana and we drove a half hour out of town to a small private
campground that had a very good Aussie vibe about it. Spacious, lots
of gum trees, slightly shaggy, but quite clean. We were only the
second 'travelers' there, the other 20 or so occupants semi-permanent
and using the place as home . Ranging from large tents or beat up
campers to large trailers with permanently attached screen porches
and small gardens, their occupants were either retired or headed off
to work in the morning. The owner matched the grounds, a guy about
our age with a sweat-stained leather Aussie hat, dry bush accent, and
very friendly personality. We were very pleased to be staying there
after the crowded masses of the night before.
We took
over the semi-open camp kitchen, which protected us from the
afternoon sun, and did some writing. Then for dinner, Diana cooked
beef steaks with potatoes and onions on the barbie, which we had with
a spinach and blue cheese salad and nice Aussie red wine, followed by
Tim Tams. It was the first time we've used an Aussie barbeque, and it worked just fine!
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| Hey mate, how do you want your steak done? |
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