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Published: September 6th 2009
Bojangles Saloon
Had to go in for a look and a meal later on!ALICE SPRINGS SIGHTS
When we arrived in Alice Springs we felt in need of a rest. We checked in to the Big 4 caravan park which costs more than any park in the area, but is jam packed with facilities for the kids. There is a games/TV room, jumping pillow, 3 pools and a playground. On Sundays they have a free pancake breakfast as well. With all this to choose from, the kids were more than happy to hang around, especially since our friends the Sheltons (who we were meeting up with more often) had arrived the next day.
When checking out the sights of the town itself, we found “Bojangles Saloon”. Bojangles is the nickname we call Beau, so we booked in for tea that night as a treat. The décor of Bojangles is a combination of American Wild West with a smattering of Australian bushranger pieces. Trickery also plays a part, with the door handle to the bathroom on the same side as the hinges and razor blades on the toilet seat. When washing hands, you turn the tap on to discover the water flowing into another basin instead. The same occurs with the hand dryers -
Ormiston Gorge
This is the pick of places for camping in the McDonnell Ranges... lots of water and good campsite. much to Chloe’s delight.
The kids enjoyed seeing the two pythons wrapped around a skeleton in a case and Seth madly tried to pick up the coins glued to the wooden floor. The most exciting thing though, was the live webcam to your table, which meant we were able to wave to family across the web. Beau was rapt when Grady bought him a Bojangles t-shirt at the end.
After a few days of hanging around the caravan park, we were ready to see some of Alice Springs’ sights. We ventured up to Anzac Hill, with its panoramic view of the entire town. I was very happy to have a family photo taken in the exact spot I had a photo taken with my friends when visiting Alice in 1991.
We appreciated the Flying Doctors through their tour and the Pioneer Women’s Centre also. When we arrived at the Women’s Centre and discovered it was not free entry, Grady said he and the boys would wait outside. Was he being a martyr or happily opting out of a girl-power tour? I think the latter is the obvious choice! When I found out the entry was a flat fee for
Bojangles Saloon
Very happy with his Bojangles Tshirt families however, they were all obliged to come along. Much to his surprise, Grady really enjoyed the Women’s Centre (truly!) with its poems from yesteryear, kitchen appliances from the early 1900s, fashions and stories of women who have been the first females in a field to achieve high success. We discovered our favorite storyboard was the same: that of Catherine Gregson, the first woman to travel around Australia by car. This was in 1937, when she was 23. She traveled with her mother in an anticlockwise direction including Alice Springs, where they picked up a friend. Amazingly, Catherine did all her own vehicle maintenance and completed the journey in 6 months.
I also enjoyed seeing a quilt with pieces signed by various high achievers, like Stephanie Alexander, Cathy Freeman, Jenny Kee, Kay Cottee, Zali Steggell and Lisa Curry. A book beside the quilt made mention of the various achievements by the 100 women who had signed the quilt. The best thing for me was how much Chloe enjoyed herself. She has mentioned the place a few times since.
The Pioneer Women’s Centre is housed in the old Alice Springs Jail, so included in the price (only $16 for a family)
Chloe and Jasmine
Jasmine left this day... one of the many friends Chloe is making! is a tour of the jail facilities (closed in the mid-1980’s). It was interesting that the jail was for both women and men, but segregated into Aboriginal/European areas. This meant there are 4 areas of the jail, and an interesting part of history for people to see for themselves. The jail was saved from demolition by campaigners in Alice Springs, and the Pioneer Women’s Centre is restoring the jail with the hope of more extensive tours in the future. A section of the jail has billboards telling the story of “An Outback Honeymoon”. This honeymoon was for a newly married couple (their names are recorded) who set off to an area for the anthropologist husband to work. On the way, the bride conceived a child she later miscarried. Her life was saved by the local Aboriginal women and their bush medicine, and she was carried on a stretcher by a camel for the rest of the 12 month journey. It was fascinating to read from this yet to be completed display.
We also visited the School of the Air, which was the way Grady’s mum was educated. A display showed the radio techniques of the 1950’s onwards and a
Mohawk
Our friend Tim Shelton gave Beau a mohawk! Seth isn't so keen... movie showed the history and new methods of today using computers, internet and webcam. The Alice Springs School of the Air children are in the top 10 percent of schoolchildren in the NT with 130 children from Prep to Year 8. Children log on to the computer every day to interact with a teacher and other students through webcam. To minimize distraction, they cannot see other children and must click on an icon if they wish to ask a question or speak, much like raising their hand in class. Three times a year there are gatherings in Alice Springs for the children to interact with their other classmates and their teacher visits their home for 3 days during the year to get to know the family and inspect their work area. I could imagine it would be much like a celebrity visit for the family. One of the children live on a station of a million acres, 800kms from Alice Springs.
After School of the Air, we visited Alice Springs Desert Parks, in particular to see the birds of prey talk for Cody, who loves watching birds. It was well worth the visit with various animals and plants to
Flying Doctors
Seth trying out the old pedal wireless used for the Royal Flying Doctors and also the School of the Air. learn about. Everyone received interactive headphones to listen to information at a number of stations, by entering the number into the device. This was a real hit with our “techno” children, who learned much as a result. They took away a small knowledge of bush tucker and have been eating berries from saltbush and sucking nectar from native flowers ever since. Both Grady and I enjoyed the nocturnal animals’ exhibit the most, which was in very dim lighting. We walked through the exhibit separately and found the bilby to be our favorite animal of the day. Grady has vowed never to buy an Easter Rabbit again.
It was a big day when we decided to see Standley Chasm, Palm Valley and Ormiston Gorge in one day. This was 470kms and we left close to lunch which meant we returned at 8.30pm!
Standley Chasm was nice to see, but at $8.50 for adults and $6.50 for children, it is expensive for a family and to be honest, not really worth the money! This particular spot is run by a local Aboriginal tribe who charge entry for the privilege of viewing something they had nothing to do with creating. We were
Anzac Hill
Gives a panoramic view of Alice and also the place I had a photo taken with two girlfriends 18 years ago! there for a short period of time to take photos, and that’s about it. It is a nice spot, but not the only nice thing to see in the West MacDonnell Ranges.
Palm Valley was reached by a 4wd track which is not Ford Territory territory - we saw enough towball scrapes along the track to prove this. The reward is worth the long drive though - persisting until the end it is a short walk of 1km to a valley of palm trees in the desert. Walkers are restricted from entering the area though in case they crush seedlings and new growth. It is a lovely place and we are glad to have visited it.
We continued on our way and looped around to see Ormiston Gorge and stayed there until sundown. We watched a rock wallaby come drink from the water in the gorge and could see that it would be a pleasant spot to camp, but were happy to have seen it in a day trip instead.
The kids were exhausted after this big day and we rewarded their visit to the West MacDonnells with a visit to McDonald’s - they hadn’t asked to go this far
Pioneer Womens Exhibition
Chloe with her favorite of many dresses on show. and it was a good finish to a big day for them.
This outing rekindled our desire for exploring and the next day we head off to the East MacDonnell Ranges. First stop was Emily Gap which was nice with some water and Aboriginal paintings. After that was Jessie Gap (no water but paintings again), and finally, Trephina Gorge. We walked the short walk along the dry, sandy river bed to the end of the Gorge to find yet again there was no water, but upon climbing up the walls we were rewarded with a lovely view of the surrounding area. It really was a nice place for a day trip (you can camp there but we were certainly happy to return home to the caravan park).
Alice Springs really is a nice place with beautiful areas to your east and west in which you can camp and picnic. It doesn’t take long to get to somewhere really picturesque with perhaps a swimming hole also. We have enjoyed our time there but have been happy to move on to Gemtree, a gem fossicking area 140kms from Alice. Perhaps we will find our fortune; stay tuned!
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Selma Barton
non-member comment
Greetings
Dear Emily and Grady, Nice to catch up with your trip again and it sounds so interesting. Selma